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“Call of Doom” - The Story of Doom’s Bizarre Cancelled Game

zMXaumBXINw | 20 Oct 2024

“Call of Doom” - The Story of Doom’s Bizarre Cancelled Game

Click this link https://sponsr.is/bootdev_GVMERS and use my code GVMERS to get 25% off your first payment for boot.dev. That’s 25% off your first month or your first year, depending on the subscription you choose. Regarded as the father of first-person shooters, id Software’s Doom had long set the standard for first-person action when the studio entered production on the franchise’s fourth numbered entry. Doom 3 hadn’t exactly hit the mark, though, a sentiment shared among critics and series faithful who begrudged the game for prioritizing its technical prowess at the expense of gameplay. Doom 4 ran the risk of falling into the same trap, its earliest version bearing more in common with Call of Duty than classic id-developed shooters. Doom 4 1.0, as developers have called it, centralized a narrative with big ideas, ideas that replaced the usual Doom Slayer hero with an Average Joe surrounded by a cast of characters. A cinematic-level of spectacle rested at the heart of the would-be experience, all while a more plodding style of gameplay drove the action. Instead of the brand’s genre-defining, fast-paced combat, Doom 4 1.0 implemented cover-based mechanics and drown-out final kills that robbed the shooter of its trademark momentum. After closely examining the work-in-progress, leadership at id Software shelved 1.0 and organized talks to reevaluate Doom’s fundamentals. A pair of reboots and the realization that id functioned best as a one-game studio emerged from various meetings with developers and parent company ZeniMax Media. The development house lost quite a bit of veteran talent during this season of change as well, though new blood would come in to help shake things up considerably. Ultimately, this trying time in company history begat what became Doom 2016, the reboot that repositioned the father of first-person shooters as the key to rejuvenating a genre that many would say had grown stale in its absence. This is the tragedy of Doom 4. Sources: https://pastebin.com/nf19fF97 Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BGHCAWD5NDQ9N Donate via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/gvmers Become a channel member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Or use the thanks button on YouTube to support our work! Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Unreal Tournament

5U7phg0rPKE | 21 Sep 2024

The Rise and Fall of Unreal Tournament

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake. These seminal games rest at the forefront of the first-person shooter genre. All were instrumental to the genre’s birth and subsequent growth in one way or another. Although, there does exist one title of consequence that too often goes without mention—Epic’s Unreal. In recent years, Unreal has exclusively been associated with the game engine of the same name. As such, its roots are either forgotten or wholly unknown to younger generations of gamers. But long before Epic began showcasing demos of its graphics engines on console hardware, the studio’s original group of staffers dreamt of creating the premier PC gaming engine and FPS experience. The crew achieved this and more upon unleashing Unreal and the Unreal Engine in 1998. Unreal began as a serviceable shooter powered by inventive technology, but held back by lackluster network offerings. A spinoff in the form of Unreal Tournament saw the series blossom into a tour de force competitive shooter, whose DNA remains scattered across modernity’s popular multiplayer adventures. And yet there were instances where it appeared Epic had lost track of Unreal’s roots, as the series lapsed into a ghost of its former self that followed the herd instead of leading as destined. This is the rise and fall of Unreal. Donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BGHCAWD5NDQ9N Donate via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/gvmers Become a channel member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Or use the thanks button on YouTube to support our work! Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

All The Call of Duty Games You'll Never Play

AGpCAUlpxPY | 31 Aug 2024

All The Call of Duty Games You'll Never Play

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Since debuting 2003, the Infinity Ward-created Call of Duty series has immersed players in dozens of military conflicts spread across historically accurate settings and futuristic time periods. 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare proved especially pivotal, steering the brand away from its preceding World War 2 engagements while also redefining first-person action and online multiplayer. By this point, publisher Activision had already begun exploring spinoffs, inviting different development studios to experiment with the formula for new audiences. Several of these ancillary ventures never saw the light of day. In fact, the series has played host to more than a handful of side projects that rarely lasted beyond the conceptual phase. Such offshoots ranged from proposed sequels for existing entries to fresh ideas that would’ve taken Call of Duty to uncharted territory. One shelved endeavor even envisioned the property as a real-time card game. But for a variety of reasons, Activision halted this particular product’s forward momentum, along with that of nearly one dozen other productions. This is the history of canceled Call of Duty games. Donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BGHCAWD5NDQ9N Donate via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/gvmers Become a channel member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Or use the thanks button on YouTube to support our work! Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Motorstorm

rqVuHbql5rM | 18 Jul 2024

The Rise and Fall of Motorstorm

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS PlayStation owners throughout the PS1 and PS2 eras had no shortage of arcade and simulation racers. From first-party offerings like Gran Turismo and Wipeout to third-party endeavors such as Formula 1, Ridge Racer, and Burnout, PlayStation players regularly enjoyed their fill of high-octane action. One development house—Evolution Studios—made a name for itself by producing sim racers for the Sony-owned hardware. Evolution’s World Rally Championship, or WRC, franchise received five PS2 entries, dragging fans into off-road excursions with impressive physics and audio designed to reflect the exhilaration of the life-threatening car sport. Evolution pumped the brakes when transitioning to PS3 development, foregoing its simulation roots in favor of the arcade-driven MotorStorm. Often likened to the carnage of Burnout, MotorStorm set a new bar for off-roading by throwing away the rulebook that many racing games had long followed. The pursuit of these ends resulted in a racer that pit vehicles of disparate types against each other, with dirt bikes fighting for control of the road versus big rigs. Evolution made sure every vehicle controlled differently and every lap around a track offered new challenges, a feat it accomplished across multiple games. But not unlike WRC before it, MotorStorm drifted to the background when a new generation of hardware skidded onto the scene. Instead of bringing the popular PS3 series to PS4, the developers hedged their bets on Driveclub, the immersive racer where teaming up with others took precedence. Driveclub’s unfortunate failure marked Evolution’s last turn at the wheel and spelled doom for the future of the beloved MotorStorm IP. This is the rise and fall of MotorStorm. Donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BGHCAWD5NDQ9N Donate via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/gvmers Become a channel member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Or use the thanks button on YouTube to support our work! Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Tragedy of Overwatch

gj9zG4DOLnA | 23 Jun 2024

The Tragedy of Overwatch

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Blizzard Entertainment made a name for itself by taking big swings, developing video games whose day one offerings paled in comparison to what the experiences evolved into five to 10 years down the road. World of Warcraft set a particularly high bar, so much so that the studio spent years and an untold number of resources attempting to replicate such success on multiple occasions. One such World of Warcraft-like adventure, codenamed Project Titan, remained in production for seven years before company leads finally pulled the plug. A small crew within Blizzard wouldn’t let their extensive time and effort be for naught, however. From the remnants of the class-based FPS MMO arose Overwatch, another new IP that ultimately left an indelible mark on multiplayer gaming. Launched to much anticipation in May 2016, the original Overwatch took the world by storm. Its rollout as a premium title surprised even the most insightful of analysts, but Blizzard’s aggressive approach with in-game purchases quickly cleared up any confusion. To the dismay of fans, divisive monetization practices marked only the start of Overwatch’s various controversies. The forced free-to-play update that rendered Overwatch unplayable to make room for Overwatch 2 tipped the scales, and many would argue things progressively went down hill. Blizzard’s sudden cancelation of a promised PvE campaign mode, alongside disappointing Battle Passes and the esports league’s questionable outlook, poisoned the well for those who wanted better for the sequel. If and when the future will start looking brighter seems wishful thinking for a contingent of the community, especially since other Blizzard games demonstrate the studio’s habit of vacillating between the high and low ends of quality content releases. This is the tragedy of Overwatch. Donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BGHCAWD5NDQ9N Donate via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/gvmers Become a channel member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Or use the thanks button on YouTube to support our work! Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Disaster of Redfall

WRNAJWBU3mE | 22 May 2024

The Disaster of Redfall

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The popularity of multiplayer experiences such as Overwatch and Fortnite awoke in the gaming industry a sudden interest in live-service endeavors capable of generating recurring revenue streams. Even publishers and developers that seldom dabbled in online titles wanted a share of the spoils. However, as with several other trends in the multibillion-dollar business, pursuing these ends often proves a gamble—this ZeniMax Media and its subsidiaries learned the hard way upon releasing Redfall. Developed by Arkane’s Austin, Texas branch, the team behind Dishonored and Prey, Redfall promised an open-world, co-op adventure with “capitalistic vampires” as the antagonists. The game tasked players with beating back the supernatural threat by using specialized weapons, stakes, and abilities. But at launch, greedy bloodsuckers hardly seemed the primary cause for concern. Day-one adopters on PC and Xbox consoles found the experience beset by copious technical errors affecting performance, enemy AI, texture pop-ins, character animations, and multiplayer connectivity. Worst still, while it could host up to four players, the cooperative shooter lacked matchmaking functionality. The storied Arkane Austin lost years of established goodwill in a matter of days, and Redfall’s player-base rapidly dwindled alongside it. Fans and non-fans of the Dishonored creator wasted no time blaming Redfall’s failures on the fact that an outfit best known for story-centric immersive sims had tried its hand at conquering unfamiliar territory. Meanwhile, executives at parent company Xbox Game Studios stood before the slings and arrows, ready to accept the lion’s share of fault for the disappointing launch. The truth is—nothing is ever as simple as it seems when it comes to game development. This is the tragedy of Redfall. Donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BGHCAWD5NDQ9N Donate via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/gvmers Become a channel member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Or use the thanks button on YouTube to support our work! Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Syphon Filter

4M_v9VcJPYo | 05 May 2024

The Rise and Fall of Syphon Filter

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Sandwiched between the 1998 and 2002 releases of Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell, respectively, was the oft-forgotten Syphon Filter that hit the original PlayStation in 1999. Each title contributed building blocks to the stealth-action genre. Metal Gear Solid with its innovative storytelling and mechanics set a perfect cadence. Splinter Cell’s masterful use of shadows and immersive gameplay laid new ground. Syphon Filter left its own mark on so-called sneak 'em ups, leaning heavily towards the genre’s action-oriented qualities while tackling then-contemporary subjects such as bioweapons and shadowy terrorist cells. Many remember the PlayStation franchise’s first three entries as bonafide classics, yet the fourth release—The Omega Strain—ventured too far from its roots. Dismal reviews and a subpar commercial showing for The Omega Strain brought Syphon Filter’s momentum to a sudden stop. Not even the acclaimed PSP installments could restore the series' former glory. The property, consequently, lay dormant for nearly 15 years before a ray of hope shined on future prospects for protagonist Gabe Logan and The Agency under which he conducted covert operations. That hope manifested via Days Gone, an open-world zombie game that deftly tied the former’s outbreak to the programmable virus that PlayStation players tried repressing in years past. A questionably-managed day one release and reportedly missed sales targets shifted Days Gone to the sidelines, once more calling Syphon Filter’s future into question. Given that key creative forces have since departed developer Bend Studio, it would appear Syphon Filter’s long-standing status as little more than a PlayStation classic won’t be remedied anytime soon. This is the rise and fall of Syphon Filter. Thumbnail art by LitoPerezito: https://twitter.com/LitoPerezito Special thanks to Syphon Filter Central: SF-Central.com/discord Donate via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BGHCAWD5NDQ9N Donate via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/gvmers Become a channel member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Or use the thanks button on YouTube to support our work! Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

A Difficult Message...

7H0jpqeB8t4 | 06 Apr 2024

A Difficult Message...

Please help us make videos again, we appreciate all your support Patreon ► https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Or donate via: - https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BGHCAWD5NDQ9N - https://ko-fi.com/gvmers Or use the thanks button on YouTube!

The Rise and Fall of Saints Row

v3-hDAeDfFw | 28 Feb 2024

The Rise and Fall of Saints Row

🕹 Break up with basic browsers. Get Opera GX here: https://operagx.gg/GVMERS3 Sponsored by Opera GX! After breaking ground with first-person shooters like Descent and redefining video game destruction with Red Faction, developer Volition, Inc. dipped its toes in a then-up-and-coming genre, the open-world adventure. Saints Row, formerly codenamed Bling Bling, served as the studio’s entry into the space, whose foundations were settled years prior by Rockstar Games’s Grand Theft Auto 3. Upon release, then, Saints Row quickly drew comparisons to the popular PlayStation 2 title; however, the so-called GTA clone introduced a few tricks not seen in other open-world games of the day. A slew of character creation options along with impressive physics significantly mixed up the gameplay possibilities, providing Saints Row a wholly unique identity. Acclaimed sequels Saints Row 2, Saints Row the Third, and Saints Row IV further separated Volition’s “gang simulator” from the pack, with each new instalment leaning deeper into the franchise’s wackier elements. And as the accolades mounted, so, too, did the commercial success, resulting in Saints Row becoming one of publisher THQ’s most profitable properties. But not even the cash made off the backs of the Third Street Saints could keep the financially troubled THQ afloat. The publisher’s bankruptcy in 2012 hardly impacted the series, though. Under the ownership of new parent company Deep Silver—and later Embracer Group—Volition produced three additional Saints Row experiences, including a 2022 reboot that never gained favour from hardcore fans. To some, the “GTA copycat” that eventually reinvented the genre suddenly lost its lustre, and for that, the brand suffered mightily. Within a year of the reboot’s debut, Volition closed up shop, leaving the future of the Saints in a state of uncertainty. This is the Rise and Fall of Saints Row. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Star Wars Battlefront

5vwP2dlRlXk | 29 Oct 2023

The Rise and Fall of Star Wars Battlefront

Play War Thunder for FREE on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS®5. Use our link https://playwt.link/gvmers to download the game and get your exclusive bonus: multiple Premium Vehicles, Premium Account, Boosters and more! See you on the battlefield! Star Wars video games date back several decades, its first interactive adventure hitting arcades in 1983. Dozens of other experiences followed in subsequent years, with the space-faring IP delving into the FPS genre for the first time in 1995’s Dark Forces. Titles of this nature more or less fulfilled the fantasy of adventuring through George Lucas’s spectacular universe; however, one group of developers in the early 2000s made building the “ultimate Star Wars fan’s dream” their mission statement. The mission itself revolved around the production of Star Wars: Battlefront, a single-player and multiplayer hybrid where players could join the factions, pilot the vehicles, and battle across the stunning locales that had long impacted popular culture. The first Battlefront developed by Pandemic Studios enjoyed great success, so, too, did its sequel. But the unfortunately cancelled Battlefront 3 from Free Radical Design put the PC and console experiences on hold for the better part of a decade, until Battlefield developer DICE revitalized the brand in 2015. For many Battlefront faithful, the revival didn’t exactly uphold the legacy established by its forefathers. DICE and publisher Electronic Arts tried changing minds upon deploying a follow-up. However, a divisive narrative campaign and an industry-shaking controversy lost DICE’s second Star Wars outing a lot of favor. What these shortcomings entail for Battlefront’s future presently remains to be seen but it’s obvious that EA and Company missed the mark by a wide margin. This is the rise and fall of Star Wars: Battlefront. 0:00 Intro 2:32 Sponsorship 4:03 Star Wars Battlefront 12:42 Star Wars Battlefront 2 22:07 Star Wars Battlefront 3 34:22 Star Wars Battlefront (2015) 41:44 Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017) 50:37 Project Viking & Outro 53:17 Credits Special thanks to Fuzah for once again allowing us to use the Battlefront 3 footage on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/@UClLMZmnqMYYxGdmrlDTnmwg Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The $75M Game That Killed Its Studio - The Tragedy of Fable Legends

DhEn5q93z-A | 20 Oct 2023

The $75M Game That Killed Its Studio - The Tragedy of Fable Legends

Use my link to install Dungeon Hunter VI for Free: ✅ https://dhskol.onelink.me/c9XC/7ithe0ha & Get a special starter pack worth $50 [Available for the next 30 days] 💥Join the launch event for free chances to win amazing prizes like iPhone 15 Pro Max, PS5, Apple Watch and more. Visit https://www.dungeonhunter6.com/luckydraw/ for details. What began as a quirky role-playing game created in part by one of the industry’s most notable auteurs would go on to count among Xbox’s most important properties. Fable from Lionhead Studios always boasted a certain charm that meshed well with its fascinating characters and awe-inspiring fantastical world. The 2008 sequel Fable 2 arguably represented the series at its best, considering it took home a BAFTA and a slew of well-deserved Game of the Year awards. This momentum wouldn’t culminate in similar praise for Fable 3; yet no one could have anticipated the third number title marking the end of Fable as fans had known it for the better part of a decade. A cutesy beat ‘em up in Fable Heroes and Fable: The Journey’s magic-fueled Kinect adventure trailed far from the franchise’s established status quo. But free-to-play game Fable Legends truly subverted expectations, wearing the guise of a big-budget console and PC experience while missing the mark on what made the mainline installments so appealing. In other words, players craved a proper Fable 4, and the team at Lionhead desperately wanted to deliver as much. In fact, studio leads pitched one such project right before Legends started occupying center stage. The proposal didn’t receive so much as a passing interest at Microsoft, its gaming vertical preferring to stick the award-winning single-player studio on a multiplayer-only title just as the Games as a Service craze got underway. This decision begat a host of issues, all of which contributed to Fable Legends’s unceremonious cancellation and the untimely closure of the UK development house co-founded by game design luminary Peter Molyneux. Intro 0:00 Lionhead 03:57 Fable 4 & Project Opal 08:16 Fable Legends 11:33 The Age of Heroes 15:05 Legends Never Die 18:31 This is the tragedy of Fable Legends. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Red Faction

lUj-NXsZjgk | 13 Oct 2023

The Rise and Fall of Red Faction

This is it! SoftwareKeep's 'Back to School' campaign is in its final stretch. Secure an EXTRA 20% OFF their jaw-dropping deals with my unique promo code: GVMERS. Grab it before the bell rings! https://softwarekeep.com/influencer/gvmers?coupon=GVMERS Initially conceived during a period of great competition in the first-person shooter space, Red Faction had its work cut out for it long before entering the spotlight. Developer Volition Inc. harbored dreams that ventured far beyond simply adding another Quake-like shooter to the pile, though. Advanced destructible environments and intense vehicular combat were positioned as the differentiating factors between Red Faction and nearly everything else available for PC and console. And despite launching in 2001 to tepid reception, the Volition-developed FPS title set quite the precedent. Commercially, Red Faction secured its place as publisher THQ’s top-selling franchise until another Volition property, Saints Row, stole the crown. Such success begat a few sequels, spinoffs, and even a TV movie. Improved technology along with the open-world structure of Red Faction: Guerrilla introduced a new level of destruction and reinvigorated excitement for the brand. But victories of this caliber were squandered two years later when a shocking case of regression engendered a return to linearity in Armageddon that few wanted. All in all, Red Faction sits atop a lengthy list of PS2-era franchises that never found their footing. It didn’t help that Volition’s parent company long struggled to keep itself afloat amid financial woes and industry changes, ultimately culminating in bankruptcy. Still, the road that led to Red Faction fading into obscurity may not be as straightforward as it once seemed. This is the Rise and Fall of Red Faction. 0:00 Intro 2:30 Sponsorship 3:55 Red Faction 16:00 Red Faction 2 25:29 Red Faction B.E.A.S.T. 26:02 Red Faction Guerilla 33:47 Red Faction Armageddon 39:11 Outro Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Tragic Downfall of Battlefield 2042

ceN0hY3CB5I | 01 Sep 2023

The Tragic Downfall of Battlefield 2042

💥 Unleash chaos in Wanted: Dead with up to 50% off NOW: https://bit.ly/wanteddead-gvmers Even when stacked against the large and looming shadow of Activision’s Call of Duty, Electronic Arts and developer DICE always positioned Battlefield as the cream of the crop for first-person military shooters. Few would disagree the franchise’s penchant for hosting massive battles and dropping players into hectic vehicle-involved encounters set a precedent hardly rivaled. However, Battlefield 5 tested such thinking, launching in November 2018 to reviews that labeled it messy, unpolished, and technically unsound. The World War 2-set experience found better footing years later, but by that time, series faithful had cast their gaze toward the next major outing—Battlefield 2042. To a degree, the futuristic Battlefield aimed to abandon and magnify the brand’s core tenets, parting ways with the usual Class system in favor of introducing Specialists. Mainstay features such as the scoreboard also took a back seat at launch in late 2021. DICE further eschewed tradition by not developing a single-player campaign to focus its efforts on building a live service. Unfortunately, 2042 arrived in a disastrous state, plagued with issues that would result in its categorization as the worst launch in brand history. But after eating crow for months on end, Battlefield 2042’s developers eventually managed to improved upon the base game. Some wondered whether such change came too late, given that amid all the turbulence, EA shared its intention of overhauling the property with new leadership at the helm. The maligned 2021 entry could, thus, mark the end of an era. This is the tragedy of Battlefield 2042. Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 2:10 The Tragedy of Battlefield 2042 3:41 Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Missed Greatness - The Tragedy of Halo Infinite

F_Rb0IfWG1k | 23 Jul 2023

Missed Greatness - The Tragedy of Halo Infinite

🎮 Play Rise of Kingdoms for FREE! Download now at: https://bit.ly/GreeceRoK_GVMERS Fight in the Civilization Clash event today to win an Apple Vision Pro and more: https://www.rok.games/?kol=GVMERS Don't wait! Use promo code "Greece4ROK" for 20 silver keys, only for new players. Expires in 3 days after registration. Halo 5: Guardians proved divisive amongst longtime fans who were disappointed that series protagonist Master Chief didn’t serve as the sole playable hero. Out of the backlash came a lesson for developer 343 Industries, resulting in the team establishing a new pillar for the brand going forward, which centered on paying homage to the Halo that Xbox gamers fell in love with years prior. Thus, the shooter that later bore the name Infinite returned Chief to the forefront. The studio acted upon a few other ambitions as well, chiefly exploring a more open-ended gameplay structure and free-to-play multiplayer. It all manifested courtesy of engineers dedicating a good chunk of development to building a new set of proprietary tools, the SlipSpace Engine. However, admittedly insufficient management and a rash of technical shortcomings nearly prevented Halo Infinite from reaching its true potential, evidenced by the ill-fated Ascension demo that debuted during Xbox’s 2020 Games Showcase. As opposed to the fast-paced gameplay 343 Industries focused on showing off, poor visuals received the brunt of public attention, giving rise to internet memes and the game’s one-year-long delay out of the Xbox Series X|S launch window. But even that delay and its subsequent improvements couldn’t ensure Halo Infinite left a positive and lasting impression on series die hards. Several post-launch woes plagued the experience, particularly on the multiplayer front, yet again inciting discussions about whether or not Halo was in good hands. This is the Tragedy of Halo Infinite. Chapters 0:00 Intro 2:06 Sponsorship 3:29 The Tragedy of Halo Infinite 26:14 Credits Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Overwatch, Randy Pitchford and The Disaster of Battleborn

h9GB-1DJoto | 14 Jul 2023

Overwatch, Randy Pitchford and The Disaster of Battleborn

Play War Thunder for FREE on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS®5. Use our link https://playwt.link/gvmers to download the game and get your exclusive bonus: multiple Premium Vehicles, Premium Account, Boosters and more! See you on the battlefield! The release of Borderlands in 2009 marked the first step towards Gearbox Software cementing itself as a master of developing hybrid experiences, games capable of artfully blending together otherwise disparate genres. For the cel-shaded, vault-hunting romp, such a blend consisted primarily of first-person shooter mechanics and elements consistent with role-playing games. Borderlands went on to enjoy success beyond Gearbox and its publishing partner’s wildest imaginations. It made sense, then, that the studio similarly combined genres when trying to break ground in the hero shooter space with a brand-new IP, Battleborn. A fast-paced shooter comprised of a story campaign and competitive multiplayer modes, Battleborn checked several boxes to become equal parts MOBA, first-person shooter, and action-RPG. But in striving to cover a wide gamut of experiences in one, the hero-based FPS title lacked focus. Its immediate competition, Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch, suffered from no such lack of discipline, an argument Gearbox President Randy Pitchford readily acknowledged when dissecting why Blizzard’s endeavor overshadowed that of his team. Pitchford would argue that Battleborn earned the label of failure only because of misguided Overwatch comparisons. To the studio executive, Gearbox’s ambitious new property could have held its own just fine, yet unfavorable circumstances—namely its launch three weeks before Overwatch—robbed it of any real chance of doing as much. Regardless, steep discounts, a dismal player retention rate, and reports of a last-ditch effort to explore free-to-play options followed Battleborn like a plague within months of its debut. Any attempts at driving engagement were met with disinterest, resulting in an unfortunate but predictably quick demise. This is the tragedy of Battleborn. Chapters 0:00 Intro 2:15 Sponsorship 3:36 Battleborn's Origins 7:27 Battleborn's Development 11:40 What Went Wrong? 16:39 Battleborn's Downfall 21:20 Credits Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Just Cause

C9fZvJO99kQ | 07 Jul 2023

The Rise and Fall of Just Cause

WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS AD FREE ► https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Not too dissimilar from a B-tier action movie franchise, Avalanche Studios’ Just Cause series never rose far above its station. It earned varying degrees of success across four entries, thereby enjoying a comfortable status quo that many of its Double-A counterparts would aspire to. However, such comforts came and went liberally, especially with the launch of a fourth installment in December 2018. The first Just Cause made an attempt at raising the stakes for the open-world genre popularized by Grand Theft Auto III. Gorgeous vistas and a ‘go anywhere and do anything’ mantra meshed perfectly with Avalanche’s goal of providing players with tools to instigate chaos as they saw fit. But Just Cause's stunning environments and freeform gameplay could only pull so much weight in a digital world that felt as unpolished as it played. Great strides were taken to improve upon the core mechanics in subsequent outings, which Avalanche realized rested squarely on the back of the havoc players could unleash with explosions, vehicles, high-powered weapons, and the constantly evolving grappling hook. Some would argue it was never enough. Avalanche’s debut title failed to move the needle commercially, yet Just Cause 2 swung onto store shelves and sold like hotcakes in 2010. Unfortunately, sales tapered off from that point forward. Nonetheless, the development crew never wavered, pushing the envelope in terms of its technical prowess at every turn. But with Just Cause 4 performing below expectations, franchise faithful were left to ponder whether protagonist Rico Rodriguez had many more adventures ahead of him. This is the rise and fall of Just Cause. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Lies, Confusion and The Tragedy of Wii U

8uTjTe95-TM | 26 May 2023

Lies, Confusion and The Tragedy of Wii U

Install Mech Arena for Free 🤖 IOS/ANDROID/PC: https://clcr.me/GVMERS_May23 and get a special starter pack 💥 Available only for the next 30 days Few companies have revolutionized video games in more ways than Nintendo. The practice of literally stamping cartridges with the Nintendo Seal of Quality, introduced to circumvent Atari’s failures at quality control, marked the first step towards hardware makers profiting from software developed by third-party studios. And it need not be stated how effectively the Wii appealed to multiple generations, from children enjoying their first video game to nursing home residents in need of a convenient and fun tool for bolstering their motor skills. For decades, Nintendo constituted the entry point for many a gamer and easily vacillated between catering to casual and hardcore audiences. But after the Wii prioritized the casual with motion controls, which came at the cost of third-party support, Nintendo used its successor—the Wii U—to regain a foothold in the market dominated by PlayStation and Xbox. The Wii U should’ve proven yet another sticking point for the manufacturer, given the inventive second screen application, interoperability between it and the 3DS, and backwards compatibility with the Wii. Unlike previous Nintendo devices, the Wii successor even supported HD graphics. A wide range of factors converged to prevent the home console from gaining much traction, however, chief among them being the sheer confusion that pervaded pre-launch marketing campaigns. Misguided by unclear messaging, trusted media sources most notably wrote previews describing the Wii U as a peripheral for the Wii; the product’s bizarre naming convention only exacerbated this particular issue. Not even the acclaimed Mario Kart 8 could boost the system’s poor sales. As such, Wii U sold a dismal 13.5 million units in its lifetime, failure Nintendo hadn’t faced since the GameCube era. And it left many wondering if the House of Mario would ever fully recover. This is the tragedy of Wii U. 0:00 Intro 2:17 Sponsorship 4:04 The Tragedy of Wii U WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS AD FREE ► https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of BioShock

nJ9pFC6Aurk | 19 May 2023

The Rise and Fall of BioShock

WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS AD FREE ► https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Akin to the great musical artists and films of our time, certain video game releases have instituted a culture shift, establishing a clear demarcation line dividing the art created before its existence and after. Wolfenstein 3D earned its place among such a prestigious list, having fathered the modern first-person shooter in 1992. The 2001 launch of Grand Theft Auto 3 similarly shifted popular culture, birthing the open-world genre whose potential knows no limits. BioShock from Boston-based developer Irrational Games drew yet another indelible line in August 2007, its immersive gameplay, gripping atmosphere, and pioneering use of inventive storytelling devices elevating first-person shooters on countless fronts. The original BioShock constituted Irrational’s attempt at bringing the hallmarks of the critically acclaimed yet commercially unimpressive System Shock to mainstream audiences. It accomplished as much by coloring outside the lines of market expectations. Over the course of the series, however, adapting to said expectations deeply affected the core of the brand. Development woes affected all three entries as well, often driving a wedge between members of the creative team. That series creator Ken Levine was supposedly difficult to work with only exacerbated the tension. Internal and public-facing issues aside, many would argue BioShock never shied away from challenging the status quo, all while raising the bar. But for Irrational’s publisher, a contingent of fans, and even some developers, that bar could never quite reach high enough. This is the rise and fall of BioShock. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Abandoned by Ubisoft - The Tragedy of Rainbow Six Extraction

X1ZwUJOjJv8 | 14 Apr 2023

Abandoned by Ubisoft - The Tragedy of Rainbow Six Extraction

Thanks to Factor75 for sponsoring today's video. Go to https://strms.net/GvmersFactorAprYT50 and use code POGGVMERAPR50 for 50% off your first box! #ad WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS AD FREE ► https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS After a long hiatus, which intersected with the canceled Patriots game, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six returned to market with Rainbow Six: Siege in 2015. The online tactical shooter launched to positive critical reception but little fanfare, its early days beset by game-breaking bugs and frustrating server errors. Ubisoft Montréal navigated the maelstrom of issues over time, elevating the title to a standard of quality where it could competently dominate in the oversaturated games-as-a-service space. With Siege’s PvP multiplayer on lock, Ubisoft tried its hand at PvE by building upon the alien-infested Outbreak mode that debuted in Siege. The publisher originally subtitled the endeavor Quarantine, then rebranded as Extraction because of the coronavirus pandemic. Regardless of its naming conventions, many would argue the PvE experience hardly stood a chance. Not unlike its predecessor, Extraction hit retailers and digital storefronts with little in the way of anticipation. Ubisoft Montréal’s newest Rainbow Six entry missed the mark critically, however, its at-best average review scores painting the picture of a spinoff that couldn’t live up to that which came before. It was a technically sound shooter, sure, but very little of what made Siege successful reflected in Extraction. Worse still, Extraction arrived amid a crisis of identity for Tom Clancy’s gaming franchises. Longtime players were begging for back-to-basics tactical shooters and stealth games, while the French publisher supplied bombastic, over-the-top experiences that ignored the grounded qualities so beloved in the likes of Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell. In terms of optics, then, an alien invasion-centric co-op shooter couldn’t have launched at a worst time for Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy IP. This is the tragedy of Rainbow Six: Extraction. Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 2:41 The Tragedy of Rainbow Six Extraction 3:57 Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c... Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Left For Dead... - The Tragedy of Back 4 Blood

veQ3XiwxG8M | 17 Mar 2023

Left For Dead... - The Tragedy of Back 4 Blood

Download Naraka on Xbox https://gsght.com/c/776bsp and Steam https://gsght.com/c/a32t1y for free from 15th to 19th March and get a 50% discount between March 15th-21st on Steam & Epic Join the discord group: https://discord.gg/narakabladepoint WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS AD FREE ► https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The trailblazing Left 4 Dead and its 2009 sequel redefined cooperative shooters, carving out a new path in the genre that later paved the way for countless co-op-centric experiences. Despite their best efforts, though, no development team could recapture the unique thrill of zombie killing in the Valve-owned franchise; as such, the company’s decision to cease regular support on Left 4 Dead 2 marked the end of an era. A much-coveted Left 4 Dead 3 wouldn’t reinvigorate things either, leaving other studios with the task of carrying the torch. But the likes of Killing Floor 2 and World War Z, while admirable in their own right, arguably paled in comparison to that which came before. With the industry still itching for a comparable zombie experience, Left 4 Dead’s original creators took it upon themselves to revisit the genre through the lens of a new IP—Back 4 Blood. Billed as Left 4 Dead’s spiritual successor, Back 4 Blood followed the same basic structure—pitting up to four playable heroes against zombie hordes in campaign and competitive modes. However, developer Turtle Rock Studios switched gears in some respects, crafting more capable protagonists, introducing card-based progression, and updating the classic L4D formula with modern systems. The anticipation ahead of Back 4 Blood’s debut suggested the beloved zombie series had truly returned via another name, yet the former’s October 2021 release left much to be desired. Content-related shortcomings and a handful of technical woes plagued Turtle Rock’s new property during its first few months on the market, resulting in a rapidly declining user base that never returned to full strength. This is the tragedy of Back 4 Blood. Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 2:10 The Tragedy of Back 4 Blood 3:42 Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Killzone

iwMmLltobj8 | 11 Mar 2023

The Rise and Fall of Killzone

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The summer of 2003 abounded with talk of Ford’s supposed “Ferrari Killer,” the 2004 GT40. A faster, quicker-to-brake counterpart to the Ferrari 360 Modena, the Ford’s high-performance race car certainly dressed to impress. But a Ford was still a Ford matched against Ferrari. At the same time, another killer of a premiere brand lurked in the shadows, awaiting its chance to pounce on the competition. Sony’s Killzone played terminator in this scenario, its prey the game-changing Halo: Combat Evolved from Bungie and Microsoft. Months of rumors about the so-called Halo killer generated enough hype to reach a fever pitch before Sony even formally unveiled its new first-person shooter. Premature reports described the game as the perfect cross between Halo and SOCOM; claims of advanced technology, spectacular graphics, and destructible environments heightened the anticipation tenfold. More importantly, PlayStation faithful were thrilled with the prospect of its purported online multiplayer capabilities. Killzone’s official announcement amplified the anticipation, yet its eventual deployment fell short of the unrealistic expectations. This would ostensibly become the status quo for Killzone going forward—marketing cycles that promised generation-defining experiences but arguably amounted to shooters of the slightly above average variety. In this way, Sony’s flagship FPS series never competed with that of Microsoft’s in a traditional sense. It carved out its own niche, with six adventures launching across a nine-year period. But in the end, Killzone was still Killzone matched against Halo. And it hardly helped that the former battled false advertising claims on more than one occasion. This is the rise and fall of Killzone. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Game That Died Today - The Tragedy of Babylon's Fall

g9Vwyr_Oq14 | 27 Feb 2023

The Game That Died Today - The Tragedy of Babylon's Fall

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Triple-A game publishers have always chased the success of the industry’s latest trends, a phenomenon that inspired the creation of an exorbitant number of Grand Theft Auto clones throughout the sixth and seventh console generations. On occasion, such thinking has born good fruit, evidenced in PUBG’s quick claim to fame influencing everything from Fortnite Battle Royale to Call of Duty: Warzone. But on the flip side, pursuing popular trends runs the risk of stifling creativity and alienating players, a recipe for disaster that has taken many once-ambitious endeavors to an early grave. This Square Enix learned the hard way upon publishing Babylon’s Fall. The online-only adventure from Bayonetta creator PlatinumGames marked one of Square Enix’s many attempts to broaden its reach in the live-service space, whose persistent revenue streams has significantly boosted many a company’s bottom line. While Babylon’s Fall seemed to feature the hallmarks of a quality service game with its proven development team and compelling gameplay mechanics, it launched with few redeeming qualities, resulting in catastrophic review scores and a rapidly dwindling player base. Platinum maintained focus throughout the rough start, deploying and developing new content for what should’ve been a lengthy life cycle for Babylon’s Fall on PC and PlayStation. To cut its losses, Square Enix pulled the plug far earlier than anticipated, robbing developers of any chance to salvage the project. Thus, what began as Platinum bringing its signature style to the burgeoning games-as-a-service model concluded with what may go down as one of the studio’s least memorable outings. This is the tragedy of Babylon’s Fall. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

A $60,000,000 Disaster - The Controversial Tragedy of Too Human

zVlVq3pStk8 | 10 Feb 2023

A $60,000,000 Disaster - The Controversial Tragedy of Too Human

Buy Hogwarts Legacy cheaper on Kinguin: https://kingu.in/gvmers 🪄Use my code: 'GVMERS' for 14% off with instant delivery. Tumultuous development cycles have long plagued video games from conception to release. In some cases, the turmoil stems from poor management. Funding-related issues stifle progress on several occasions, as well. And projects that hop from one studio to another in a precarious game of hot potato rarely arrive at the finish line in a respectable state. But what of the titles whose protracted development rested on the back of one vision, fueled by previously well-managed teams with funding from publishers boasting an excess of wealth? The critically panned Too Human from Legacy of Kain and Eternal Darkness creator Silicon Knights fit perfectly into this strange stew of circumstance. What began in the 1990s as an ambitious, five-disc adventure for the original PlayStation morphed into a GameCube exclusive after the turn of the century. Leading production on two Nintendo exclusives kept Silicon Knights away from what co-founder and President Denis Dyack described as the studio’s dream project, which resurfaced in 2005 as an Xbox 360 game. Too Human’s creation, thus, spanned three different platforms across three console generations. Unsurprisingly, the Norse mythology-inspired product that Microsoft published in 2008 bore little in common with the Blade Runner-esque build that ran on PS1 during E3 1999. The specifics about what went wrong remain shrouded in mystery. But reports concerning Silicon Knights’ management style post-Nintendo paint a pretty clear picture of the rocky road that may have paved the way for Too Human’s disastrous last stand. This is the tragedy of Too Human. Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 2:00 The Tragedy of Too Human 3:10 Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Lies, Broken Promises and The Death of Google Stadia

IssNq2TBzfA | 13 Jan 2023

Lies, Broken Promises and The Death of Google Stadia

🌎Check out Instant Gaming for some great deals ↣ https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/giveaway/GVMERS Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In four decades, gaming has evolved from a niche hobby to a multibillion dollar industry. Sony and Microsoft gained ground 20-plus years ago, cementing themselves as integral parts of the business. Recent years have seen other non-gaming enterprises enter the race, too, hoping to cut themselves a slice of the very lucrative pie. But unfamiliarity with game development’s myriad idiosyncrasies placed the likes of Amazon in a difficult position, thus resulting in canceled projects and layoffs. When Google threw its hat into the ring with Stadia, the expectation was that the conglomerate had learned from its competitor’s mistakes. However, Google’s penchant for abandoning risky ventures left many to believe Stadia would constitute a yet another short-lived experiment. The company wasted no time proving the skeptics right. Stadia launched as a cloud-based gaming solution designed to lower the barrier of entry to Triple-A experiences. On top of investing on a technological level, Google also positioned game creation at the forefront of its vision. Ambitions of producing multimillion-dollar IP informed its lofty goals, engendering the establishment of the Stadia Games and Entertainment division that oversaw first-party studios. Unfortunately, pre- and post-launch missteps later revealed that Google put the cart before the horse, building advanced technology before partnering with developers who knew how best to leverage it. And when a team of industry veterans did finally come on board, senior leadership expected near-immediate results without the necessary resources in play. As a result, Stadia’s quick demise is far from the only victim of Google’s mismanagement. This is the tragedy of Google Stadia. 0:00 Intro 2:00 Sponsorship 2:38 The Tragedy of Google Stadia Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Dark History of Condemned (& Mystery of Condemned 3)

Jdfgqi7sWs4 | 06 Jan 2023

The Dark History of Condemned (& Mystery of Condemned 3)

🌎Check out Instant Gaming for some great deals ↣ https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/giveaway/GVMERS The representation of horror in gaming wore many faces by the advent of the seventh console generation. Developers equipped with a knack for guiding players through terror-laden adventures had covered everything from zombie narratives and psychological horror to tales of suspense and the supernatural. For its Xbox 360 launch title, Monolith Productions endeavored to explore interactive horror from a different angle, a more brutal, in-your-face point of view teeming with themes about violence and the nuances of human nature. It accomplished as much with 2005’s Condemned: Criminal Origins, then pushed the envelope further upon delivering Condemned 2: Bloodshot in 2008. Condemned’s claustrophobic setting and discomforting atmosphere were complimented by then-unparalleled hand-to-hand combat mechanics. And the decision to centralize an FBI agent following the trail of a serial murderer turned what could’ve been a typical first-person experience into a memorable psychological thriller. Thus, the first Condemned has long enjoyed the status of a revolutionary cult classic, yet many would argue its sequel faded into obscurity not long after hitting the market. Why the second outing failed to garner the adoration afforded to its predecessor has puzzled series faithful for years. But there were some aspects of Condemned 2 that didn’t exactly gel with the path that some assumed the franchise would take. The tone changed, the protagonist—Ethan Thomas—evolved to a polarizing extent, and the mystery that had engulfed the original reached an equally polarizing resolution. While hopes of its potential return linger, Condemned constitutes one horror classic that may not get the opportunity to claw its way through the genre’s latest renaissance. This is the history of Condemned. Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 2:04 The History of Condemned 2:43 Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Dragon Age

sdpLGPb8Bg8 | 01 Jan 2023

The History of Dragon Age

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS NOTE: This is a compilation of our three-part video documentary series about Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition that aired in 2019. When it comes to Western role-playing games, few video game developers are as renowned as Bioware. The Edmonton-based studio’s catalogue is as celebrated as it is influential, with almost all of its titles representing the peaks of their genres in the eras they debuted. Baldur’s Gate brought computer RPGs back in vogue with its sublime, high-fantasy gameplay. Neverwinter NightsKnights masterfully adapted its tenets into a multiplayer-centric experience. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic saw the former games’ narrative finesse melded with the adventurism of the galaxy far, far away. And Mass Effect made all of this Bioware’s own – while taking it to the next level. But being this renowned comes with a high heavy price. Today, gamers are well aware of the struggles the studio dealt with recently during the development of games like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem. Yet the reality is that struggles like these have persisted throughout its entire history, with nearly every major production that Bioware has successfully completed representing a triumph in the face of massive adversity. Dragon Age, Bioware’s much-beloved high-fantasy series, is perhaps most emblematic of this. While each of its mainline entries were made under vastly different circumstances from one another, they all suffered in their own, unique ways. Its third one’s design failed to fully come together until late in its production, and needed to be made in an incredibly unruly engine. Its second one’s development period was one of the most cramped its staff had ever experienced. And its first operated without a consistent team or set of tools for an immensely long – so much so, that many wondered if it was ever going to come out at all. This is the history of Dragon Age: Origins. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Titanfall

5i3qvmOexg8 | 11 Dec 2022

The Rise and Fall of Titanfall

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Thumbnail art by: https://twitter.com/Apzurv The 2007 release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare significantly altered the trajectory of the first-person shooter genre, revolutionizing multiplayer games by introducing now irrevocable standards such as perk and progression systems. In unleashing the groundbreaking experience, developer Infinity Ward turned Call of Duty into a household name, effectively setting the stage for its transition into one of entertainment’s most lucrative brands. But while publisher Activision’s golden goose reached for the stratosphere, a behind-the-scenes falling-out slowly begat a very public legal dispute. Infinity Ward’s ousted co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella refused to sit idly by after their split from Activision, however, instead striking out on their own with dozens of Call of Duty veterans tagging along. Respawn Entertainment came as the result of this exodus. And strategic deals with Electronic Arts and Microsoft allowed the studio of industry veterans to venture beyond their wheelhouse, specifically to a distant future ravaged by war, wars fought with wall-running pilots and battle tanks. Frenetic movement ruled the day in Titanfall, alongside the exoskeletons that players could summon mid-battle. Critics and players lauded the first game’s ingenious design, though its online-only accessibility left much to be desired for those who wanted more out of the futuristic world. A second entry righted the wrongs of its predecessor on multiple counts, yet an ill-timed launch window and issues with hackers stunted its potential. The series more or less lives on in Respawn’s uber popular Apex Legends, but the battle royale lacks many of its forefather’s more enduring charms. Much to the chagrin of Titanfall faithful, any hope for the brand’s proper return never lingers for very long. This is the rise and fall of Titanfall. #SaveTitanfall Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Microsoft vs. Platinum and The Death of Scalebound

Z4vCqybFrxw | 05 Dec 2022

Microsoft vs. Platinum and The Death of Scalebound

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Capcom veterans Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya, and Shinji Mikami joined forces in 2007 to found PlatinumGames. The company developed an impressive stable of IP within a matter of years, operating out of Capcom’s backyard in Osaka, Japan, while producing critically acclaimed games such as Bayonetta and Vanquish for Sega. These titles and several others set a cadence for Platinum, mixing combo-based action with over-the-top visuals for incomparable interactive experiences. All the while, however, Hideki Kamiya had another idea brewing in the back of his mind, a concept that would finally give respect to the larger-than-life creatures he’d long adored. Scalebound was to star a young man stranded in a fantastical world whose companion, the fire-breathing dragon named Thuban, constituted the last of its kind. Instead of an antagonistic or purely functional relationship, the two unlikely allies forged a bond that united them across storytelling and gameplay mechanics. Publisher Microsoft Studios fell head over heels for Platinum’s pitch, signing a deal that would make the sprawling adventure exclusive to Xbox One. The public similarly grew attached to Scalebound, fawning over every screenshot and morsel of gameplay footage shown during its fleeting life cycle. But it never actually saw the light of day, not outside of well-crafted vertical slices and glowing press previews. Announced during the nadir of the Xbox One’s early days, Scalebound seemed a beacon of hope for the beleaguered console. Thus, all were surprised when Microsoft abruptly ceased development on the project, pulling the plug the year it was to hit store shelves. And the fact that Microsoft owns the intellectual property rights means the keys to Kamiya’s unique vision remain outside of PlatinumGames’ reach for an indeterminate length of time. This is the tragedy of Scalebound. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Controversial History of Manhunt

8EzgqXDlv8g | 20 Nov 2022

The Controversial History of Manhunt

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The never-ending violence in video games discussion has revolved around a select few experiences. Mortal Kombat, Carmeggedon, and Grand Theft Auto count among the most infamous. So, too, does the murder-filled Rockstar Games staple, Manhunt. Released in 2003 on the PlayStation 2, and then on PC and Xbox in 2004, the first Manhunt captivated players with its premise of a former death row inmate who’s coerced into killing at the behest of a mystifying figure. Obscene violence steeped in dizzying levels of gore made for what some consider a murder simulator. Yet, others, especially in retrospect, perceive a semblance of depth that’s long gone unappreciated. Everything that intrigued gamers and countless critics about it didn’t go over well in other circles, however. Controversy enveloped Manhunt soon after its arrival, manifested in the outcries of parent-led organizations, the violent video game-banning efforts of many politicians, and the discourse surrounding the psychological effects of such games. Arguably, the contempt that plagued Manhunt harkened back to that which was leveled at horror films throughout the 1980s. It even became embroiled in rumors and conjecture regarding a murder investigation. Despite the tumultuous drama, which inevitably led to Manhunt being banned in a number of countries, Rockstar managed to secure approval for a sequel. Unsurprisingly, the mere announcement of Manhunt 2 spawned a fair helping of controversy. And, still, both adventures went on to become beloved cult classics. This is the history of Manhunt. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Watch Dogs

scpZE5i01Aw | 04 Nov 2022

The Rise and Fall of Watch Dogs

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The use of computer-run industrial control systems has grown exponentially over the last decade and change. Such infrastructures help cities and nations around the world manage power plants, surveillance, and countless other integral functions. But as sci-fi media has long predicted, interconnected supercomputers can facilitate just as many problems as they solve. In 2010, 100,000 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, or SCADA, networks were discovered to have been targeted with the sophisticated Stuxnet virus, a digital weapon allegedly co-engineered by U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies to debilitate the Iranian nuclear program. Developer Ubisoft Montréal studied such headline news when formulating its cautionary tale about the horrors of an interconnected world in Watch Dogs. Announced with an awe-inspiring trailer during E3 2012, Watch Dogs counted among first games shown for the eighth console generation. While its final form failed to fulfill the promise of the original teaser, many would argue the title’s gameplay mechanics still showcased the power of next-gen technology. These talking points undoubtedly boosted Watch Dogs’s sales numbers early on and helped it sustain long legs with over 10 million copies sold. But this incredible momentum waxed and waned over the course of the series’s life cycle. Watch Dogs 2 released to better reception, though it came and went with little fanfare. And the third installment found itself beset by game-breaking performance issues at launch. Watch Dogs has, thus far, managed to claw its way back from multiple downturns, raising questions as to how Ubisoft will reinvent the hacking-focused series next. This is the Rise and Fall of Watch Dogs. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Dino Crisis

lnly1FlWWFs | 21 Oct 2022

The Rise and Fall of Dino Crisis

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Capcom published the Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara-created Resident Evil for the original PlayStation in 1996, lighting the way for survival horror as a genre and reinvigorating interest in zombies across popular culture. Several sequels and spinoffs followed in the wake of its meteoric success, and though Mikami produced each one, his hands-on involvement in the franchise’s day-to-day development significantly reduced after the release of Resident Evil 2 in 1998. Such a pivot gave the visionary room to lead production on Dino Crisis, another tension-filled adventure that shook survival horror to its core. Mikami set his sights on a sub level of the horror spectrum, however, conceptualizing the “panic horror” sub-genre to differentiate Resident Evil’s fear factor from that of Dino Crisis. Like its undead enemies, the zombie series induced terror slowly, evoking tension at a plodding pace which allowed players time to escape, hide, and gather their thoughts. Dino Crisis permitted no such reprieve, its prehistoric antagonists proving faster, stronger, and smarter than the average Resident Evil foe. This change in tempo, along with the introduction of a 3D engine, begat a winning recipe, one that turned Dino Crisis into Capcom’s next big franchise. Naturally, sequels were pursued and developed. Many would contend Dino Crisis 2 stood head and shoulders above its predecessor. Others were unconvinced. Reverence for the Dino Crisis follow-up entries effectively stopped there, with most fans harboring no love for titles such as Dino Crisis 3. Worst still, the brand’s dormancy following the third mainline outing suggested Capcom struggled with how best to bring its digital dinosaurs back from extinction. This is the rise and fall of Dino Crisis. Thumbnail art by Lito Perezito (https://twitter.com/LitoPerezito) Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Abandoned by Rockstar - The Tragedy of Red Dead Online

06dddb5-dgw | 14 Oct 2022

Abandoned by Rockstar - The Tragedy of Red Dead Online

Get Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/gvmers - Enter promo code GVMERS for 83% off and get 3 extra months for free! Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Rockstar Games had only explored relatively rudimentary modes of multiplayer in its games before the advent of Red Dead Redemption in 2010. The American West-set adventure, with its cooperative and competitive offerings, engendered the development studio’s first step into the wild west of expansive online gameplay. It made sense, then, that Grand Theft Auto 5’s multiplayer suite, GTA Online, allowed the team to unfurl its wings and do so in a way that generated multimillion-dollar earnings via in-game purchasing. But GTA Online didn’t achieve incredible success overnight. Several years and various post-launch updates would land before the experience hit its stride with 2015’s Heists update. The hope was that Rockstar would afford Red Dead Redemption 2’s online component the same room to grow. Red Dead Online entered beta weeks after the prequel’s story campaign arrived in stores. It almost instantly became mired in controversy, too, mostly because of balancing issues with the in-game economy. Rockstar addressed the community’s concerns with haste, leading many to believe the move marked the start of a cadence that would always see the developer quickly respond to player feedback. This rapport between the production team and its Red Dead Online user base lasted for only so long, however. A frustrated community felt the need to beg for meaningful content updates within two years of the multiplayer mode’s release. And after about three years, pleas for Rockstar to “Save Red Dead Online” had turned into a trending hashtag that even caught the attention of executives at Red Dead publisher Take-Two Interactive. Unfortunately, these noble efforts proved for naught, since, once again, the future of the western-themed franchise found itself playing second fiddle to the creation of new Grand Theft Auto content. This is the tragedy of Red Dead Online. Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 2:12 Video 3:17 Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Tragedy and Comeback of Cyberpunk 2077

y2cKUzMjxcY | 30 Sep 2022

The Tragedy and Comeback of Cyberpunk 2077

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Approximately three years ahead of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s May 2015 release, Polish game developer CD Projekt RED announced plans to develop a Triple-A project based on Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk pen-and-paper RPG. Studio Co-Founder Marcin Iwiński promised the then-unnamed game would boast all the “hallmarks” of The Witcher series, its design molded with “mature and demanding players” in mind. The development team and Pondsmith expressed their confidence in the title’s ability to set a “new standard” for futuristic role-playing games, with “high production values” serving as the most significant goal. No one could have anticipated how short the resulting product would fall from expectations. After a lengthy period of silence, the marketing blitz for Cyberpunk 2077 got off to an incredible start in June 2018, courtesy of an E3 presentation that would fuel years of hype and millions of pre-order purchases. Not even multiple delays and an eventually admitted lack of transparency could curtail interest, not when the neon-drenched streets of Night City and a Keanu Reeves-starring narrative seemed so enticing. Upon launch, however, the glitz and glamor faded, obscured by missing textures, game-breaking performance issues, and a litany of other glitches that ruined the experience for players on consoles and high-end PCs. Those who spent eight years awaiting Cyberpunk 2077 were gifted a skeleton of CD Projekt RED’s vision, one so marred by mismanagement that the company’s hard-fought reputation seemingly plummeted overnight. Should the team find a way to right its myriad wrongs, many will still remember this once ambitious endeavor for having one of the most disastrous launches in video game history. This is the tragedy of Cyberpunk 2077. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Abandoned by Blizzard - The Tragedy of Heroes of the Storm

-7vS2WF3iyA | 16 Sep 2022

Abandoned by Blizzard - The Tragedy of Heroes of the Storm

🕹️ Join the millions of gamers optimizing their setup with the Opera GX browser. Throw resource-hungry browsers away, and click with confidence with Opera GX: https://operagx.gg/GVMERS2 Thanks to Opera for sponsoring this video! Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The genre that encompasses games such as Dota and League of Legends sprouted from Defense of the Ancients, a fan-developed mod designed within the framework of Warcraft 3. It seemed fitting, then, that Warcraft creator Blizzard Entertainment would announce a multiplayer online battle arena, or MOBA, of its own during BlizzCon 2010. A fully-fledged MOBA, the project bore many names and assumed multiple forms throughout its relatively brief lifecycle. It first appeared manifested as Blizzard DOTA, then adopted the title of Blizzard All-Stars due to a legal dispute, before the developer settled on Heroes of the Storm. But the name arguably mattered little overall, especially since players had made their preferences known by the time Blizzard tried cutting itself a piece of the battle arena pie. A couple delays and a production overhaul meant Heroes of the Storm wouldn’t arrive until roughly five years after stealing the spotlight at BlizzCon in 2010. When its servers finally came online, Valve and Riot Games had cornered the market with Dota and League of Legends, respectively, leaving barely any room for another property to muscle its way inside. Still, Blizzard made an attempt, and succeeded to some degree. Heroes of the Storm challenged the familiar design paradigms of battle arenas, which allowed the Warcraft studio to carve out a unique space. Professional and collegiate-level Esports leagues even spawned from the endeavor, yet Heroes never quite reached the heights of its competitors. As a result, the game’s few successes did nothing to stave off its early trip to the graveyard of discontinued online services. This is the tragedy of Heroes of the Storm. Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 2:00 Video 3:12 Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Sony's Failed "Forza Killer" - The Tragedy of Driveclub

oOf5Vnapwjw | 09 Sep 2022

Sony's Failed "Forza Killer" - The Tragedy of Driveclub

Thanks to Keeps for sponsoring - Head to https://keeps.com/gvmers to get 50% off your first order of hair loss treatment. Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Hardware manufacturers typically position racing games as the premier showpiece of a new console’s graphical and performance capabilities. The original PlayStation had Ridge Racer; the first Xbox hit the scene several years later with Project Gotham Racing in tow. While Microsoft managed to ship Xbox One with a first-party racer—Forza Motorsport 5—the PlayStation 4 had to rely on third-party fare such as Need for Speed: Rivals. Notably, Driveclub from Evolution Studios initially constituted the must-have racing experience on PS4, but issues with the game's core conceit postponed it well beyond the console launch window. Having long developed top-tier racing titles for PlayStation consoles, the team at Evolution dreamt of ushering the genre into a new era, wherein community-building and team-based racing occupied center stage. The studio arguably accomplished as much with Driveclub but not without more than a fair few growing pains. Throughout its stunted life cycle, the arcade racer accelerated from a disastrous launch to a redemption arc that hit its stride too late. Many a PS4 owner still remembers the thrill of speeding through real-world-inspired locales, though, racing or tackling challenges to boost the dominance of their community-made club. Evolution’s injection of motorcycle races a year after launch further amplified the high-octane experience, and seemingly left the door open for the game’s continued expansion into new avenues. Unfortunately, the untimely closure of the development house resulted in Driveclub riding off into the sunset with only a middling VR port following in its wake. This is the tragedy of Driveclub. Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 2:14 Video 3:06 Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Sony's Colossal Failure - The Tragedy of The Order: 1886

WyzMZcQ1Naw | 25 Aug 2022

Sony's Colossal Failure - The Tragedy of The Order: 1886

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The graphical leap between the seventh and eighth console generations proved momentous. Though titles such as The Last of Us pushed the older hardware to its limits, the first showing of something like Killzone: Shadow Fall running on PlayStation 4 demonstrated how the boost in memory and raw processing power could enhance interactive entertainment. From environments replete with higher-quality details to real-time lighting effects that dynamically elevated the digital world, the PS4 and Xbox One bridged the gap to realism that had long eluded video games. Early in the generation, no game came quite as close to bordering the line of authenticity as Ready at Dawn’s The Order: 1886. Ready at Dawn often described The Order as the culmination of everything it had learned in its 10-plus year history. In developing God of War projects for the PSP, the studio endeavored to squeeze every ounce of power possible out of the handheld. The same rules applied when it came time to produce a new IP for PS4. As a result, many dubbed The Order: 1886 the most impressive-looking game on console upon its February 2015 release, thanks in no small part to the proprietary RAD Engine 4.0—world-class technology which ensured even the smallest of details presented themselves in character models, environments, and the various objects complementing both. However, an obsessive emphasis on the minutiae came at a cost to the macro, so much so that the experience ran less than 10 hours in length for the average player. News of the short campaign made the rounds ahead of launch, rousing discourse about the value of full-priced games and stifling much of the hype surrounding The Order: 1886. Unfortunately, that one blow almost guaranteed Ready at Dawn would never get to complete its alternate history epic. This is the tragedy of The Order: 1886. Stock footage provided by Videvo, downloaded from videvo.net Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Call of Juarez

kBA3E42bOlc | 18 Aug 2022

The Rise and Fall of Call of Juarez

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Video games have replicated myriad historical periods, recreating the likes of ancient military conflicts in strategy games and both world wars in third and first-person shooters. World War II, in particular, has long remained a favorite backdrop for first-person military shooters, and by the mid-aughts, such titles dominated the genre in nearly every conceivable way. Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Medal of Honor enjoyed great success on this front, effectively laying the foundation for all manner of copycats. But Polish developer Techland adopted a different approach when devising plans for its second stab at an FPS property. For Call of Juarez, the studio turned to the Wild West, a period in American history whose romanticization spawned the western film genre that inspired several generations of popular culture. This iconic and resonating era surprisingly received little love within the realm of gaming, however, which further stimulated Techland’s interest in pursuing a “serious” western adventure. While Call of Juarez never garnered much in the way of high praise, the franchise’s first two outings possessed a certain charm that many would argue dissipated as the series trotted on. The third entry, the dismally reviewed Call of Juarez: The Cartel, drew the shortest straw of them all upon failing to justify its drastic shift to a modern-day setting. And though Gunslinger—the fourth and final installment—delivered a thrilling arcade-like romp, it, not unlike the IP as a whole, faded into obscurity once the initial excitement surrounding its release wore off. Techland has since moved on to greener pastures, its talents reinvigorating first-person action in an entirely different genre. But those who long for Old West-set exploits may fondly remember the days gone by when Call of Juarez held more promise than the Gold Rush. This is the rise and fall of Call of Juarez. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

A $105,000,000 Disaster - The Tragedy of APB: All Points Bulletin

RKLYwqbqwlE | 27 Jul 2022

A $105,000,000 Disaster - The Tragedy of APB: All Points Bulletin

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Credited as the original creator of Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, programmer David Jones founded Realtime Worlds in 2002. The Dundee, Scotland-based studio produced Crackdown first, an open-world experience wherein players portrayed a biologically enhanced Agent tasked with dismantling crime syndicates in a dystopian metropolis. Its incredible success propelled Realtime Worlds to greater heights, providing the cache necessary to recruit additional staff and focus on the pursuit of a far more ambitious project—the MMO that initially hit the ground running as APB: All Points Bulletin. Realtime Worlds touted APB as an urban MMO buttressed by the cops and robbers motif; players could assume the role of either side of the law, wreaking havoc as criminals or toeing the line as law enforcement in the name of justice. While Jones widely talked up the notion of reinventing massively multiplayer online games, the public and press could only imagine a GTA-styled MMO, giving way to misconceptions that drove unreasonably high expectations. In the end, it all came tumbling down without much notice. Five years of development, multiple rounds of funding, two publishers, and a meandering vision climaxed in one of the industry’s most shocking failures. It didn’t help that APB remained in production so long that it found itself competing in a market that evolved past what the project had on offer. Thus, the down-and-out MMO’s chances of successfully mounting a comeback were contingent on factors well outside the realm of bug fixes and better-balanced gameplay. And its eventual return failed to reignite widespread interest in the product, proving that even the best-intentioned endeavors rarely receive a second chance at a first impression. This is the tragedy of APB: All Points Bulletin. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Crackdown

aMwGGSpZgzU | 20 Jul 2022

The Rise and Fall of Crackdown

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Grand Theft Auto Co-Creator David Jones founded developer Realtime Worlds in 2002, then set out to produce an experience that could venture beyond the confines of GTA. The studio placed such a weight on itself with its first project, Crackdown, an action-packed, sandbox adventure that provided players with free-form styles of play, intuitive game controls, and a true feeling of empowerment. While a super-cop tasked with ridding their city of the criminal element represented the lens through which users explored Crackdown’s Pacific City setting, narrative storytelling took a backseat in favor of building a world that revolved primarily around gameplay and exploration. Realtime Worlds succeeded in spades upon Crackdown’s 2007 release on Xbox 360, managing to carve out a unique space in a market that had slowly become inundated with Grand Theft Auto lookalikes. Games such as True Crime, Scarface: The World is Yours, and The Godfather all tried muscling in on the territory controlled by Rockstar Games, thrusting players into seedy underworlds with fairly traditional tales of big city crime. David Jones’ crew at Realtime Worlds took a different tact, injecting special abilities and an even greater sense of freedom into the formula. Given Crackdown’s positive reception and commercial triumphs, many were eager to see how the then-nascent franchise would further energize the open-world genre. And while Microsoft counted among those interested in the IP's future, the publisher entrusted its sequels to different teams, thereby leaving Crackdown in the hands of stewards who couldn’t quite crack the code on what made the first super-powered adventure stand out from the crowd. This is the rise and fall of Crackdown. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Assassin's Creed

PuP4JTbdqTc | 05 Jul 2022

The History of Assassin's Creed

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Historically, Nizari Ismailis, the much-feared hashashins known to modernity as assassins, constituted a Shia Islam sect that employed political murder as a chief means of dismantling their political and religious enemies. The 11th Century Muslim missionary Hassan-i-Sabbah founded the religio-political movement in support of Nizār, the Fatimid Caliph heir-designate who led an ineffective revolt following the denial of his succession. Interestingly, details about this Order of Assassins relayed in Arkon Daraul’s A History of Secret Societies, as well as development on a sequel to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, inspired Patrice Désilets to spearhead the creation of Ubisoft’s multimillion dollar Assassin’s Creed property. But what started as an experiment of swapping out a Prince for an action-oriented hero quickly morphed into a sandbox adventure built to accommodate player freedom. The advent of the second Assassin’s Creed in 2009 saw this simplicity slowly begin to fade, as the scale of the narrative and open-world structure expanded considerably. Such growth never slowed either, with each mainline installment proving more ambitious than the last by hopping between time periods and protagonists, establishing larger worlds, and introducing role-playing mechanics that once seemed foreign to the core pillars of the franchise. Thus, fans have found themselves caught in the middle of an Ancient Greek conspiracy, traversing the sweltering sands of Ancient Egypt, navigating the squalor of Victorian London, and nearly everything else in between. And it’s been nothing short of a bumpy road, replete with missteps and triumphs. Given the brand’s storied past, then, its future could give way to an infinite number of possibilities. This is the history of Assassin’s Creed. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

How To Kill A Game - The Tragedy of Marvel's Avengers

LDNpHIWLfFQ | 09 Jun 2022

How To Kill A Game - The Tragedy of Marvel's Avengers

Get 20% OFF + Free Shipping with code GVMERS at https://mnscpd.com/GVMERS #manscapedpartner Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have starred in dozens upon dozens of video games in the last four decades. The iconic web-slinger’s first interactive adventure dates back to the Spider-Man action game released on the Atari 2600 in 1982, for example. That same decade also saw The Hulk and Captain America migrate to the world of gaming. However, an actual Avengers game would not hit the market until Data East shipped its arcade beat ‘em up Captain America and the Avengers in 1991. A range of mobile games, crossover titles, and LEGO-branded experiences have since allowed players to assemble their favorite heroes, yet no title was expected to capture the weight of being an Avenger quite like 2020’s Marvel’s Avengers. Alongside Marvel Games, developer Crystal Dynamics and publisher Square Enix unveiled Marvel’s Avengers during E3 2019, making promises that engendered high hopes for the quality of the project. Free and regular post-launch content updates counted among the selling points, as did the insistence that “pay-to-win scenarios” would have no place in the final product. Within approximately one year of the Marvel’s Avengers release on PC and consoles, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix sat on the receiving end of furious backlash for backtracking on both promises. Platform-exclusive content, performance issues, and unwanted revisions to the core systems further compounded the negative discourse that long plagued Marvel’s Avengers. These shortcomings and myriad others hurt Square Enix’s bottom line, too, even in a year where Final Fantasy 7 Remake managed to exceed sales expectations. While Crystal Dynamics’s commitment to improving the live-service occasionally bore fruit, some of the studio’s efforts seemed exemplary of taking one step forward and two steps back. This is the tragedy of Marvel’s Avengers. 0:00 Video 5:32 Sponsorship 6:24 Video Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Ruined Before Release - The Tragedy of Evolve

Y_FgOFr_K6A | 03 May 2022

Ruined Before Release - The Tragedy of Evolve

🕹 Join the millions of gamers optimizing their setup with the Opera GX browser. Throw resource-hungry browsers away, and click with confidence with Opera GX: https://operagx.gg/GVMERS Thanks to Opera for sponsoring this video! Left 4 Dead’s 2008 release redefined multiplayer, injecting new life into the first-person shooter genre by emphasizing cooperative gameplay above all else. Series creator Turtle Rock Studios began tinkering with early versions of the concept on a whim, a bit of after-work fun not initially intended for public consumption. But even before the crew started toiling away on the genre-defining zombie game, creative leads had another grand idea lingering in the back of their minds, one that would later do for asymmetrical multiplayer what Left 4 Dead did for co-op. Nascent concepts for Evolve married hunting games Cabela’s Big Game Hunter and Deer Hunter with the premise of extended boss battles. From there, Turtle Rock devised gameplay wherein a group of players would assume the role of Hunters tasked with tracking larger-than-life monsters on an alien planet. In a stroke of game design genius, the developers assigned a lone user the part of monster, the predator and prey who evolved in stages throughout the match. Multiple publishers were drawn to the idea, so much so that Turtle Rock had little to no trouble finding a home for Evolve on two separate occasions. The asymmetrical title also remained a media darling and fan-favorite appearance at trade shows for much of its preview cycle. And barring minor technical hiccups at launch, the content spoke for itself—offering a unique experience with the potential for exponential growth. So what went wrong? How did a groundbreaking, 2K Games-published phenomenon become saddled with so much baggage that its online community dwindled drastically in only a matter of weeks? The answer lies in unforced errors that managed to disrupt anticipation for the game just a month before release. This is the tragedy of Evolve. Intro: 0:00 Sponsorship: 02:16 Video: 3:45 Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History (and Controversy) of Left 4 Dead

mhSdeh1iYBw | 27 Apr 2022

The History (and Controversy) of Left 4 Dead

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Like Counter-Strike before it, Valve’s and Turtle Rock Studios’s Left 4 Dead altered the course of multiplayer video games. Its advent in the late 2000s laid the foundation for modern cooperative shooters, placing teamwork at the forefront of a zombie-centric experience that penalized individualistic thinking. Notably, four unique Survivors acted as player avatars teaming up in a world overrun with infected humans, a welcome change of pace at a time when friends had become accustomed to fighting against one another in online shooters. The original Left 4 Dead stumbled out of the gate in some respects, plagued with server-side issues and technical errors on PC and console. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the development crew to address these shortcomings in post-launch patches. DLC increased the co-op title’s staying power, too, ensuring users often had a reason to revisit the undead-infested world. And while Left 4 Dead spawned a sequel that further elevated the cooperative horror genre, the spirit of the franchise would ultimately live on in IP that followed in its footsteps—including the Paydays, World War Zs, and Back 4 Bloods of the world. In fact, Left 4 Dead’s influence grew so prevalent that it became synonymous with zombie fiction in the interactive medium, resulting in brand crossovers with the likes of Dead by Daylight, Dying Light, and Zombie Army 4: Dead War. Given Left 4 Dead’s continued dominance, it’s hard to believe there existed a time when the groundbreaking property wasn’t even meant to see the light of day. This is the history of Left 4 Dead. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Infamous

8FnmBh5KuKI | 12 Apr 2022

The Rise and Fall of Infamous

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Once the seventh console generation arrived, licensing agreements constituted the pillar upon which countless superhero video games materialized, many of them manifesting as movie and TV adaptations. From Batman and X-Men to Spider-Man and the Justice League, comic book enthusiasts had their fill of interactive heroes-in-tights shenanigans. Since few experiences featured original characters built from the ground up with interactivity in mind, Sly Cooper developer Sucker Punch Productions attempted to break new ground in the superhero space upon entering development on InFamous around 2006. InFamous’s core concept proved simple, its pitch structured around the fantasy of an average, everyday man acquiring superpowers, then deciding whether to wield them for the good of others or personal gain. The studio left such decisions to the players, thereby bolstering the power fantasy with a Karma system that positioned the protagonist as heroic or villainous. Notably, two sequels and standalone expansions spawned from the first game’s success, with each adventure evolving the proven gameplay formula. But not every change presented in the franchise’s final phase garnered favor. A new lead character equipped with powers far removed from the old left some InFamous faithful reeling as they clung to the remnants of a bygone era. And since Sucker Punch has moved on and embraced the call of another IP, one question lingers for those who fondly remember InFamous during its heyday—will the electrifying series ever reclaim its former glory? This is the rise and fall of InFamous. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

A Saints Row Identity Crisis - The Tragedy of Agents of Mayhem

OPPX4CaG5Bw | 03 Apr 2022

A Saints Row Identity Crisis - The Tragedy of Agents of Mayhem

Download Genshin Impact for free: https://hoyo.link/d4fbUPA6 Use code MS7C3SV8DMZH (valid March 30th – May 10th) to get 60 Primogems and 5 Adventurer's Experience. Carving out a niche in an oversaturated market has never been easy, yet developer Volition managed to do so with its open-world series Saints Row, even while in direct competition with the juggernaut that is Grand Theft Auto. The success of Saints Row very much counts as an underdog story, one wherein the power of unique branding proved instrumental to a product’s ability to defeat the odds. Though the franchise’s last few outings made it seem as though the 3rd Street Saints regularly battled identity crises, that level of chaos, which in turn fostered variety, is what endeared fans the most. Unfortunately, whatever identity crisis beset Agents of Mayhem did it absolutely no favors. Billed as a departure from Saints Row, despite overt references to that very IP, Agents of Mayhem served as another example of Volition’s attempt to craft its own niche. Leveraging its expertise with open-world adventures, the studio incorporated elements from hero-based titles into its repertoire. Still, the promise of novel gameplay ideas did little to intrigue potential customers, many of whom already had their fill of hero shooters by the time Agents of Mayhem arrived. And Saints Row fans longing for a fifth installment were left confused by a marketing campaign that targeted them, yet failed to illustrate what the Agents of Mayhem experience actually entailed. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Not every game succeeds, and not every studio hits the mark with each new release, even if its past output seems nothing short of stellar. Missteps happen. Volition just so happened to stumble during a pivotal season of change. This is the tragedy of Agents of Mayhem. 0:00 Intro 1:59 Sponsorship 3:20 Video Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Controversial History of Mercenaries

vLxk-OUTkKw | 20 Mar 2022

The Controversial History of Mercenaries

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Following the release of Rockstar Games’ seminal Grand Theft Auto 3 in 2001, GTA clones of all kinds flooded the market, each one angling to capitalize on the sandbox game’s popularity. That era of gaming lasted well into the 2010s, giving birth to Mafia, The Getaway, and Saints Row. Even brand licenses imitated GTA’s winning formula—Scarface, The Godfather, and The Sopranos received video game adaptations in 2006 to varying degrees of success. With 2005’s Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, developer Pandemic Studios delivered a GTA clone that bucked the common trend, sidestepping crime-ridden urban environments to instead use a politically unstable Korea as its setting. The end result offered a revolutionary experience whose main rival made it to market in the 2008 sequel, World in Flames. Rather than gangsters chasing the lap of luxury, Mercenaries starred guns-for-hire caught in the middle of political upheaval. As opposed to crime bosses and kingpins, characters in Mercenaries more often than not conferred with factions that represented the interests of entire countries. Critics and players considered the series a nice change of pace, nicely punctuated by Pandemic’s unapologetically over-the-top gameplay. And though a third entry may have further expanded upon Pandemic’s militaristic answer to the open-world chaos of Grand Theft Auto, Mercenaries died with the unceremonious shuttering of the development studio. It was a death whose impact lingered as open-world games evolved beyond the parameters previously solidified by Rockstar and later adjusted by the likes of Pandemic Studios. This is the history of Mercenaries. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Unexpected History of Star Wars: Empire at War

pDyDWARDjkg | 27 Feb 2022

The Unexpected History of Star Wars: Empire at War

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Interactive Star Wars adventures ranging from the abysmal to the superb have permeated arcade, console, and PC gaming since the early 1980s. From side-scrolling platformers to demolition racers, there were no shortage of games based on a galaxy far, far away by the turn of the century. LucasArts, to little success, even dabbled in a fair few real-time strategy endeavors, none of which held a candle to 2006’s acclaimed Star Wars: Empire at War. Set before the events of Episode IV: A New Hope, Empire at War allowed players to participate in the saga’s epic clashes on land and in space. Some considered this particular outing a spiritual successor to the brand’s first RTS game—1998’s poorly received Star Wars: Rebellion. However, Empire at War managed to succeed where its predecessors failed, thanks to the Las Vegas-based team responsible for its creation. Though a 15-year-old title in a niche genre, there remains a thriving player-base for Empire at War, its community primarily bolstered by fan-made mods that every so often incorporate campaigns, bug fixes, and graphical improvements. Developer Petroglyph Games’ support never ceased, evidenced by the new maps and content updates that have for years provided players with reasons to revisit the memorable RTS. And since it seems as though hopes for a sequel dwindled long ago, the 2006 release counts as one experience fans will want to hold dear in perpetuity. This is the history of Star Wars: Empire at War. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Army of Two

Sp0-pjg1yxI | 13 Feb 2022

The Rise and Fall of Army of Two

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Military shooters have come and gone in droves over the last two decades, the genre long proving a tough area of the market to crack and even tougher to maintain a semblance of success in. Thus, developers and publishers looking to make an impact typically push gimmicks the likes of Battlefield and Call of Duty can’t offer, be it Haze’s Nectar enhancements, the Time Manipulation Device in Singularity, or the Hollywood-inspired firefights of Black. For EA Montréal’s Army of Two, the fresh, new gimmick relied on something players were already well-versed in—cooperative gameplay. But where most shooters featuring co-op embedded two-player options on top of their single-player campaigns, Electronic Arts’ Montréal team built Army of Two from the ground-up with cooperative play in mind. This core design decision facilitated strategic, two-person gameplay that forced duos to always think and act as such, regardless of the extraneous circumstances. The resulting experience came in the form of a refreshing third-person shooter, its rough-around-the-edges qualities counterbalanced by a world of great potential, which fueled EA Montréal’s development of the 2010 sequel, The 40th Day. Two competent installments saddled with middling reviews and appreciable sales figures could not save Army of Two from corporate interference, though. And once the much-despised third entry, The Devil's Cartel, bombed critically and commercially in 2013, EA saw no reason to further invest in the struggling IP whose few redeeming qualities fell by the wayside amid a forced identity crisis. This is the rise and fall of Army of Two. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

An Avoidable Disaster - The Tragedy of Mass Effect Andromeda

ETYml7oU5UA | 30 Jan 2022

An Avoidable Disaster - The Tragedy of Mass Effect Andromeda

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS After shipping Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on PC in 2004, a team led by Casey Hudson entered pre-production on Mass Effect, the project that would allow BioWare to explore its own space opera across a three-part epic. Mass Effect’s groundbreaking choice-based systems and role-playing elements set the bar for many RPGs that followed, and solidified BioWare as one of gaming’s most pioneering studios. An innovative save system capable of carrying user progress across each entry further elevated the experience. But the characters, the stories, the carefully crafted lore both pronounced and subtle, along with the player’s intimate role in it all, encouraged millions to flock aboard the Normandy in every form it took. The perceived belittlement of the player’s role at the trilogy’s end tainted the journey for some, however, leaving whatever came next with a decidedly tall order to fill. Shifting their focus to the new IP later known as Anthem, Mass Effect leads at BioWare’s main office in Edmonton assigned the next installment to BioWare Montréal, the support group previously responsible for Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer and Omega DLC. A long road lay ahead for the team, its destination locked to the Andromeda galaxy, pulling Mass Effect away from the Milky Way, Commander Shepard, and the once all-encompassing Reaper threat. Other challenges beyond the stressors of changing the scenery and protagonist beset much of the project’s development, though. An unclear vision, mismanagement, bouts of infighting, and technological woes each contributed to Mass Effect: Andromeda’s less-than-stellar release as well as the series’ impromptu hiatus. This is the tragedy of Mass Effect: Andromeda. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Strange History of Three Different Prey Games

VCVk6PiQDJo | 28 Dec 2021

The Strange History of Three Different Prey Games

Play World of Tanks here: https://tanks.ly/3DTE1Su Thank you World of Tanks for sponsoring this video. Registering using this link you’ll get: Medium tank T3 Covert with a 100% trained crew and a Garage slot Holiday Stamp Antiduplicator Charge 1,000 Shards The rewards are ONLY for new players who register for the first time on the Wargaming portal. Upon launching Duke Nukem 3D, 3D Realms was unknowingly on its way to becoming an integral part in the popularization of first-person shooters. For the studio’s creative minds, there existed a desire to fundamentally elevate the genre’s design, gameplay, and storytelling potential. Such aspirations were what motivated the inception of Prey in 1995. To achieve its ambitions, 3D Realms set about developing a new game engine to run Prey and future endeavors. These goals, and countless others, strained the workload, resulting in a series of unmet expectations. For years, the genre evolved without its influence; the likes of Battlefield and Call of Duty rose to the top, establishing a new norm while Prey endured development hell. But Prey, when it finally emerged from the depths, offered an experience unlike any other. While there’s little to suggest it marked the seminal release 3D Realms had dreamt of, Prey’s 2006 adventure merited applause for at least attempting to reinvent the wheel. What unfortunately followed were myriad stumbling blocks that plagued the IP for several years thereafter. A sequel was greenlit, announced, then cancelled. And though the franchise changed hands on more than one occasion, both installments managed to follow 3D Realms’s basic vision by striving to enrich the genre. Today, Prey has evolved in its own right, distant from the promise of the original, but still honoring the desires held by a small group of developers 25 years ago. The journey wasn’t easy, though few would argue it hasn’t paid off in spades. This is the history of Prey. Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 1:55 Video 3:06 Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Game That Killed Its Own Studio - The Tragedy of Haze

ghtS5D8J_HY | 17 Dec 2021

The Game That Killed Its Own Studio - The Tragedy of Haze

Thanks Techland for sponsor this video! Check out Dying Light, the game will be on 70% Sale between the 9th and 21st December! Check it out here https://wehy.pe/y/1/GVMERS #ad Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Founded in 1999 by former Rare developers who served as creative forces on GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark, developer Free Radical Design built what many consider among the most inventive first-person shooters of the 2000s. The TimeSplitters series especially set the world on fire with exciting time travel elements. Free Radical’s subsequent project, Second Sight, brought its own unique brand of thrilling gameplay to the table as well, courtesy of various psychic mechanics. The Nottingham-based group tried pushing the envelope further when designing Haze, a PlayStation 3 exclusive primarily remembered for playing a role in the studio’s collapse. Haze didn’t bear the look of an ill-fated project in the years leading up to its May 2008 release. On the contrary, Free Radical and publisher Ubisoft never seemed anything less than proud of the first-person shooter’s progress. And apart from minor technical concerns months before launch, previews and other public showings were met with predominantly positive reception. Free Radical possessed the right ingredients—a world-renowned development team known for producing seminal experiences, the backing of a major publisher, and a gameplay hook that married well with an intriguing futuristic plot. Unfortunately, technical shortcomings and other circumstances beyond the developers’s control greatly hindered their ability to deliver the final product as promised. Players instead found themselves navigating a stale experience that failed to uphold the standards established across Free Radical’s otherwise stellar pedigree. At its core, then, Haze constituted the result of a talented team doing its best with the inferior hand it was dealt. This is the tragedy of Haze. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 01:59 Sponsorship 03:08 Shifting Tides 05:25 Growing Pains 07:36 A Game About War 10:58 Halo Killer Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Duke Nukem

tBl-lc_TB5g | 05 Dec 2021

The Rise and Fall of Duke Nukem

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS When first-person shooters were introduced in the early 90s, most of the studios making them were content with keeping their protagonists silent. They believed that doing so would allow players to step into their shoes with far greater ease, and that the worlds their shooters explored already had plenty to say in their place. Any additional dialogue would be novel – yet wholly unnecessary. But before these assumptions could become fact, a PC game from Texas-based developer 3D Realms entered the market, and proved that dialogue – if done well – had its place within the genre. This game was Duke Nukem 3D, a bawdy shooter that followed its titular protagonist on a quest to liberate Earth from an alien menace, and riveted a generation of players with its real-life settings, high level of interactivity, and one-liner spouting protagonist voiced by Jon St. John. While the Duke proved a figure of controversy due to some of his more salacious tendencies, most found that his added character greatly elevated the rest of the experience around him. And before long, gamers on almost every other platform under the sun were nodding in agreement alongside their own copies of it. In the wake of such widespread success, 3D Realms had every intention of building Duke Nukem out into a sprawling franchise, and producing sequel after sequel that would outdo its gun-toting opus. Before long, however, those in control of the series found themselves corrupted by their own success, and these plans began to veer off course. While there would be no shortage of Duke Nukem spin-offs that would pop up in the years following 3D’s release, a proper follow-up to the shooter would remain locked in development hell within 3D Realms’s offices for years after its announcement. What was once an immensely promising series became one of the video game industry’s longest-running jokes – and when 3D Realms finally managed to get its prodigal entry out the door, most who played it found that the joke was on them. This is the rise and fall of Duke Nukem. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Black (and Mystery of Black 2)

Kg-9bfHp2UU | 16 Nov 2021

The History of Black (and Mystery of Black 2)

Black Friday Deal! Go to https://nordvpn.com/gvmers to get 73% off the 2-year + 1 month for FREE! Try NordVPN risk-free thanks to their money-back guarantee! Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS A number of Criterion Games’ early projects put players in the driver’s seat of racing titles, high-octane adventures that helped the Guildford, UK-based studio slowly build a reputation for itself. However, it was 2001’s Burnout that launched the development group into true stardom. Burnout most notably served as a response to the simulation racers that dominated the genre at the time, such as Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo series on PlayStation. Instead of simulating refined driving experiences, Criterion focused on delivering an action-based thrill ride from start to finish, complete with the seminal Crash Mode that boasted over-the-top crashing sequences. The studio later decided to inject a similar level of extravagant action into the then PC-oriented first-person shooter genre, introducing console players on PS2 and the original Xbox to Hollywood-style shootouts in the often overlooked yet transformative Black. According to Producer Jeremy Chubb, Black targeted what should’ve always rested at the core of any shooter—guns and destruction. It accomplished as much and more to great effect, due in large part to a well-crafted blend of detailed gun models and the ruination they caused once fired into deformable environments. Publisher Electronic Arts and the storied Criterion crew had high ambitions for the shooter and let said ambitions spearhead much of the marketing ahead of launch. Some critics and players later argued that Criterion over-promised with regards to what Black had on offer. Meanwhile, others appreciated the project for what it did provide—a first-person shooter whose graphical detail, destructibility, and blockbuster movie-inspired gameplay attempted to push the genre forward. And since few games have followed Black’s lead, there remains a contingent of fans who remember the chaos and hold out hope for another round. This is the history of Black. 00:00 Intro 01:59 Sponsorship 03:18 Criterion Shooting Project 06:10 Reinventing the First-Person Shooter 10:15 Better Than a Master of One Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Radical History of Prototype

Bs9ellYF75M | 31 Oct 2021

The Radical History of Prototype

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The creative process is delicate and often incredibly arduous; for most industries, of course, it’s costly as well. Thus, the continued distribution of one’s creativity becomes a means of profit. Franchises exist for this very reason. Naturally, then, the reliance upon a creative endeavor’s profitability can either beget further progress or outright stifle it. Such was the case with Radical Entertainment’s superhero series, Prototype. The short-lived action franchise initially hit the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 with Prototype’s release in the summer of 2009. Radical Entertainment and publisher Activision Blizzard believed they had an instant success on their hands. Both parties needed it to succeed at least, especially given the risk involved in developing a new intellectual property—not to mention its arrival at the tail end of America’s Great Recession. In an effort to mitigate said risk, Prototype’s protagonist Alex Mercer and the conspiratorial world of intrigue in which he operated were designed with sequels in mind. And one sequel it did indeed receive in the form of Prototype 2, which launched in April of 2012. Interestingly, a fleeting comic book series published by DC’s WildStorm imprint spawned from Radical’s brainchild, too. Still, none of the studio’s efforts, no matter how inventive, were enough to attract the interest of a mass audience and secure Activision’s approval for a third Prototype installment. Unfortunately, the future of these super-powered adventures were not all that suffered from the franchise’s inability to pick up steam. The resulting demise of Radical Entertainment proved equally devastating for a studio that had long produced quality experiences. This is the history of Prototype. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The FALL and RISE of No Man's Sky

iBjFZWXcTy8 | 20 Oct 2021

The FALL and RISE of No Man's Sky

Install Raid for Free ✅ IOS/ANDROID/PC: https://clcr.me/GVMERS and get a special starter pack 💥 Available only for the next 30 days Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Ambitious developers have long promised the moon, fueling hype cycles that, in turn, drive pre-order sales. Occasionally these projects vanish unceremoniously, devolving into faint echoes of what could’ve been. Still, countless others riding high on impossible promises stumble out the door, far removed from what publishers marketed during previews, trade shows, and TV ads. The likes of Aliens: Colonial Marines and Anthem serve as but two examples of eagerly-anticipated adventures that appeared dead on arrival and failed to correct course. Redemption arcs, in this case, aren’t unheard of, though. And, interestingly, an indie title from a team of 15 developers laid the framework for how to redeem the irredeemable. A passion project that snowballed into an industry-wide phenomenon, No Man’s Sky’s very premise as a space-exploration game vowed to deliver so much more than the moon. Developer Hello Games established the parameters for an interactive universe replete with star systems, unique lifeforms, and 18 quintillion planets, all made possible through the power of procedural generation. Optimists bought into the fanfare; skeptics thought it too good to be true. Ultimately, Hello Games would have the final say. No Man’s Sky’s rocky launch incited backlash from every corner of the internet, the bulk of it geared towards Programmer and Managing Director Sean Murray. Players scoured pre-release interviews for signs of deceit, any evidence proving Murray misled the public with false hopes regarding features that didn’t exist. As a result, the studio went quiet, shutting off contact from the world to focus on reinventing a title that many critics and players wrote off as a soon-to-be-forgotten blunder. This is the fall and rise of No Man’s Sky. Chapters: Intro 0:00 Sponsorship 01:58 Space Cadet 3:34 One Man's Lies? 6:23 A New Foundation 10:12 NEXT 12:18 Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Vin Diesel's Surprisingly Excellent Riddick Games

HTSGIs_b8lY | 21 Sep 2021

The History of Vin Diesel's Surprisingly Excellent Riddick Games

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS When Pitch Black released in the year 2000, moviegoers were treated to a flawed, yet entertaining slice of science fiction. Its plot – which saw a crew of interstellar travelers band together to survive a hostile planet – was formulaic, but its setting and cast captured the imagination. And no other character on its cast did so better than Richard B. Riddick. An enigmatic antihero portrayed by Vin Diesel, Riddick’s mixture of smarts and physical abilities proved decently popular, and all but guaranteed that audiences would be seeing him once more on the silver screen. Few could have predicted that on the eve of his next cinematic appearance, a little-known Swedish game developer called Starbreeze would release a expertly-crafted video game starring the anti-hero – and that it would prove more popular than the movie it released alongside. This game was Escape from Butcher Bay, a stealth-centric action title that followed Riddick’s numerous attempts to escape from a maximum security prison using whatever means necessary. While circumstances surrounding its release prevented Butcher Bay from being as massive of a success as Starbreeze wanted it to be, its critical acclaim put the studio on the map – and before long, a follow-up called Assault on Dark Athena made its way to market. The latter featured a higher emphasis on action over stealth, and ended up being less well received. But its reception did little to sully its predecessor’s legacy – or prevent the people who made it from eventually going on to do bigger, better things. This is the videogame history of the Chronicles of Riddick. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Strange and Unseen History of Portal

d9_Isp17KN0 | 08 Sep 2021

The Strange and Unseen History of Portal

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Today, countless of the industry’s most seminal video games were produced by dozens, often hundreds of developers. These teams are typically replete with animators, artists, designers, programmers, and other integral members, all working in tandem to guarantee a product reaches the market as planned. 60 developers were responsible for Batman: Arkham Asylum. Roughly 450 Ubisoft personnel took part in Assassin’s Creed II’s production. And a whopping 2,000 people contributed to Red Dead Redemption 2. Sometimes, though, making a splash in the gaming industry doesn’t necessitate an extensive amount of manpower, considering a group of only eight made Portal. A Cinderella story of sorts, Portal is the brainchild of seven students who happened to produce a demo quirky and ambitious enough to pique Valve’s interest. The central conceit behind the series involves navigating obstacles with the skillful positioning of portals. Yet, so much more depth pervades every facet of these games, from the intricate physics that power the myriad puzzles to the compelling antagonist whose antics quickly became iconic. As the story goes, such incredible feats of game design may not have come to fruition had the original game’s small development team been given access to an abundance of resources. Less is more seems to be the mantra that pervades Portal and its ensuing success throughout, which also reveals itself in the sterile but eye-catching art design, its minimal use of animated characters, and the carefully scripted narrative that runs throughout. This is the history of Portal. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

BIGGER than Battlefield 2042, why did it FAIL? - The Tragedy of MAG

GQ3ncE5LJXY | 30 Aug 2021

BIGGER than Battlefield 2042, why did it FAIL? - The Tragedy of MAG

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Microsoft changed console gaming by launching the original Xbox with a built-in Ethernet jack in November 2001, a move Sony wouldn’t follow until the PlayStation 2 Slim received an embedded Ethernet port in 2004. The American-based console manufacturer also shifted the state of things with the introduction of Xbox Live and Halo: Combat Evolved’s robust online offering. But Sony took its share of unique multiplayer-related strides upon investing heavily in Zipper Interactive and the genre-defining SOCOM franchise. Thus, though it lagged behind in terms of network services, the PlayStation brand doubled down on innovating in the software department. Nowhere was this more apparent than in 2010’s MAG. The Zipper-developed Massive Action Game once held the Guinness World Record for most players online in a console FPS, courtesy of its ability to simultaneously host a then-unprecedented 256 users. Above all else, MAG emphasized teamwork, which Zipper underscored with an inventive command structure that brought a sense of order to the expansive online conflicts. The intricate leveling system additionally proved impressive for the time, as did the relatively minimal server hiccups. MAG struggled out of the gate in some respects, however, due to a lack of map variety, balancing issues, clunky controls, and a faulty spawn system. Zipper addressed most of the shooter’s shortcomings across several post-launch patches, ensuring the multiplayer title matured into a PS3 favorite. Yet, MAG’s online-only status ultimately culminated in its downfall, a slippery slope that began during the infamous PlayStation Network outage of 2011. This is the tragedy of MAG. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Deus Ex

esMvEfCJQhA | 10 Aug 2021

The Rise and Fall of Deus Ex

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS During the 80s and 90s, most video game genres tended to stay squarely in their lanes. First person shooters like Doom focused exclusively on gunning down monsters. Role-playing games like Ultima epitomized inventories and statistics. And stealth games like Thief prioritized sneaking through the shadows above all else. Every now and then, an experience like System Shock or Strife would come along, and challenge the medium’s self-imposed rigidness by melding multiple genres together. Yet many would argue that it was only after the release of Deus Ex that the idea of a genre-bending game became truly popular. The brainchild of Warren Spector, Deus Ex allowed players to make their way through a cyberpunk rendition of the year 2052 using a wide variety of different mechanics and playstyles, allowing for an uncountable number of solutions to its life-like quagmires. The experience that it provided was as stupendous in its execution as it was difficult to quantify – so much so, that it would single-handedly usher in the term “Immersive Sim” to describe all prior and future games that would be included in its lineage. Countless developers would incorporate Deus Ex’s most salient aspects into their craft in the wake of its release, and many would reap the benefits of doing so for years to come. Yet Deus Ex’s own developers would struggle to fully capitalize on their opus’s success, producing only a single, underwhelming sequel in the years that would follow before being scattered to the wind. A passionate team based in Montreal would eventually take up the series’s mantle, and release a respectful reboot over a decade after the first game’s debut. But in the end – despite following up said reboot with a solid sequel – the team would be forced to focus its efforts elsewhere, and the series would go dormant once more. This is the rise and fall of Deus Ex. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 2:25 Deus Ex 11:53 Deus Ex: Invisible War 18:20 Deus Ex: Human Revolution 24:29 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 28:10 Outro Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The TRAGEDY of Wolfenstein Youngblood

mP7q7_gkR5A | 26 Jul 2021

The TRAGEDY of Wolfenstein Youngblood

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Widely considered the grandfather of first-person shooters, Wolfenstein and its lengthy history know both the thrill of victory and the agony of failure. The franchise’s 2009 entry, the Raven Software-developed Wolfenstein, marked a particularly low point for the series, leaving many to ponder whether protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz’ Nazi-killing days had finally come to an end. MachineGames, however, a Swedish studio founded by former Starbreeze developers, proved approximately five years later that B.J. still had plenty of fight left in him. The team successfully pitched a new direction for the IP to series creator id Software and publisher Bethesda Softworks, proposing an alternate history, post-World War 2 narrative wherein the Nazis claimed victory. MachineGames’ ensuing partnership with the companies culminated in 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order, 2017’s Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, and The Old Blood expansion in between. These adventures cast a darker, more serious tone over the franchise that ultimately led to B.J.’s transition into a family man. And killing Nazis, inherently, became integral to the proverbial family business. Thus, Wolfenstein: Youngblood dropped players into the roles of Jess and Soph, B.J.’s twin daughters who, by the 1980s, had grown old enough to infiltrate Nazi-controlled Paris but remained young enough to embark on a relatively lighthearted coming-of-age journey. On paper, the premise worked flawlessly; in practice, Youngblood crumbled under the pressure of cooperative gameplay, light RPG elements, and an open-ended structure—all qualities that went unexplored in MachineGames’ previous projects. Consequently, the final product came across as a hollow shell of the Wolfenstein experience that millions grew to associate with the brand. This is the tragedy of Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

This Deserved BETTER! - The History of Mad Max

oB4Bo73F-KM | 08 Jul 2021

This Deserved BETTER! - The History of Mad Max

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In 1979, George Miller’s Mad Max introduced movie-going audiences to a post-apocalyptic anti-hero, the titular Mad Max, who went on to inspire generations of other morally ambiguous pop culture figures across multiple mediums of entertainment. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome hit theaters in 1985, marking the third entry in the wildly successful series. It unwittingly denoted the start of a decades-long drought, too, which wouldn’t end until Mad Max: Fury Road and Avalanche Studios’ Mad Max released in May and September of 2015, respectively. Though the open-world Avalanche game bore minimal relation to the fourth Mad Max film, the two projects shared a tumultuous production history. However, confusion abounds with regards to when exactly their paths crossed and later diverged. The sprawling Mad Max adventure that players ultimately installed on their PC, PlayStation 4, or Xbox One was not what George Miller initially had in mind upon pursuing a video game adaptation several years prior. Still, Avalanche Studios managed to produce an experience that honored the director’s seminal epics. The crew at Avalanche also carefully crafted a product that fans of its past open-worlds could appreciate, even if they harbored little to no nostalgia for the blockbuster film franchise. Accomplishing as much proved an arduous task; although, at the very least, the hard work went on to cement the licensed title as a cult classic worthy of its namesake. This is the history of Mad Max. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

This Could've Been EPIC! - The Tragedy of Alpha Protocol

orwQoLYP3qo | 28 Jun 2021

This Could've Been EPIC! - The Tragedy of Alpha Protocol

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS More often than not, western role-playing games emphasize two genres—fantasy and science fiction. Developer Obsidian Entertainment and publisher Sega dared to pursue a different path with their self-proclaimed espionage RPG Alpha Protocol. Yet, in its ambitious attempt to forge a new style of role-playing title, Obsidian faced myriad challenges that ultimately diminished the overall quality of the final product. In turn, Alpha Protocol garnered lukewarm reviews upon release and, consequently, failed to move the needle on the sales charts. Much of the project’s developmental woes stemmed from poor leadership on the part of both Obsidian and Sega, though the latter especially struggled to find its footing while assisting with the production and budgetary process. Despite the ups and downs, however, Obsidian still managed to deliver a Jason Bourne-style adventure that eventually gained cult status amongst a group of players who saw past Alpha Protocol’s numerous flaws. Unrefined gunplay, a clunky cover system, and unpolished combat encounters significantly hindered the gameplay mechanics. Enemy AI didn’t fare any better, culminating in a stealth experience that felt half-baked at best and completely uninspired at its worst. These shortcomings aside, the reactivity of Alpha Protocol’s game-world, coupled with its branching narrative paths, turned the 2010 title into a modern cult classic, one that fans are eager to see return as a sequel. Unfortunately, the lackluster sales performance caused Sega to abandon the spy property before it had even spent a few months on the market. This is the tragedy of Alpha Protocol. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Tragedy of Overkill's The Walking Dead

Rl6Fd6av8YM | 20 Jun 2021

The Tragedy of Overkill's The Walking Dead

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS From Dead Rising’s zany antics to the bleakness of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, gaming had become oversaturated with all manner of zombie titles by the mid-2010s. As with anything, however, the market willingly made extra room for the right project at the right time. Such was the case in 2014 when Skybound Entertainment and Payday publisher Starbreeze partnered to create Overkill’s The Walking Dead—a first-person cooperative shooter with Payday-esque qualities set in the same universe as the acclaimed comic book series. Well versed in the issues that plagued countless licensed titles of the past, Skybound and Starbreeze deliberately tried sidestepping the most common trappings. For one, despite its connection to the IP’s wider lore, the teams treated Overkill’s The Walking Dead like an original game, complete with new characters, a previously unexplored setting, and fresh stories. Bucking the trend of utilizing licensed games as glorified marketing tools served as another example of each company’s commitment to a high-quality end result. But it wasn’t enough. The project’s status as a licensed game, and the usual baggage that came with it, had no bearing on the disastrous 2018 release. Overkill’s The Walking Dead instead endured a four-year production cycle beset by delays, a mid-development engine switch, and a protracted period of crunch—all courtesy of inept leadership. Thus, this is a tale of wasted potential, one of over-ambition and little preparation culminating in broken promises and one company’s sudden financial ruin. This is the tragedy of Overkill’s The Walking Dead. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Tragedy of Fallout 76

417THXeJnq0 | 03 Jun 2021

The Tragedy of Fallout 76

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Fallout 4 hit stores in the fall of 2015, five years after the spinoff Fallout: New Vegas launched to widespread acclaim. In the years between the two releases, the video game landscape, specifically western role-playing titles, underwent a noticeable shift. The likes of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt raised the bar in many respects, especially with regards to content quality, storytelling, and presentation. While Fallout 4 couldn’t quite rise to the occasion, it still boasted the core tenets of the franchise’s modern adventures, offering a deep role-playing experience replete with choices, compelling characters, and a swath of customization options. To the dismay of fans, these pillars took a backseat in Bethesda Game Studios’ 2018 spinoff, Fallout 76. An online-only installment in a traditionally single-player series, Fallout 76 failed to garner the excitement afforded to its predecessors. However, despite the skepticism in the months leading up to release, Fallout faithful gave the new endeavor a chance. Few redeeming qualities accompanied the game’s arrival, though. In addition to a launch beset by game-affecting glitches and a dearth of engaging content, myriad other controversies cast dark clouds over what should’ve been a strong outing for Bethesda in late 2018. The controversy included poor quality collector items, overpriced rum, and a security breach, all of which contributed to a comedy of errors that many people will not soon forget. Bethesda slowly corrected course, deploying free updates that optimized performance and introduced meaningful content in the form of dedicated story quests and NPCs. But regardless of the steps taken, Fallout 76’s path to redemption proved long and arduous, as the lingering effects of countless missteps marred this particular venture through the wasteland. This is the tragedy of Fallout 76. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Tragedy of Metal Gear Survive

d22DrGW1G6o | 17 May 2021

The Tragedy of Metal Gear Survive

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS For years, Konami’s Metal Gear Solid counted among the few gaming franchises that withstood the test of time across several console generations. Its 1998 debut introduced players to the wonders of stealth-action gameplay and subsequent entries elevated the genre further, laying the groundwork for the advent of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell and the like. Unfortunately, turmoil within the company meant the Konami-published saga didn’t have the opportunity to conclude as strong as it started. And its last entry, the universally panned Metal Gear Survive, managed to leave somewhat of a blemish on Metal Gear’s otherwise immaculate legacy. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, the last mainline instalment, launched in 2015 with a less than satisfactory ending, effectively leaving a bad taste in the mouths of countless MGS faithful. As a spinoff adventure that took the series in a completely different direction, Metal Gear Survive hardly had a chance to succeed on even the basest level. The survival action title wasn’t what fans wanted, especially given the absence of series creator Hideo Kojima. Still, the experience offered a fair share of intrigue and fun; yet, by virtue of the alternate universe and zombie-centric premise, Survive struggled to retain the winning charms of its namesake. If anything, Survive’s drastic departure from its progenitors proved that slapping the title of a beloved brand on a new idea wasn’t enough to revive said brand. In this particular case, such a move may have led to the stealth property’s premature demise. This is the tragedy of Metal Gear Survive. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Homefront

8cSxSxEwKMs | 08 May 2021

The Rise and Fall of Homefront

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS At the height of their popularity throughout the 2000s, military shooters typically emphasized the plight of enlisted soldiers. Most were shooting galleries, wherein players gunned down faceless foes with abandon across many historical or fictional battlefields. Little attention was paid to the human cost of war, including the destruction of civilian life and the emotional turmoil that comes with being on the receiving end of a foreign enemy’s hostility. There were occasional outliers like the controversial No Russian mission in 2009’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 . Yet, a mainstream first-person military shooter wouldn’t centralize the human cost of war on the civilian level until Kaos Studios and publisher THQ unleashed Homefront in the spring of 2011. Carefully nestled within the core of the original Homefront was a hard-hitting shooter that immersed players in action and occasionally elicited emotional investment. Arguably, for the first time, players felt unbridled hate for their virtual enemies on the battlefield, a field of war that to a lot of gamers, specifically those in the United States, looked a little too much like home. While Kaos succeeded on this front, and in spades some would argue, a sequel from Dambuster Studios failed to similarly hit the mark. In many respects, 2016’s Homefront: The Revolution neglected to adhere to the framework that outlined its predecessor’s various victories. As a result, this once promising series about a troubling, though implausible, near-future conflict fell flat before it could truly leave a lasting impact on the genre it was designed to reinvigorate. This is the Rise and Fall of Homefront. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 2:30 Frontlines: Fuel of War 4:50 Homefront 20:42 Homefront: The Revolution 33:11 Outro Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Curious History of Alien Isolation

hPXhkEN1rCw | 24 Apr 2021

The Curious History of Alien Isolation

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS As of the early 2010s first-person survival horror games were a rarity, a space most notably occupied by the likes of indie hit Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Triple-A games in the genre, the Resident Evils, Silent Hills, and Dead Spaces of the world, had yet to move beyond the tried-and-true third-person perspective. Change peeked over the horizon by the middle of the decade, though, with another indie success, Outlast, and Hideo Kojima’s P.T. demo laying the foundation for a new wave of survival horror. Little did anyone know, an Alien project based on Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic would also move the needle. The ambitions powering Creative Assembly’s vision for Alien: Isolation were grounded by far more than a shift in perspective. In using the original film as a stepping stone, Isolation tread ground that no other Alien-based video game had dared traverse. Previous interactive adventures through the sci-fi universe placed special emphasis on the action-oriented qualities of James Cameron’s 1986 sequel. Such titles supplied players with advanced firearms and assigned the arduous task of killing Xenomorphs—Alien: Isolation did neither. Creative Assembly instead encouraged players to avoid the creature, hide from and fear it, even distract it when necessary. But fully understanding the core of the experience they wanted to create proved a formidable undertaking for the team. Four years of production were devoted to the project. A new engine and major gameplay changes imposed several challenges on a studio that lacked a survival horror pedigree. To the delight of many an Alien fan, however, those obstacles culminated in a one of a kind exploration of the seminal franchise. This is the history of Alien: Isolation. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Vanquish

YyWymTXp-I0 | 11 Apr 2021

The History of Vanquish

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS When Resident Evil 4 launched in 2005, it redefined both the third-person shooter and survival horror genres with inventive camerawork and visceral gameplay mechanics. For years after its advent, countless developers followed the game’s lead, emulating Shinji Mikami, who was the franchise’s co-creator, and his techniques for their own endeavors. However, barring the likes of Gears of War, hardly any of these titles managed to further innovate the genre. It would take another Mikami-directed adventure to reinvigorate third-person shooters with something completely fresh. The game in question is none other than the still highly-regarded Vanquish. In essence, Vanquish was a product of Mikami’s desire to reject the then standard characteristics of first and third-person shooters alike, especially those of the cover-based variety. As a result, speed-infused gameplay took precedence during Vanquish’s creation, as the team at PlatinumGames approached the project as though it were a melee-oriented action game—a genre in which everyone involved was much more familiar. This strategy yielded a genuinely unique experience that many believe remains unparalleled. It’s noteworthy that such esteem is held for a lesser-known, 7th console generation one-off with seemingly no hope for a sequel in sight. But perhaps the varying qualities that make Vanquish so distinctive constitute the reason for its continued relevance in the minds of all who have ventured through Mikami’s sci-fi world. This is the history of Vanquish. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Tragedy of Anthem

CJkUkA3kqdA | 17 Feb 2021

The Tragedy of Anthem

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS After shipping Mass Effect 3 in 2012, Mass Effect Co-Creator Casey Hudson and a small group of BioWare developers embarked on a new journey, laying the foundation for an original IP codenamed Project Dylan. The Hudson-led crew at BioWare’s Edmonton headquarters hoped to craft the video game equivalent of Bob Dylan, a title the industry would reference and revere for many years. Project Dylan, later dubbed Anthem, got off to a promising start, thanks to an ideation phase brimming with ambitious possibilities. The team’s high hopes and equally high morale eventually faded, though, replaced by stress and deep confusion about the end goal. Mismanagement and numerous staff departures left Anthem in limbo for years. While fans and media were being wowed at trade shows with impressive concept art and vertical slices of gameplay, BioWare developers were navigating a production cycle beset by indecision and an undefined vision. It didn’t help that similar games, such as Destiny and The Division, had already set the bar for what players expected from live-service experiences. Anthem failed to meet that bar. And while a series of post-launch updates improved surface-level issues, Anthem’s core gameplay loop and other fundamental systems demanded an overhaul—the likes of which BioWare had never previously produced. This is the tragedy of Anthem. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Sad History of Singularity

Be70RwlrTk4 | 02 Feb 2021

The Sad History of Singularity

Check out Keith Fuller's work at https://allaboutex.com/ Find out more about Singularity in HiddenGemGamers' video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xczKJ81DmYg&ab_channel=HiddenGemGamers Special thanks to Raven Software: https://www.ravensoftware.com/ Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In the decade following the turn of the century, first-person shooters had become a dime a dozen, especially those of the military variety. The likes of Battlefield and Call of Duty dominated with minimal competition, inspiring copy cats that rarely innovated the genre. Before long, the market grew oversaturated with experiences created by developers and publishers desperate to obtain a modicum of success achieved by EA’s and Activision’s flagship shooters. There did exist a fair few outliers, though, shooters whose creators, for the most part, chose to buck the trend instead of following the herd. Raven Software’s oft-forgotten 2010 title Singularity counted as one such project. As Raven’s final original game before its conversion into a Call of Duty support role, Singularity constituted the last bastion of originality during a transitory period for publisher Activision. All told, it did not seem an unworthy attempt, either. Despite a development cycle beset by mismanagement, Raven cobbled together a competent temporal shooter, one laden with inventive ideas that were hamstrung by formulaic game design choices. Dismal sales further handcuffed the franchise, since Singularity failed to gain traction in a marketplace flooded with other by-the-numbers shooters. Thus, Raven spent much of the decade following Singularity’s release beholden to someone else’s vision, its potential absorbed into the gears of Activision’s well-oiled Call of Duty machine. Yet, Singularity shouldn’t be remembered as a failure, per se; signs of triumph lingered within its faults, remnants of what could have been under different circumstances. This is the history of Singularity. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Tragedy of Aliens: Colonial Marines

mLSttGAFBY4 | 21 Jan 2021

The Tragedy of Aliens: Colonial Marines

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS After announcing its acquisition of the licensing rights for 20th Century Fox’s Aliens franchise, Sega teased two projects based on the property—a role-playing game and a first-person shooter. Within a few short years, Sega unceremoniously cancelled the RPG, which had been helmed by Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian Entertainment. Many would later contend the FPS from Borderlands studio Gearbox Software should’ve suffered a similar fate. Instead, it arguably endured far worse, and not at all for the better. Gearbox’s Aliens: Colonial Marines was intended as a showcase of what’s possible when a licensed brand and a skilled group of developers meet in perfect harmony. Fox and Sega additionally envisioned Colonial Marines as a stepping stone to narrow the divide between gaming and film. The shooter’s canonical narrative exemplified this intention tenfold. Gearbox’s efforts failed spectacularly, though, culminating in a mess of broken promises that long tarnished its reputation. According to a host of accusations leveled against Gearbox, mishandled resources, professional dishonesty, and a lack of passion beset the game’s lengthy and tumultuous development cycle. While studio representatives have denied these claims, the word of former staff members paints an entirely different picture, one that suggests Colonial Marines was never in a position to fulfill its promise of faithfully expanding upon the beloved sci-fi universe. This is the tragedy of Aliens: Colonial Marines. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

An Important Update

3lfZdt2O0zY | 25 Dec 2020

An Important Update

https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

yESGaDTbwRA | 17 Dec 2020

The History of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS During the early 2000s, Star Wars video games could be found in nearly every genre under the sun. Kart racers, flight simulators, real-time strategy games, and all manner of other titles burst out of LucasArts and its licensees at light speed, bombarding fans with exotic new ways to experience the world of George Lucas’s famed space western. Some of these titles managed to carve out a place for themselves in players’s hearts. Others were forgotten by the wayside. Only a few, however, went on to stand the test of time as classics, and had a substantial influence on the industry as a whole. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was one of these titles. The masterwork of Canadian developer Bioware, Knights of the Republic sent players on a role-playing themed journey into the space western’s distant past to uncover a dastardly conspiracy. Its wealth of intriguing characters and gameplay scenarios proved immediately popular with fans, as well as provided Star Wars loremasters with prime material to incorporate into future stories. Yet perhaps most importantly, its development enabled Bioware to hone its talent as a master storyteller, and become an industry rockstar. A direct sequel helmed by Obsidian Entertainment would see release a short while later, as would an MMO from Bioware set three hundred years after the sequel’s events. The former came out less-than-ideal due to the rushed timeline in which it was crafted, while the latter – for better and for worse – offered a very different experience than either title before it. But in the end, these grievances would do little to dampen its popularity or legitimacy within the Star Wars universe – even after its events were declared non-canon. This is the history of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Extremely Troubled History of Alan Wake

aNn-qppeyT0 | 26 Nov 2020

The Extremely Troubled History of Alan Wake

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS By 2010, players had their choice of heroes in action-adventure games. From space marines and treasure hunters to assassins and powerful mages, it seemed there were few adventurous professions the medium had yet to explore. But on the heels of creating two projects with a Punisher-like detective turned vigilante at the helm, Remedy Entertainment set about crafting a character whose occupation wasn’t exactly video game-friendly—a novelist. In writer Alan Wake, the Max Payne studio designed an inventive new protagonist, one whom audiences could more easily relate to. It took a long while for Remedy’s vision to fully form, though, as at the start of its production, Wake had far more in common with the company’s previous leading man. Yet, the iterative process of a lengthy development cycle saw the writer evolve into the dynamic figure many a gamer has come to know and love. To see their vision through to completion, Remedy’s developers were forced to follow the instructions they set for players in Alan Wake’s nightmarish journey through darkness—follow the light. Still, the path forward proved difficult to navigate as an open-world game took on a linear structure, all while the studio altered its managerial approach more than halfway through production. Out of this rather tumultuous period came an instant cult classic, which fans remain eager to see return in some capacity. This is the history of Alan Wake. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Controversial History of Bully

CoHRBC6fJE0 | 01 Nov 2020

The Controversial History of Bully

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In many respects, the open-world genre that Rockstar Games innovated sparked an overwhelming amount of controversy throughout the last two decades. This much especially holds true since bans and the ceaseless discourse surrounding violent video games continue to plague Grand Theft Auto. Red Dead Redemption is no stranger to similar criticism. And it doesn’t help that players of these franchises typically assume the role of career criminals, men who for one reason or another often find themselves partaking in deplorable acts. But Bully once saw the company exercise its free-roaming expertise beyond the realm of criminality to craft a different kind of sandbox adventure, one wherein over-the-top violence did not sit center-stage. Bully still received far more than its fair share of backlash, however. The name alone ruffled the feathers of various organizations, politicians, and anti-bullying activists around the globe. Before the public had even seen the game in action, a series of relatively tame screenshots caused a stir, culminating in Bully being dubbed a Columbine simulator. Yet, despite the contrived drama, this particular Rockstar project remains secure in its status as a fan-favorite. It’s rather unique, too. In between schoolyard-level mayhem, classes, and the occasional clever prank, players adopt the role of hero, standing up to bullies, though never actually playing the part. As such, Bully is more than a misunderstood classic, a game whose pre-release existence was bombarded with the most undeserving negativity. This is the history of Bully. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Dead Rising

Et-cKSrWucU | 01 Aug 2020

The Rise and Fall of Dead Rising

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Few video game villains are as versatile as zombies. The number of settings that they can appear in are unlimited. The range of powers and attributes that they can possess are vast. And because they lack a pulse, the ramifications of killing them are nonexistent. When Nathan Drake murders hundreds of mercenaries in Uncharted, one can’t help but wonder whether he is truly a good person. But when Leon Kennedy does the same to the undead in Resident Evil, there’s no question as to Leon’s righteousness. The only major downside to zombies is that because of this versatility, there are no shortage of games that feature them – and because there are no shortage of games that feature them, their presence alone is rarely enough to make whatever they’re part of feel special. Few games from the mid-2000s were more acutely aware of this than Dead Rising. The brainchild of Capcom’s Keiji Inafune, Dead Rising cast players in the role of Frank West, a photojournalist-turned-vigilante who tasks himself with discovering the scoop of a lifetime in a zombie-infested shopping mall. While many players picked it up because of this premise alone, most stayed with it when they discovered that underneath laid a challenging, yet deeply rewarding gameplay experience; one that exacerbated the danger of its zombies with a stringent time limit, and an unforgiving save system. When the dust around its release settled, the industry had crowned it one of the most unique takes on the genre, and a solid demonstration of how the seventh console generation would be able to take the medium to new heights. Yet Capcom was dissatisfied. It felt that Dead Rising could have been better had it leaned more deeply into its Western design elements, and that its development team had been unable to do so because it was almost entirely Japanese. As a result, the company would enlist Vancouver-based developer Blue Castle Games to take over the series in its stead – a decision that helped improve it in the short term, yet stripped it of everything that made it unique in the long term. This is the rise and fall of Dead Rising. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 2:20 Dead Rising 15:24 Dead Rising 2 26:18 Dead Rising 3 33:38 Dead Rising 4 39:32 Outro Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Revival of Half-Life

wgNehUa2YdA | 01 Jul 2020

The Revival of Half-Life

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In June of 2011, Gearbox Software released Duke Nukem Forever. The fourth mainline entry in the Duke Nukem series, Forever disappointed tremendously with its shoddy level design, tired tropes, and assortment of technical issues. To the industry at large, however, the fact that Forever had made it to store shelves at all was still amazing – for prior to this, the much-maligned shooter had been in development hell for over fourteen years, churning and molting through endless iterations under its original stewards at 3D Realms. What had once been one of the industry’s most infamous cases of vaporware had finally managed to see the light of day – and over course the next ten years, many more cases of vaporware would follow suit. Fumito Ueda’s The Last Guardian would emerge from obscurity and be re-unveiled as a PlayStation 4 game. Final Fantasy Versus 13 would be re-worked into Final Fantasy 15. Even Shenmue 3, which fans had long given up as a pipe dream, would manage to find its way onto store shelves after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Yet amidst all of this, a little known first-person shooter by the name of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 would continue to remain elusive. The third episodic expansion to Half Life 2, Valve had originally announced that Episode 3 would see release by 2007, and set the stakes for the series’s next mainline entry, Half-Life 3. By 2017, however, neither the expansion nor the threequel were anywhere to be seen. A consistent stream of rumors, leaks, and even teases from Valve proper suggested that the company still had every intention of returning to its landmark science-fiction series in some fashion, with a decent number of sources suggesting that it might even jump into the realm of virtual reality. But there was no timeline of when this return would happen, and no reason to believe Valve would put its money where its mouth was. While the company continued to support the likes of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 with new content, and make the odd VR experiment here and there, it seemed at least from the outside as if the company had become consumed by its passion for creating hardware, and no longer cared about game development. This is the revival of Half-Life. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of The Last of Us

5v9JjC7hrHc | 31 May 2020

The History of The Last of Us

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS When Naughty Dog released Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in 2009, the video game industry was awash with praise. After rising to prominence with the Crash Bandicoot series in the mid-90s, the Santa Monica-based studio had been delivering action title after action title for over decade. Each new release saw the studio grow and mature in some fashion – and Uncharted 2, with its blockbuster-like production values, appeared to be the culmination of this maturity. It was the apex of everything the studio had learned about how to engage players since its inception, rolled into one swashbuckling package. Few could have predicted that four years later, Naughty Dog would surpass itself yet again, and rise to a whole new tier of stardom with The Last of Us. An action-adventure game flush with supernatural horrors, The Last of Us followed survivors Joel and Ellie on a harrowing journey across a post-apocalyptic America ravaged by fungal zombies. Its world was a sight to behold, and its combat encounters left many dizzy with excitement. Yet when all was said and done, players were captivated most by Joel and Ellie, with the nuances of their relationship transfixing almost all who dared to join them on their journey. From the outside, the game seemed so masterfully constructed, that it was hard to imagine Naughty Dog had so much as broken a sweat developing it. In reality, however, shifting from Uncharted to The Last of Us had been a painstaking, difficult process – one that forced its chief visionaries to accept failure for years, and second-guess themselves on a continual basis. This is the history of The Last of Us. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Dead Space

gHe9MwHXy8w | 21 May 2020

The Rise and Fall of Dead Space

This video was originally uploaded on the 20th of November, 2018! Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Space. Cold, dark, and endless, the Earth’s final frontier has long served as the backdrop for all manner of horrifying fiction, from the heart-pounding terror of Alien, to the cerebral drama of System Shock. Where other classic horror settings require the addition of fantastical stalkers to put the lives of their characters at risk, space alone tears apart anything that dares confront it unprepared; uncaringly, unflinchingly, and in total silence. When EA Redwood Shores debuted the survival horror game Dead Space in 2008, they succeeded in both capturing the inherent wickedness of its setting, and delivering an experience that played more sublimely than any other horror game before it. Rather than attempt to generate tension with sluggish tank controls and other arcane mechanics, Dead Space made Isaac Clarke’s hellish march through a zombie-infested flagship as intuitive to control as it was scary. Players lapped it up, Redwood Shores became Visceral Games, and a small barrage of cross-media content followed, including an unexpectedly solid spin-off on the Wii, and an even greater sequel. Eventually, however, the demands that the franchise cater to a wider audience caught up with it, and Visceral Games released Dead Space 3 – a solid action title that exemplified its creators’ competency, but failed to fully capture the sense of horror that had made its predecessors so beloved. The series faded away, and its developers, despite their pedigree, would follow shortly after. This is the rise and fall of Dead Space. ------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Half-Life

_8RGiQcH_1U | 14 May 2020

The Rise and Fall of Half-Life

This video originally aired on the 20th of May, 2018! Hey everyone, we're finally re-uploading our Half-Life video as the original had a song that was marked by YouTube's copyright system. For the most part, this is still very much the video that we've made and uploaded in 2018, with a sizable number of sections now featuring higher quality gameplay and other slight tweaks. We've left the narrated audio and the credits the same to reflect the people who have helped us make this video possible at the time. Considering the franchise has recently made a successful comeback with Half-Life: Alyx, we want to let you know that this is not the last piece of coverage we'll dedicate to the series. We're launching a new format that will dive into franchises that have seen new releases or other signs of life since we've last covered them in our Rise and Fall videos (Command & Conquer, Crysis and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to name a few), but more on that later! For now, we hope you'll enjoy (again) our video about the history of Half-Life. The re-uploaded Dead Space video will soon follow! Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In 1998, a little known company named Valve released a first-person shooter named Half-Life and changed the face of gaming. Where other shooters struggled to provide even a semblance of a story, Half-Life had brains to match its brawn; a stirring tale featuring a realistic human cast and a protagonist that was more than a hand and a gun unfolded before the player’s eyes as they progressed through each level. As Valve grew, so too did Half-Life’s reputation, with Half-Life 2 in 2004 once again revolutionizing the genre, and its episodic expansions, Half-life 2: Episode One and Episode Two, further raising the bar. The series didn’t release consistently, and occasionally suffered unexpected and painful setbacks; but when it did, it seemed as if Valve could do no wrong – until the series suddenly stopped. Shifting priorities, a lack of motivation, and other, more nebulous factors would lead Valve to put Half-Life on ice in the middle of its prime, leaving a generation of gamers adrift, and an opus unfinished. And yet – Half-Life lives on. Be it in the innumerable games and series it inspired or provided the computative bedrock for, an undying stream of mods, or other media based on the franchise, Half-Life’s DNA is permanently embedded in the fabric of the video game industry, and will likely remain so for some time. As sad as it is that a Half-Life 2: Episode 3 or a Half-Life 3 will likely never happen, and as frustrating as it is that Valve remains belligerent as to precisely why, the series, for the most part, has only really fallen… out of Valve’s hands. This is the rise and fall of Half-Life. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Controversial History of L.A. Noire

KO53rj04-ls | 29 Apr 2020

The Controversial History of L.A. Noire

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Hundreds of video games launch annually, each unique in their own right. Yet, so few stand out; fewer still prove groundbreaking enough to leave an indelible mark on the industry. In 2004, the Sydney, Australia-based Team Bondi embarked on a lengthy development journey to craft such an experience. Studio founder Brendan McNamara longed to create a game to rival the likes of Rockstar Games’s Grand Theft Auto franchise. From McNamara’s perspective, producing something so ambitious unfortunately necessitated unmitigated sacrifice. Team Bondi’s 2011 detective thriller, L.A. Noire, made for an unprecedented piece of art. A Rockstar-published open-world adventure, the game boasted a near-perfect facsimile of 1947 Los Angeles. Thanks to Team Bondi’s sister company, Depth Analysis, the revolutionary technology known as MotionScan populated Los Angeles’s gorgeously recreated digital world with stunningly realistic characters. Players explore said world by assuming the role of Cole Phelps, a former Marine whose investigative prowess sees him quickly climb the LAPD ranks by solving crimes, practically all of which were inspired by period-specific LAPD case files. The final product remains a seminal part of Rockstar’s catalogue, its critical acclaim and commercial success undoubtedly a result of the game’s meticulous attention to detail. However, even Cole Phelps would’ve struggled to unravel the mysteries behind L.A. Noire’s circuitous development, beset by oppressive working conditions and a litany of other issues that culminated in Team Bondi’s storied demise. This is the history of L.A. Noire. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Mirror's Edge

hqxFf97twoY | 17 Apr 2020

The History of Mirror's Edge

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In the late 2000s, parkour emerged from obscurity, and took over mainstream entertainment. Movies, YouTube videos, and video games alike took to the urban jungle so that they could showcase the activity in all of its glory, and entertain audiences with fast-paced thrills. And no other video game managed to thrill quite like Mirror’s Edge. The brainchild of Swedish video game developer DICE, Mirror’s Edge cast players in the shoes of Faith, a raven-haired courier tasked with delivering messages across the rooftops of a gleaming dystopia. While many found the sum of its offerings to be far from perfect, most agreed that running through the metropolis was a delight, and that it’s clean, minimalist art was a welcome breath of fresh air from the browns and grays of its competitors. After Mirror’s Edge came and went, however, it quickly became apparent that it would be a while longer before fans would be able to return to Faith’s world. While DICE would repeatedly express its desire to continue building out its budding parkour series, rumors and news stories alike perpetually suggested that DICE either was at a crossroads on how to proceed with it, or simply not working on it at all. And the more years that passed, the more the studio seemed to become further entrenched in the Battlefield franchise. In the end, however, the series would finally receive a second lease on life nearly a decade later, in the form of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst – an open-world re-imagining of DICE’s opus that would be met with equal parts fanfare, and equal parts frustration. This is the history of Mirror’s Edge. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAilert https://twitter.com/AlexKozina Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Thief

kit0pCAeFss | 02 Apr 2020

The Rise and Fall of Thief

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Of all the video game genres, few are as taxing – or rewarding – as stealth games. Whether they involve sneaking past security cameras in a future dystopia, or hiding from bloodthirsty guards in the ancient past, stealth games are often slow and stressful affairs, lacking the pizzazz or immediate gratification that so many other experiences offer. But when everything comes together, and one squeezes through their quiet gauntlets without leaving a trace, the sense of satisfaction that they provide is unlike anything else. For a generation of gamers, few other experiences epitomized this better than Looking Glass Studios’s Thief: The Dark Project. Where competing stealth titles like Metal Gear Solid allowed players to go full Rambo at the drop of a hat, The Dark Project forced its audience to keep to the shadows, and use every affordance its mechanics and environments provided in order to avoid being caught. It was among its genre’s most formative experiences, and it was followed shortly after its release by a sequel that all but improved its greatest qualities – establishing both as being among the greatest gaming duologies of their era. Unfortunately, no sooner had the series made itself known than Looking Glass was forced to close its doors, and its ownership was passed on to Ion Storm’s Austin branch. The latter would do its best amid trying circumstances to do Thief justice, and deliver a game that, while not perfect, would have plenty of strong points. But like a curse from on high, this third entry would neither save Ion Storm from its own subsequent demise, nor prevent the series from resting afterwards in peace. Were this all that there was to Thief’s history, one wouldn’t be remiss calling it tragic. Yet in between all of its mainline titles, the series saw no shortage of support from its fans, who did their best to keep its memory alive with pro bono projects of stunning ambition. And when these fans were also triple-A developers, the games that they produced rarely failed to do the same. This is the rise and fall of Thief. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Spec Ops: The Line

dDBSlk1E-XE | 29 Feb 2020

The History of Spec Ops: The Line

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Few video game genres instill power and satisfaction as easily as the shooter. While players can’t raise hell in titles like Call of Duty on the same scale as they can in games like Civilization, the immediacy of the former’s gameplay has proven time and time again to be far more efficient of an endorphin rush. Decades after players were first able to do so in Wolfenstein, unloading one’s clip into an unsuspecting enemy is still sublime like few other experiences in the medium; an unequivocal act of domination bereft of drawbacks or emotional trauma. But every now and then, a shooter goes against the grain, and attempts to subvert these very foundations upon which it is built. Spec Ops: The Line was one such game. Released in 2012 on consoles and PC, The Line began in an unassuming fashion, casting players as the leader of a three-man team tasked with investigating the fate of a rogue colonel in a sand-swept version of Dubai. Those who kept with it, however, quickly discovered that underneath its modest premise laid a hellish odyssey, one that forced its protagonists into disturbing predicaments at every turn, and repeatedly questioned the ethicality of how they chose to solve them. Like many subversive games before it, The Line received critical acclaim upon its release, but disappointed at retail, selling well below other, contemporaneous first-person shooters. Almost everyone who was involved in its production, however, was almost relieved that it didn’t end up becoming a massive hit – for bringing it into being had been its own personal hell, and nobody was ready to go for a second round. This is the history of Spec Ops: The Line. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of World in Conflict

AGJfp5AzOv8 | 16 Feb 2020

The History of World in Conflict

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved. After butting heads with the United States for over four decades in proxy wars and crises around the globe, the Communist state had found itself besieged by a mixture of economic stagnation and social unrest, and decided that a brighter future awaited it as a democratic nation. It was a quiet end to a conflict many had believed for years was going to culminate in a nuclear tempest that would have torn the world asunder. But what if history had gone differently? What if the Soviet Union had refused to go quietly into the night, and made one last ditch attempt to conquer the rest of the world on the eve of its demise? This was the premise of World in Conflict. A real-time strategy game conceived by Swedish developer Massive Entertainment, World in Conflict tasked players with defending the United States and Europe from a surprise Soviet Invasion in 1989. Compared to the likes of Command & Conquer, which had depicted the Cold War turned Hot with a high degree of fantasy in years prior, Massive’s strategy title offered a largely grounded experience; one that depicted both its combatants and their battlefields with enough realism to make their plights feel genuinely sympathetic. Yet where it truly set itself apart from its competitors was its gameplay, which mixed together tried-and-true real-time strategy mechanics with some of the most distinctive elements of shooters like Battlefield to spectacular effect. So much so, that diehard fans would continue to steadfastly support it well after its creators – and its original online infrastructure – would move on. This is the history of World in Conflict. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Soldier of Fortune

RRpjtesBTzc | 01 Feb 2020

The Rise and Fall of Soldier of Fortune

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS During the 90s and early 2000s, few other pastimes were scrutinized more for their violence than video games. Spurred on by the bloody excesses of titles like Mortal Kombat and Doom, a generation of lawmakers, politicians, and parents took it upon themselves during this period to highlight the medium’s seeming depravity, and try to hide it from developing minds. To them, the thematic content that the video game industry explored was bad enough on its own – but its willingness to sell this subject matter to children warranted immediate action. Soldier of Fortune was one such series that came under this scrutiny. Developed by Raven Software in collaboration with the mercenary magazine of the same name, Soldier of Fortune garnered controversy around the globe for its intense level of gore, which at the time offered one of the more graphic depictions of bodily dismemberment ever seen in any first-person shooter series – a product of Raven’s custom-made GHOUL modeling system. Yet underneath the goriness of its modeling system, it also provided those that actually tried it with a polished gameplay experience; one that kept its player base thoroughly entertained well after the initial shock of seeing enemies blown to pieces wore off. It wasn’t utterly revolutionary in the way that contemporary shooters like Half-Life or Halo were, but it showed Raven to be more than capable of balancing both style and substance – and left its fans appropriately distraught when faded into nothingness. This is the rise and fall of Soldier of Fortune. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Grand Theft Auto

bXMUBdqyVAE | 31 Dec 2019

The History of Grand Theft Auto

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Of all the video game series that have made their mark on the industry, few have elicited as many disparate reactions as Grand Theft Auto. To some, the series is the apex of interactive media; the ultimate expression of virtual freedom, and the cathartic chaos that this freedom can result in. To others, it’s one of the biggest smoking guns behind all of the misanthropy and violence present in today’s youth, in addition to being a vile and artless product in its own right. If there’s one aspect that nearly everyone agrees on, it’s that Grand Theft Auto is among the most successful properties in the history of its medium. In the two decades that it’s graced consoles, handhelds and PCs, the open world series has remained a fixture on most sales charts, with its most recent entry, Grand Theft Auto V, having generated more revenue by itself than most franchises manage over their entire lifetime. To most gamers today, this thoroughness with which the series currently dominates the industry is as normal as Mario is Italian. Yet to those that have been paying attention to it since its inception, it’s still a mighty impressive feat. For up until the late 2000s, a day didn’t seem to go by where the series wasn’t embroiled in some sort of scandal created by its most egregious detractors – or its very own developers. This is the history of Grand Theft Auto. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS_ Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Beyond Good and Evil

cGoxQ3yvVSQ | 30 Nov 2019

The History of Beyond Good and Evil

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The mid-2000s were a formative period for Ubisoft. New studios joined its repertoire and bolstered its stature as an international brand. Old studios came into their own with classic series that would define the generation. And series that would come to be classics in the next generation were slowly being cultivated for their future stardom. Yet to many gamers, nothing defined this era of Ubisoft more than Beyond Good & Evil. The culmination of nearly four years of work at Ubisoft Montpellier to craft the ultimate action-adventure game, Beyond cast players as Jade, an investigative reporter tasked with uncovering a conspiracy that threatens her homeworld’s future, and repelling the machinations of a dastardly alien threat. While parts of its varied design evoked comparisons to Zelda and Ratchet & Clank, the whole of the experience was unlike anything else before it; an epic journey that balanced eccentricity and seriousness with considerable finesse, and proved emotionally affecting like few other games in its genre. Yet when it came to sales, it was a considerable disappointment, with only a modicum of copies finding their way into people’s hands. And while this wouldn’t stop Ubisoft from producing a sequel, the company would nonetheless go on to spend more than a decade trying to get it off the ground – hardening the game’s fan base beyond all measure. This is the history of Beyond Good & Evil. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Max Payne

-2T_llaF9jE | 27 Oct 2019

The Rise and Fall of Max Payne

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Few features are as ingrained in the fabric of modern shooters as bullet time. Whether included as a mechanic that one can use at the press of a button, or an occurrence that only happens in scripted moments, bullet time is the punctuation mark of every game it graces; an awesome, yet functional tool that gamers and developers alike can’t get enough of. And it wouldn’t be nearly as popular as it is today were it not for Max Payne. Released in 2001 by Remedy Entertainment, a video game developer based in Espoo, Finland, Max Payne put players in control of its titular protagonist on a slow-motion massacre through New York’s underground. It was dark, it was intense, and – most importantly – it was much more than just a series of reality-defying firefights, with its story spinning an intoxicating, noir-inspired yarn about Max’s descent into madness as he attempts to avenge his family’s death. Players lapped it up in droves, leading the industry at large to try and integrate its mechanics into their own products, and Remedy to produce a follow-up: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. The latter offered an even slicker rendition of Max’s twisted world and mechanics, as well as an earnest attempt to try and portray a love story at a time when the medium, let alone shooters, rarely featured them. Unfortunately, while its reception was even more impressive, its sales struggled to pass muster, and for a period of time after its release, it seemed as if the series had nothing more to offer – barring a mediocre film adaptation starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. Yet like Max himself, its spirit refused to rest until it ended things on its own terms – and in 2012, Rockstar Games released Max Payne 3. Featuring a cruelly aged version of the series’ protagonist, and a setting more reminiscent of Man on Fire than The Big Sleep, the threequel offered long-time fans a rather different experience that what had come before it; one that thoroughly used the mechanics, systems, and characters Remedy had cultivated during the series’ heyday, but still felt distinctly Rockstar in its execution. Not all were pleased with this change in direction, and its sales, while better than its predecessor’s, underwhelmed once more. But even its most ardent critics agreed that as far as shooters went, it was still duly impressive. Like any video game series no longer being worked on, Max Payne’s absence from the current realm of triple-A games is sad. But when one evaluates what the series managed to accomplish while it was alive, it’s hard not to be appreciative of how it went out. This is the rise and fall of Max Payne. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

JrA9yw2Vhjk | 30 Sep 2019

The History of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Video games – more so than any other form of entertainment – are a confluence of artistry and technology. While specialized hardware and software provide developers with the tools necessary to craft them, creativity and skill are necessary in order to know how to make proper use of these tools. And like in any other artistic medium, the only way to improve this creativity and skill is through experience. Perhaps no other word better describes Ninja Theory’s Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. An action-adventure game set within a fantastical post-apocalypse, Enslaved charmed many people with its exciting combat and heartfelt story, but sold well under what most games of its genre typically boast upon its release, resulting in it quickly slipping under the radar for most mainstream gamers. Yet its development – which saw several famous Hollywood figures team up with Ninja Theory – served as an invaluable learning experience for the studio, teaching its staff lifelong lessons on how to engage players using narrative and gameplay in tandem, as well as how to craft deep and emotionally fulfilling characters within the medium’s limitations. It helped its creators transition from being a good video game developer, to a great one, and set them up to eventually become even better with its subsequent endeavors. Sometimes, the destination is the most important part of video game development – while other times, the journey is paramount. With Ninja Theory’s third project, the latter proved more true than anything else. This is the history of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Dungeon Siege

FmGhIRqq4VQ | 20 Sep 2019

The Rise and Fall of Dungeon Siege

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In the realm of action-oriented video games, few are as zen as dungeon crawlers. Even at their most complex, demolishing and looting enemies in the likes of Diablo or Torchlight is as hypnotic as it is satisfying; their gameplay loops providing a perfect mixture of habitual repetition, and utter excitement. And to a small, yet passionate subset of PC gamers during the early 2000s, few games offered a better blend of these elements than Dungeon Siege. Created by Gas Powered Games – a Redmond-based development studio led by the legendary Chris Taylor – Dungeon Siege received significant praise upon its release in 2002 for its unique, party-based gameplay and its seamless, loadingscreen-free world, resulting in a dedicated player base quickly rallying around its design. Yet even amongst its most ardent fans, it also received significant criticism for its barebones story, as well as its tendency to play itself. As a result, its creators worked hard to ensure its sequel featured a more impressive narrative, and a deeper, more involving combat system upon its release in 2005. The end result of their efforts wouldn’t upend its genre – but it would still prove a hit among fans, and continue to inch the series closer to role-playing stardom. Unfortunately, after the release of a decent, albeit gimped spinoff on the PlayStation Portable the following year, the series would proceed to go dormant for half a decade, in addition to being adapted into one of the worst video game movies to ever reach theatres. When it would finally re-emerge, it would do so under the guidance of a different studio – and end up being utterly unlike what had come before it. This is the rise and fall of Dungeon Siege. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of The Saboteur

9ZEiiF7lYas | 28 Aug 2019

The History of The Saboteur

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The late 2000s were an evolutionary period for open world games. While the Grand Theft Auto series continued to refine the metropolitan sandbox, more and more titles were showing that the genre could work well beyond the confines of modern-day urbanity. Games like Crackdown and Infamous offered super-powered skirmishes set within near-future dystopias, while the likes of Assassin’s Creed showed that there was plenty of fun to be had parkouring through cityscapes of the ancient past. The size of their worlds rarely exceeded those of Rockstar’s opuses – but the variety of mechanics and subject matter they explored proved that this didn’t always matter. Among these experiences was The Saboteur, created by the Los Angeles-based Pandemic Studios. An open world game set in Nazi-occupied Paris, The Saboteur set itself apart from its competition with its swashbuckling tone and transformative color palette, which became increasingly vibrant the more its protagonist liberated the French capital’s streets. While not everything about it worked to perfection, few argued against its uniqueness; in an era where most games set during World War II focused on hardened soldiers cast into the conflict’s deepest trenches, and most open world games ignored the former half of the 20th century, there was simply nothing else quite like Pandemic’s work. Yet more unique than the game itself were the circumstances in which it was developed and released. For The Saboteur served as Pandemic’s sole lifeline during one of its most difficult periods – and its swansong once these difficulties forced the studio to close its doors. This is the history of The Saboteur. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Empire Earth

NVMti68r6oU | 21 Aug 2019

The Rise and Fall of Empire Earth

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS During the early 2000s, real-time strategy games were booming. From Blizzard and Westwood’s fantastical machinations, to Creative Assembly and Ensemble Studios’ historical excursions, the genre had a game in almost every style and setting conceivable – and they were all consistently great. Yet of all these games, few offered as wide a scope as Stainless Steel Studios’ inaugural title, Empire Earth. The brainchild of Rick Goodman, who had previously helped conceive Age of Empires during Ensemble’s infancy, Empire Earth allowed players to embark on a tour of human history the likes of which had never been seen before, one that started at the dawn of human civilization, ended in the far-flung future, and offered an unparalleled level of customizability the entire way through. While it wouldn’t prove the most prolific game of this era, it would have no trouble finding an audience willing to evangelize it, as well as continue to support it once expansions and sequels would start arriving from a new developer, Mad Doc Software. But almost as soon as Mad Doc would show itself mostly capable of living up to the high bar set by Stainless Steel, it would irreparably corrupt the series’ formula – scaring off its fan base, and sending it into a slumber from which it has yet to wake. This is a story about an improbable real-time strategy series, and all that was great about it. Yet this is also a story about the importance of balancing one’s desire to branch out and reach new audiences, and keeping true to what it is that people came to love about one’s work in the first place. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Sleeping Dogs

aMANc13VQXM | 31 Jul 2019

The History of Sleeping Dogs

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Making open world games is far from easy. The number of assets necessary to fill them is colossal. The amount of testing required to polish them is unthinkable. And unless your name is Sam or Dan Houser, whatever you make is almost always going to live in the shadow of Grand Theft Auto’s scope and brand power – unless you find a unique way to counter its supremacy. For a brief period in the early 2010s, Sleeping Dogs was such a contender. The culmination of nearly five years of work at Vancouver-based developer United Front Games, Sleeping Dogs managed to win over players’ hearts by being modest and focused; instead of trying to be a better Rockstar game than Rockstar’s own offerings, it concentrated on nailing a setting, tone and style of combat that they had never explored before – and succeeded impressively in doing so. Yet what was perhaps most remarkable about it was the fact that it got released at all. For the penultimate year of its development was marked by a major fracas; one that would have immediately killed it had an unexpected publisher been any less kind, its team any less passionate, and the experience it had to offer any less compelling. This is the history of Sleeping Dogs. Hong Kong footage thanks to: https://www.motionplaces.com/ Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Dragon Age: Inquisition

ccEfP9cAu4s | 23 Jul 2019

The History of Dragon Age: Inquisition

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS After releasing Dragon Age 2 in 2011, Bioware was quick to follow it up with a steady stream of downloadable content, supplying fans eager to make the most out of the sequel with new scenarios and challenges to overcome in the city of Kirkwall. Yet one piece of content that would never arrive was a full-on expansion to the base game, in the vein of Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening. Many believed for a long time that this expansion, which would’ve been titled Exalted March, had been cancelled because Bioware desperately wanted to get away from the miasma of negativity surrounding 2, and move directly on to its successor. However, this wasn’t the case. As revealed by Mike Laidlaw in 2017, the real reason why the studio didn’t follow through with the expansion wasn’t because it was afraid to look back, but because it quickly realized that the engine the series’ next game was set to adopt – the Frostbite Engine – was going to be immensely difficult to get used to; if Bioware’s staff tried to acclimatize themselves to Frostbite and work on Exalted March at the same time, both projects would likely suffer severely. Thus, the decision was made to drop the latter, and focus only on the former. This is just one of the many headaches that Bioware dealt with during the creation of the Dragon Age series’ third entry. Despite enjoying a longer development period than 2, its production would prove to be one of the studio’s most grueling undertakings in its entire history, with nearly every step on the road to its release marred by dysfunction of various sorts. And even though this wouldn’t stop it from providing gamers with a stellar experience, the scars of this era would continue to haunt Bioware for years to come. This is the history of Dragon Age Inquisition. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The GVMERS Update

RxXvWFg0KBY | 10 Jul 2019

The GVMERS Update

Thank you so much for your continued support! We're excited to make some new announcements as we enter the next chapter of our channel. Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Discover our new channel, GVMERS Plus: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXAJdHOI2H_K6kp3o_Dygwg/ Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAilert https://twitter.com/AlexKozina Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Dragon Age 2

TUXwJdXuSO0 | 30 Jun 2019

The History of Dragon Age 2

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Few investments in the video game industry are as safe as sequels. Not only are they an easy sell to fans and publishers alike, but as direct continuations of pre-existing games, their developments are free of a lot of the heavy-lifting original concepts need to deal with; most of their core mechanics have been previously tested, the amount of assets they can use off the bat are numerous, and their creators already have plenty of feedback on how to improve both. Even if they don’t manage to eclipse their predecessors in terms of popularity, sequels are still all but guaranteed to keep their series’ spirit ablaze, and feature plenty of innovations their developers hadn’t been able to implement before. Awakening, Dragon Age: Origins’ first and only expansion, managed to do all of this and more. Dragon Age 2, which was marketed as Origins’ actual sequel, did not. Rather than feature a sprawling adventure that thrust players in Thedas’ farthest corners, the second entry in Bioware’s acclaimed role-playing series took place entirely inside a single city, following a lowly immigrant’s rise to glory within its walls over the course of a decade. While this change, and many, many others that Dragon Age 2 made to its predecessor’s core design proved popular to some, they failed to resonate with fans on a broader level, resulting in the wayward sequel gaining an infamous reputation. And yet, when one examines the circumstances in which the game was made, it’s hard not to feel a tinge of empathy for Bioware. For unlike Dragon Age’s first entry, which benefited from a development cycle that lasted nearly a decade, its second was forced to come together in just over a year, as a result of shifting circumstances within the studio and its Texan subsidiary. Viewed through this lens, it’s impressive that it got released at all – even if it isn’t exactly what one wanted out of a sequel to Origins. This is the history of Dragon Age 2. Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Dragon Age: Origins

zCzJ97HYHm8 | 17 Jun 2019

The History of Dragon Age: Origins

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join When it comes to Western role-playing games, few video game developers are as renowned as Bioware. The Edmonton-based studio’s catalogue is as celebrated as it is influential, with almost all of its titles representing the peaks of their genres in the eras they debuted. Baldur’s Gate brought computer RPGs back in vogue with its sublime, high-fantasy gameplay. Neverwinter NightsKnights masterfully adapted its tenets into a multiplayer-centric experience. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic saw the former games’ narrative finesse melded with the adventurism of the galaxy far, far away. And Mass Effect made all of this Bioware’s own – while taking it to the next level. But being this renowned comes with a high heavy price. Today, gamers are well aware of the struggles the studio dealt with recently during the development of games like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem. Yet the reality is that struggles like these have persisted throughout its entire history, with nearly every major production that Bioware has successfully completed representing a triumph in the face of massive adversity. Dragon Age, Bioware’s much-beloved high-fantasy series, is perhaps most emblematic of this. While each of its mainline entries were made under vastly different circumstances from one another, they all suffered in their own, unique ways. Its third one’s design failed to fully come together until late in its production, and needed to be made in an incredibly unruly engine. Its second one’s development period was one of the most cramped its staff had ever experienced. And its first operated without a consistent team or set of tools for an immensely long – so much so, that many wondered if it was ever going to come out at all. This is the history of Dragon Age: Origins. Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAilert https://twitter.com/Kozibear Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of F.E.A.R.

qgvzW0dXfOM | 04 Jun 2019

The Rise and Fall of F.E.A.R.

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Red Dead Redemption

Tc4vOqy6QYk | 09 May 2019

The History of Red Dead Redemption

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS As Rockstar Games entered the seventh generation of video game consoles, the acclaimed publisher slowly began to trim down and reinvent its catalogue. Rather than providing a wide variety of experiences that each tried to do one or two things well, Rockstar started focusing on leveraging the Grand Theft Auto series’ popularity and appeal, and offering a much smaller pool of games that featured similarly open-ended designs. And none of the company’s franchises were more primed to be reinvented in this manner than Red Dead. 2004’s Red Dead Revolver had been far from perfect. Its decent gunplay and atmosphere had been hamstrung by a middling cast of characters and story, resulting in an experience that wasn’t quite on the same level with the rest of Rockstar’s properties. Yet its setting had always struck those involved in its creation as the perfect environment to flesh out into a sandbox, and a great foil to the urban sprawl featured in the rest of Rockstar’s franchises. The process of translating this into an actual game would prove tumultuous for Rockstar San Diego, pushing them to the brink as they struggled to recreate the American Frontier more completely and authentically than any other studio before it. But when their work finally concluded, the world would be treated to what would become one of the most beloved video games of its generation – and an equally excellent expansion. This is the history of Red Dead Redemption. #RDR2 #RedDead #RedDeadRedemption Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Red Dead Revolver

c5rXpQa3lO4 | 08 May 2019

The History of Red Dead Revolver

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The first episode in our multipart history series about the Red Dead franchise. When it comes to Western video games, it’s hard to think of a title more iconic than Red Dead Redemption. While the genre has been around since time immemorial, with players able to brave the American frontier as early as the 1970s with The Oregon Trail, Rockstar San Diego’s romantic, yet unashamedly human open-world game resonated more strongly with players than anything that had been released before... But prior to Red Dead Redemption becoming renowned the world over, it was preceded by a much more modest game. A light-hearted third-person shooter, filled with cookie-cutter heroes and Hollywood villains, which would have been even more absurd than it ended up being had Rockstar Games not intervened. A pre-nascent experience that failed to earn the same critical and commercial mindshare as its successor, but needed to happen so that its developer could become what it is today and Red Dead Redemption could eventually exist. This is the history of Red Dead Revolver. #RedDeadRedemption2 #RedDead #RedDeadRedemption Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Lost Planet

v-O_Ru8CYts | 25 Apr 2019

The Rise and Fall of Lost Planet

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS At the farthest edges of space, there exists a world unlike any other. A world where hostile alien lifeforms known as the Akrid are fought endlessly for the thermal energy that runs through their veins. Where an intergalactic syndicate and lowly snow pirates battle for supremacy using towering robots known as Vital Suits. Where the temperature and environment fluctuate constantly, as if trying to consciously expel those unable to adapt to its capriciousness. To those caught within its turmoil, this world is E.D.N. III, a hostile celestial body that welcomes only the most daring of explorers – and serves as the setting for Capcom’s Lost Planet series. Originally conceived by Mega Man maestro Keiji Inafune and a team of former Devil May Cry and Onimusha developers, the Lost Planet series provided early adopters of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with an unusual, yet entertaining take on the third-person shooter, one that melded together Eastern and Western design values in ways unique to its genre. Yet much like E.D.N. III itself, Lost Planet would undergo many dramatic shifts, with each of its entries featuring wildly different takes on its core narrative and mechanics. While all of these games found players willing to accept these changes, this refusal to remain the same resulted in Lost Planet’s fan base gradually eroding away, and Capcom eventually moving on to pursue greener pastures. To many gamers, Lost Planet was inexorably linked with Capcom’s pursuit of Western-style games and developers during the seventh console generation, and the many disappointments that this initiative resulted in. Yet to those the forlorn series managed to touch, it was also one of the more unique and underrated experiences of its era – even though it could never quite settle on a single style. This is the rise and fall of Lost Planet. Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Prince of Persia

gjQYIhFMQs8 | 31 Mar 2019

The Rise and Fall of Prince of Persia

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In 1989, young college graduate Jordan Mechner introduced a 2D platformer called Prince of Persia to the world. Platformers were all the rage during the 80s, yet Mechner’s set itself apart from its contemporaries with its weighty, swashbuckling action, and incredibly smooth animations – a feat that Mechner had achieved by rotoscoping his family and friends into sprites. After a decade of enhanced ports and a strong sequel, the series would fall into an abyss following a misstep into the third dimension. Yet just when all seemed lost, Ubisoft’s young, Montreal-based studio would step in and transform the series into a modern classic, implementing a gameplay mechanic now as iconic as the franchise itself in the process. Prince of Persia’s new heroes would continue to nurture it for many years after – until finally, after bringing it to the silver screen, the decision was made to put it on hold. The series’ spark had seemingly vanished – but the mark it had left on the industry and gamers worldwide would still remain. This is the rise and fall of Prince of Persia. #princeofpersia Support the channel by becoming a member: https://www.youtube.com/GVMERS/join Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Metro: Last Light

1jOLFFuW_zk | 02 Mar 2019

The History of Metro: Last Light

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Developing Metro 2033 had been challenging for 4A Games. After splintering from GSC Game World in 2005, the Ukrainian studio had spent the better half of the decade building everything in their first title from the ground up, from the engine that powered its world, to the design philosophy that informed its gameplay. And while the game had managed to exceed expectations when it finally released, it also carried with it a stigma of being undercooked, on account of its many bugs, and occasionally infuriating enemy AI. With 2033’s sequel, 4A had an opportunity to enjoy a much smoother development cycle. Most of the fundamentals upon which it would be built were already in place, and THQ, which had served as the first game’s publisher, was eager to provide the studio with much more support than in the past. Unfortunately, like a journey through the tunnels of Moscow’s metro system gone awry, the game’s development would be beset by various struggles; some intrinsic to 4A, others created by events far beyond its control. Yet 4A would proceed to not only weather these issues, but release a sequel that rivaled and, in some ways, surpassed the quality of its predecessor. To onlookers within the industry, what they managed to accomplish was nothing short of incredible – but to the studio’s employees, it was just part of the job. This is the history of Metro: Last Light. The History of Metro Part 2. #metro #metroexodus #4agames Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Metro 2033

5dNrXRnUJzI | 09 Feb 2019

The History of Metro 2033

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS It’s not an exaggeration to claim that video games have a penchant for life in post-apocalyptic America. From the ghastly realism of The Last of Us, to the tongue-in-cheek absurdity of Rage, the industry is filled to the brim with experiences that explore what happens to the land of the free after social order collapses. In addition, games like Frostpunk, Mad Max, and a few others have featured memorable post-apocalyptic scenarios in the Anglosphere. Yet when it comes to the rest of the globe, the pickings are often slim. 4A Games’ Metro franchise is an exception to this. A survival-oriented first-person shooter series based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels of the same name, the games explore the harshness of life in Moscow after the fires of nuclear war force its inhabitants to take refuge in its metro. And it does so with one of the more hardcore set of mechanics to grace its genre. For perhaps this reason, a lack of marketing, and a not-insignificant amount of technical issues that afflicted its first wave of releases, the Metro series never managed to become as beloved as some of its peers. Yet through sheer force of will, it grew into a mainstay in the first person shooter genre, thanks to the tireless work of 4A Games, and the support of its passionate fan base. But in order to fully appreciate what the series has to offer, one must first go back to the past. To the mid-2000s, when 4A’s founders had yet to leave their original outfit, and Glukhovsky’s first novel had only just been published in its home country. This is the history of Metro 2033. The History of Metro Part 1. #metro #metroexodus #4agames Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Operation Flashpoint

dz3xxUueCP8 | 21 Jan 2019

The Rise and Fall of Operation Flashpoint

In 1997, a video game company named Bohemia Interactive was established in Prague. The Czech Republic had historically never been a hotbed for video game development, but Bohemia’s founders – Marek Španěl, Ondřej Španěl, and Slavomír Pavlíček – were on a mission. They were determined to create a first person shooter that would capture the reality of war more accurately than any game before it; an engrossing simulation that would depict what real battlefields were like, and feature an unprecedented sense of scale and attention to detail. After a challenging and prolonged development period, Bohemia delivered on these ambitions in 2001 with Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. The game was both a triumph within the genre of tactical first-person shooters, and one of the first major successes in the history of Czech-made video games. But it was also beginning of two wars – a war between Bohemia and its publisher, which would attempt to capitalize on the game without its creators’ involvement, and a war between Bohemia and itself, as the studio struggled to balance its ambitions with its capabilities. When the dust finally settled over a decade later, Operation Flashpoint had been stripped of its appeal and future. But Bohemia had survived, and started a new series, ARMA, that picked up mechanically and spiritually where Cold War Crisis left off. Unlike its predecessor, ARMA received a more muted reaction from the industry when it debuted – yet eventually grew into an empire within the military simulation genre. In a world where abandoned video game franchises so rarely receive spiritual successors that continue in their footsteps, the story of the Operation Flashpoint and ARMA is a shining exception; a reminder that not all inactive series become lost forever. This is the rise and fall of Operation Flashpoint. Video sources: gamescom 2012: Interview with Marek Spanel from Bohemia Interactive: https://youtu.be/HorSqsUfxic Enzait DayZ Cinematics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKUi12O7i8w Reportáž - Nové informace o hře Carrier Command: Gaea Mission: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ivysilani/1095870977-game-page/212563242600003/obsah/190949-reportaz-nove-informace-o-hre-carrier-command-gaea-mission/ Reportáž - Carrier Command: Gaea Mission: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ivysilani/1095870977-game-page/210572242600006/obsah/106349-reportaz-carrier-command-gaea-mission Bohemia Interactive — Game Page — iVysílání — Česká televize: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ivysilani/1095870977-game-page/209572242600010/obsah/75796-bohemia-interactive Game Page — Česká televize: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/1095870977-game-page/211563242600014/?clanek=720 B.L.O.U.D. for the Atari 8-bit: family: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EydLuhQnpQc Don't mess with Texas - TI-99/4A Megademo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhSUhE03XFw Convoy Simulation Training part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34Ngq1Jj88c Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The History of Star Wars: Republic Commando

aZNMyYXMj7Y | 02 Jan 2019

The History of Star Wars: Republic Commando

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In the pantheon of fictional universes, few are as rife with memorable characters as Star Wars. From Admiral Ackbar to Yoda, the galaxy far, far away has served as a host to all manner of unique and iconic personas throughout its history – some so much so, that they’ve managed to carry entire video games by themselves. When the clone troopers debuted during the prequel trilogy, most assumed that they would never be given the opportunity to share the same spotlight. A genetically uniform army that served the Jedi prior to their downfall, the clones would largely function as background dressing to more important characters and conflicts in whatever fiction they made an appearance, lacking the presence or personality to carry most scenes on their own. However, it would be a squad of clones that would go on to feature in one of the most celebrated Star Wars games of the 6th console generation: Star Wars: Republic Commando. A tactical first-person shooter set between the films’ second and third episodes, Republic Commando not only provides players with an engaging gameplay experience, but gives distinct and endearing personalities to its unusual protagonists years before the Clone Wars TV show would attempt to do the same. It demonstrated that even without most of the franchise’s main stalwarts – the Jedi, the Sith, and everyone in-between – one could still create a Star Wars experience capable of reaching fans’ hearts. This is the history of Star Wars: Republic Commando. Special thanks to Andy, Gilly, Jamie and Ryan for helping us record footage of the game's multiplayer suite! Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Cancelled PlayStation Exclusive - Investigating Eight Days

bia0viuzrXs | 10 Dec 2018

The Cancelled PlayStation Exclusive - Investigating Eight Days

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS At the dawn of the PlayStation 3’s life, Sony promised that their first high-definition console would transform the video game industry. Its hardware would trounce whatever the competition had to offer. Its online capabilities would bring people together in revolutionary ways. And – most importantly of all – its games would astound players like nothing before. Eight Days was one of those titles. A third-person action game from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s London Studio, Eight Days promised prospective PlayStation 3 owners a high-octane experience, one in which an unlikely duo would take on a criminal enterprise across America. Its intensive gunplay and chest-pumping set pieces seemed like a blast, and its graphics looked good – maybe a little too good. However, before the world could judge whether the game was all Sony cracked it up to be, the company would swoop in and cancel it two years after the PlayStation 3’s launch. Like so many of the promises that were made at the console’s outset, Eight Days was pushed to the side as Sony sought to prioritize what was profitable, and what its development houses did well in the midst of the PlayStation 3’s sagging trajectory. London Studio’s ambitious shooter could have found its way into the hearts of many a gamer – but with London’s pedigree suggesting the studio would be much better suited making other types of games, it was never given the chance to do so. This is the story of Eight Days. Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Skate

3cX7wisSiWI | 18 Oct 2018

The Rise and Fall of Skate

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS For a brief period of time in the early 2000s, skateboarding video games were inescapable. The countercultural sport had been adapted into bits and bytes many times in the past, but following the genre-defining release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in 1999, it became one of the hottest commodities in gaming. Year after year, players couldn’t stop shredding elaborate digital combos, and developers couldn’t stop pumping out opportunities for players to do so. By 2007, however, the genre was getting tired. Its best games were struggling to advance beyond what had been established at the end of the preceding millennium, and its worst made it seem bloated and exploitative. It’s in this window that EA Black Box introduced the world to Skate. Where Pro Skater and most of the titles that succeeded it depicted skating as it appeared on TV – sensationalized and effortless – Skate attempted depict the sport with greater realism than ever before. Performing a trick meant moving the joystick in a way that mimicked whatever it is one wanted to perform, rather than press a button to instantly grind or ollie. Skate would go on to become a critical and commercial darling, spawning a spin-off and two equally popular sequels in less than three years – only to disappear without a trace. Despite possessing considerable goodwill, extraneous factors would lead EA to abandon the series while it was ahead, leaving players hoping for a fourth Skate title out in the cold. Yet rather than move on, Skate’s fan base would only become more voracious overtime, transforming Skate 4 from an idle fantasy, into one of the most talked about video games that has never existed; a curse of unrequited love that continues to haunt EA to this very day on social media. Credits: Tony Hawk's Project 8 in 60fps (Xbox 360): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmMNJCq7kKw This is the rise and fall of Skate. #Skate #Skate4 #MakeEASkateAgain Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Driver

oBRqVZObvu0 | 23 Sep 2018

The Rise and Fall of Driver

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In the late 1990s, the PlayStation was abound with racing games. Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, Ridge Racer, and many more provided players with plenty of hours of breakneck entertainment behind digital steering wheels. Among these games, however, was a decidedly different experience from Newcastle-based developer Reflections Interactive. Simply titled Driver, the game focused more on emulating the thrill of Hollywood-style car chases than on pure racing, allowing players to unleash their inner Steve McQueen across the United States’ roughest roads. The game was immensely successful, and quickly spawned a lesser, yet ambitious sequel that allowed players to exit and hijack cars nearly a year before Rockstar allowed players to do the same in Grand Theft Auto III. Unfortunately, the subsequent popularity and quality of the Grand Theft Auto games would prove to be an albatross around Driver’s neck. Unable to escape the former series’ transcendental fame, Reflections would gradually inject more and more of its open-world trappings into Driver, leading to some major embarrassments, and the gradual loss of the franchise’s identity. Finally, after switching multiple publishers and coming to terms with Driver’s strengths, Reflections would transition the series back into pure, car-chasing action with 2011’s Driver: San Francisco. The cost of doing so left Reflections uninterested in doing much else with the series – but resulted in an immensely entertaining experience; one that righted its predecessors’ missteps, while offering clever new ideas that helped release it from Grand Theft Auto’s shadow. This is the rise and fall of Driver. Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Kojima's Cancelled Masterpiece - Investigating Silent Hills

_P7wHolvfH0 | 01 Sep 2018

Kojima's Cancelled Masterpiece - Investigating Silent Hills

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS When a video game is cancelled, it can be difficult to judge how it would have fared if history had gone differently. Most of the time, the public is only treated to a small snapshot of the title’s content; some screenshots, a bit of canned footage or maybe even a vertical slice or two. As promising as titles like StarCraft: Ghost or Star Wars 1313 might have appeared during their brief existence, the reality is that the world only ever gleaned an idea of what these projects might have offered upon release. Even their developers have no way of knowing exactly how they would have netted out. Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro’s Silent Hills is no different. Like so many failed projects before it, Silent Hills remains little more than a concept; a dream in the minds of its fans and the people that were working on it. But on the road to its demise, it birthed one of the most celebrated horror experiences of the past decade. A Playable Teaser, or P.T., that provided a sense of terror that was absent from so many of its predecessors, and helped reinvest a generation of players in the macabre. Video game cancellations are tragic, and leave the world wondering what could have been. But they can leave behind more than just ideas – they can impart tangible experiences that are great in and of themselves, and serve as an impetus for change. This is the story of Silent Hills. Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

A History of Cancelled Halo Games and Concepts

L-YT147OCHc | 23 Aug 2018

A History of Cancelled Halo Games and Concepts

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Special thanks to archivist Andrew Borman, watch the entire Haggar gameplay reveal on his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ptoponline When Halo: Combat Evolved landed on the original Xbox in 2001, the video game industry changed dramatically. Master Chief and the UNSC’s battle with the pious forces of the Covenant helped legitimize the first-person shooter on consoles, established Microsoft as a contender in the industry, and launched one of the most venerated sagas in the history of video games. Since the franchise has traded hands, from its creators at Bungie, to its successors at 343 Industries, opinions of newer titles have cooled – yet the series remains a powerhouse. As with any franchise that has lasted several decades, however, an abundance of failed concepts, pitches and ideas are to be expected. Halo is no different – yet its most notable failed projects are a diverse and eclectic bunch, wandering far outside the fine shooting and vehicle mechanics that the series’ numbered entries exemplify. From a melee-focused action game, to a Mega Bloks platformer teeming with gags, the history of Halo’s cancelled games and concepts embodies the franchise’s versatility. Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Original Fallout 3 - Investigating Fallout Van Buren

ffu_KTdRwik | 31 Jul 2018

The Original Fallout 3 - Investigating Fallout Van Buren

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In the late 1990s, few video game developers were as synonymous with PC role-playing games as Black Isle Studios. Established in 1996 as a subsidiary of Interplay Entertainment, Black Isle helped create and foster an array of beloved isometric RPG series, including Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Fallout. Of all its works, Fallout set itself apart with its 50s Americana-inspired post-apocalyptic setting and open-ended design, which enabled players to craft their journey through the irradiated remains of the United States with an unprecedented level of freedom. Whether allowing them to be the scourge of all that is living, a pacifist capable of convincing their foes to surrender, or a straggler just trying to get by, both Fallout and its sequel, Fallout 2, exemplified the power of player choice in games, and served as hallmarks of Black Isle's talent. After years of false starts, development on a third mainline entry in the series for the PC materialized, one that would have seen the player embroiled in a plot involving escaped convicts, a mysterious virus, and a calamitous space station. Unfortunately, despite coming within striking distance of being completed, both this project and Black Isle as a whole would be shut down in late 2003, snuffed out by Interplay's financial woes and shifting priorities. Their ends were tragic - yet both Fallout and the talent that shepherded it would live on, with the former becoming one of the biggest names in gaming, and the latter joining a new development studio that would eventually incorporate elements of their cancelled entry into their works. This is the story of Van Buren, the original Fallout 3. #GVMERS #Fallout #Fallout76 Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Silent Hill

V7apuW_2lIE | 17 Jul 2018

The Rise and Fall of Silent Hill

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Watch gameplay of Origins' early builds and Broken Covenant on PtoPonline's channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ptoponline In the late 1990s, horror games were on the rise. The hardware capabilities of Sony’s PlayStation enabled developers to craft immersive 3D experiences that married the atmosphere and shock of Hollywood’s most terrifying pictures with the agency of games – and players couldn’t get enough of them. Among these titles was a twisted, yet comparatively demure experience called Silent Hill. Developed by a motley crew of talented Konami employees, Silent Hill flipped contemporary horror game tropes on their head, casting the player as an everyman in search of his daughter in a fog-enshrouded town. The game would be well received, and followed up by three sequels on the PlayStation 2 that would catapult the Silent Hill name into horror gaming stardom. However, shifting interests within Konami would lead the Japanese company to disband the team that developed these early titles, and outsource all future games in the series to studios in Europe and America. While this move would produce some genuine highlights, mixed efforts and a lack of care on Konami’s part would result in Silent Hill gradually becoming a shell of its former self; a legend brimming with potential that always seemed to fall short of its glory days through some issue or another. This is the rise and fall of Silent Hill. #gvmers #silenthill Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of SOCOM

MGpqcsU4IKA | 22 Jun 2018

The Rise and Fall of SOCOM

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In the early days of the PlayStation 2, Zipper Interactive would debut a third-person shooter called SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs. Authentic, tactical, team-based, and online at a time where few other PlayStation titles were, SOCOM took the home console by storm. It gave Sony’s exclusives a more mature face, provided multiplayer-centric shooters a new standard to compete against, and helped single-handedly move the PlayStation 2’s network adapter and headset into gamers’ homes. The debut of SOCOM 2 the following year created an immediate classic, and confirmed SOCOM as a franchise that would be with PlayStation for years to come – even as unsavoury hackers attempted to ruin players’ enjoyment. Yet try as SOCOM would, lightning never seemed to strike thrice in the eyes of the series faithful. SOCOM 3, Combined Assault, Confrontation, and many more would all proceed to be good, if not great games in their own right – but whether helmed by Zipper or Slant Six, SOCOM never found its third pillar on which it could rest. And just as it seemed as if the series finally might, SOCOM 4 would both trip over its design, and fall into a hole burrowed out of the PlayStation Network Outage of 2011. SOCOM was shattered, Zipper was shuttered, and one by one, the entire series would go offline – though the hardcore would continue to find ways to keep the series’ flame alive. This is the rise and fall of SOCOM. #gvmers #socom #navyseals Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Tragically Cancelled - Investigating StarCraft: Ghost

_FxVqq3OKn8 | 09 Jun 2018

Tragically Cancelled - Investigating StarCraft: Ghost

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS It had been four years since Blizzard released StarCraft, and its expansion, Brood War for the PC. The science fiction-themed real-time strategy game proved to be a critical and commercial smash upon its release in 1998, drawing in millions of players around the globe to battle for the fate of humanity – or rather, the “Terrans” – in the game’s riveting single-player campaign, and trade wits in its competitive multiplayer mode. It was a revelation for both casual and professional fans of the genre – and they wanted more. Their wishes would be answered when Blizzard and Nihilistic Software would reveal StarCraft: Ghost, an action-stealth game set in the StarCraft universe, for home consoles. Centered on Nova, a powerful and deadly psionic warrior, Ghost quickly became a highly anticipated game due to its ambitious and varied combat system, and for offering a novel new way to experience a beloved universe. However, despite a strong initial showing, Ghost would spend the next several years fighting for its life. Revisions, delays, and a change in development studio would push the game further and further into the periphery – before disappearing entirely. Ghost would become its very own namesake; always up in the air in the sea of possibility, but never tangible. And yet from its corpse, Nova would survive, slowly becoming one of the StarCraft universe’s biggest characters thanks to a litany of multimedia appearances. This is the story of StarCraft: Ghost. #gvmers #starcraft #blizzard Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Why Was Generals 2 Cancelled? - Investigating Command & Conquer

Ipb_buw95d4 | 27 Apr 2018

Why Was Generals 2 Cancelled? - Investigating Command & Conquer

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Following the release of Command and Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight in March of 2010, the future of the Command & Conquer series was uncertain. The acclaimed real-time strategy series had enjoyed an incredible heyday, with a procession of critically acclaimed titles across both personal computers and consoles. But EA Los Angeles’ Tiberian Twilight, which had vastly departed from the acclaimed real-time strategy series’ tenets, proved to be immensely unpopular with long-time fans and critics alike, casting the series’ future in doubt. And yet, from its ashes, a new Command & Conquer title would emerge: Command & Conquer: Generals 2. Taking place after the events of Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansion, Zero Hour, Generals 2 – from what little information was made available of it – seemed a solid counter to Tiberian Twilight’s many mistakes; a return to the franchise’s roots powered by EA’s graphically impressive Frostbite engine. But before fans could confirm whether or not Generals 2 was truly the reversion that the series needed, it was announced that the game would be converted into a free-to-play platform simply titled Command & Conquer. And that it would launch – in an aberration for the series – without a single-player campaign. Fans would rail against the game’s abrupt change in direction, prompting Victory Games, the game’s developers, to do their best to address fans’ concerns. But try as they might, Victory struggled to make headway on the project – until it was abruptly and unceremoniously cancelled. This is the story of Command & Conquer: Generals 2. #gvmers #commandandconquer #ea Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Crysis

_jUhTD48MjY | 07 Apr 2018

The Rise and Fall of Crysis

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Maximum strength. Maximum armor. Maximum speed. To PC gamers in the late 2000s, these words were the credo of a futuristic first-person shooter unlike anything else around it – Crysis. Developed by Frankfurt-based developer Crytek, Crysis dazzled the industry with its gorgeous graphics and open-ended gameplay, which encouraged players to make the most of both their own, innate abilities, and the environment around them. It was an uneven experience, one whose final third betrayed its strongest ideas – yet it was one that found its way into the heart of many a player. And within a year following its release, it would be complimented by Crysis Warhead, an expansion in some ways even stronger than the base game itself. But as the years passed, Crytek would gradually migrate the franchise to home consoles, reinventing the series to better suit its new platforms for Crysis 2. All the same time and effort that had gone into making the first game was there, and then some – but it lacked much of what made its predecessor special. A third entry, Crysis 3, would make an earnest effort to address players’ complaints, and bridge the two disparate directions the series had driven in – but the moment had passed, and players had moved on. This is the rise and fall of Crysis. #gvmers #crysis #crytek Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Brothers in Arms | Documentary

dowQLoaAIvY | 24 Mar 2018

The Rise and Fall of Brothers in Arms | Documentary

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In the early 2000s, World War 2 shooters were seemingly everywhere. Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, and an endless stream of clones and knock-offs pervaded both personal computers and home consoles. While fun, these experiences were often formulaic, casting players time and time again as frontline soldiers in bombastic, but heavily scripted action sequences across the war’s greatest flashpoints. Running and gunning alone into the thick of battle was the name of the game, with little in the way of realism. In the midst of this glut of homogenous experiences, one series of World War 2 shooters stood out above the rest: Brothers in Arms. Developed by Gearbox Software and published by Ubisoft, Brothers in Arms emphasized real-world tactics and teamwork over mindless gunplay, forcing players to work together with their in-game allies to overcome conflicts. While Brothers in Arms would experience a wave of popularity following its debut in 2005, bolstered by its affecting narrative and unique gameplay, its fame would gradually wane overtime. Changing market conditions, a stream of middling mobile releases, and Gearbox Software’s shifting priorities would slowly but surely drown the series out of the public conscience. And though there is reason to hope that the series may yet live again, an ill-fated attempt to revitalize the series in 2011 suggests that a new entry may still be far on the horizon. This is the rise and fall of Brothers in Arms. #gvmers #brothersinarms #bia Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Disney's Cancelled Pirates RPG - Investigating Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned

Thu-p-_usqw | 03 Mar 2018

Disney's Cancelled Pirates RPG - Investigating Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS For as long as video games have existed as consumer products, there have been games based on non-gaming franchises. Movies, television series, music, plays, and many more have all found their way into the medium of games – and while some go on to become coveted pieces of the video game industry’s landscape, most quickly recede into the background. A lack of time, talent, and creative freedom condemns them to mediocrity – or worse. The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was no exception. While far from the worst that the world of licensed games has to offer, the Pirates of the Caribbean video games, designed to quickly and cheaply cash in on the movies’ releases, consistently failed to move the needle. While the 2007 video game tie-in for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End offered surprisingly engaging voice performances and – for its time – decent graphics, its core gameplay had little to offer. But then, in 2009 a Vancouver-based development studio known as Propaganda Games would announce the development of a new Pirates of the Caribbean game, one without the star power of Johnny Depp or Keira Knightly. An ambitious project that would use the Pirates of the Caribbean universe as the canvas for an original set of characters, scenarios and mechanics unfettered by the franchises’ normal stalwarts. A swashbuckling adventure that, had it ever been released, might have stood toe-to-toe with the best that the video game industry had to offer. This is the story of Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned. #gvmers #piratesofthecaribbean #pirates Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

Why Patriots Became Siege - Investigating Rainbow 6: Patriots

ICVHMOjKncU | 16 Feb 2018

Why Patriots Became Siege - Investigating Rainbow 6: Patriots

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Ubisoft Montreal footage source: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0A973EAAF0E434FA We look back at the troubled development of Rainbow Six Patriots, as we look forward to the upcoming Operation Outbreak expansion. In December of 2015, Ubisoft released Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. The eleventh entry in the first-person shooter series about counter-terrorist unit Rainbow, Siege bucked tradition. Where past Rainbow Six titles featured both single-player and multiplayer offerings in which players battled opposing forces across sprawling environments, Siege focused exclusively on multiplayer content in which teams of players worked together to attack or defend small, yet highly destructible arenas. While Siege suffered a rough launch, marred by game-breaking bugs, server issues, and a lack of content, Ubisoft worked candidly with the game’s community to improve it following its release, and it has since grown into one of the most popular competitive shooters on the market. But while Siege’s success is familiar to many, less known are the murky circumstances in which the title first emerged. That before Ubisoft set out to redefine the Rainbow Six series as a premier multiplayer-only experience, the series was gearing up to deliver what might have been the most evocative and contemporary single-player narrative ever featured in a Ubisoft game. A dramatic tale that would have seen Team Rainbow fighting for the soul of America as they both descended into madness. This is the story of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Patriots. #gvmers #rainbowsix #siege Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Future of GVMERS

a1UhR_MX3-c | 06 Feb 2018

The Future of GVMERS

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/DVgzrmC Today, we're excited to show you what's in store for 2018! Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of Resistance | Documentary

QmdcrQfvKr0 | 24 Jan 2018

The Rise and Fall of Resistance | Documentary

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The year was 2006. The PlayStation 3 was fast approaching, and the creators of Sony’s most celebrated 3D platformers were hard at work creating experiences that would appeal to the upcoming console’s mature audience. Naughty Dog, the acclaimed creator of the kid-friendly Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series, was busy developing Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, an action-adventure game that would follow a gun-toting daredevil’s journey into unknown territory. Sucker Punch Productions, which had recently risen to fame with its swashbuckling Sly Cooper series, was working on Infamous, a gritty action title starring an electricity-wielding superhero. And Insomniac games, which had fathered the lighthearted Spyro and Ratchet & Clank series, was on the verge of releasing a science fiction first-person shooter set in 1950s England. A shooter called Resistance: Fall of Man. With a lengthy single-player campaign and a robust multiplayer suite that mixed the realism of Activision’s Call of Duty with the fantastical of Bungie’s Halo, Resistance: Fall of Man seemed poised to become a massive franchise. And yet, despite receiving an initial groundswell of support and multiple sequels, over a decade later and the name Resistance is all but absent from the current PlayStation ecosystem. Where the Uncharted and Infamous series enjoyed acclaim well into the life of the PlayStation 4, Insomniac’s Resistance franchise would ultimately fail to escape the orbit of the PlayStation 3, collapsing almost as soon as it would peak with the release of Resistance 3 in 2011. This is the story of the rise and fall of the Resistance series. #gvmers #resistance #insomniac Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS Join the GVMERS Discord channel: https://discord.gg/sZApcwx Subscribe to the GVMERS subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/GVMERS/

The Rise and Fall of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. | Documentary

rYNjcM7wCy8 | 26 Nov 2017

The Rise and Fall of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. | Documentary

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Imagine the following scenario: you, the player, are tasked with stealing top-secret documents from a former research institute-turned-military complex swarming with enemies. You manage to slip into the main building undetected, narrowly avoiding the eyesight of your adversaries – but just as you reach the target, you are spotted, and the alarm goes off. Undeterred, you reload your previous save with the intention of making the alert go away – only to be confronted with the same relentless wailing. You load the next save in your list – and once again, the haunting sound is still there. It’s as if the ghost of your previous, inept incarnation has polluted your world with its spectral presence – and there’s nothing you can do about it. This scene epitomizes the often baffling, yet thoroughly fascinating series of first person shooter survival horror games developed by GSC Game World, Stalker. Stalker is not a series of finished products, but rather, a work-in-progress, a palimpsest whose texture inscribes the history of its troubled development. All the hardships, discarded ideas, and unrealistic ambitions that dogged the games’ development haunt them in the form of innumerable bugs and frustrating design flaws. And yet, despite – or perhaps even because of these faults, the series managed to attract a sizeable cult following, spawning an abundance of mods, fanfiction, novels, as well as films, and even inspire courageous fans to enact their fantasies in the game’s real life setting: the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The story of the Stalker series illustrates that sometimes, success is only possible if it straddles the border of disaster. #gvmers #stalker #chernobyl Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

Why Was This Promising RPG Cancelled? - Investigating Project Offset

TWNokSt_DjA | 29 Oct 2017

Why Was This Promising RPG Cancelled? - Investigating Project Offset

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS When looking back at the evolution of videogame technology, the mid-2000s were, perhaps, some of the most pivotal years. Sony and Microsoft ushered in the next generation of console hardware by releasing the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 respectively, allowing developers to create far more impressive engines to power their ambitious games, and titles such as FEAR, Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 were pushing the envelope with their unparalleled graphics and physics simulations. It was during these turbulent years that a small group of indie developers teased the public with a game so impressive in both visuals and design that it managed to stand out among its substantially bigger-budgeted contemporaries and would remain relevant years after its unveiling. First showcased to the world in 2005, the fantasy-themed action game Project Offset was trapped in development for five more years, with intentions on being released on the PC, while ports for the 7th generation of consoles were considered as well. Alas, the game was canned completely in 2010, yet its publishers-to-be never officially clarified why. So, what did Project Offset bring to the table, aside from its impressive graphics? What happened during development? And, more importantly, why was it cancelled after so long? Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Jake "The Voice" Parr Directed by Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #projectoffset Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

A History of Cancelled Metal Gear Solid Games and Concepts

EAoBWLK2E3I | 28 Sep 2017

A History of Cancelled Metal Gear Solid Games and Concepts

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Thumbnail credits, awesome MGS WW2 The Boss concept poster by DirOff: https://www.reddit.com/user/DirOff The nature of video game development is such that games are often developed by large teams with a collaborative approach to creativity. While certain individuals within a team might possess more experience or sway than others, development studios are often trepid to present their works as being auteur-driven – as being directed by a singular artist that controls all creative aspects of the work, and imbues it with a recognizable style associated with them alone. But Konami’s Metal Gear Solid series is a notable exception to this trend. From the release of the original Metal Gear in 1987, to the release of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain in 2015, the series and its unique brand of military escapism mixed with magical realism has been inexorably linked with its auteurist guidance by series director and writer, Hideo Kojima. However, while this auteurism enabled the series to be uncompromising in its ambitions in ways many other triple-A video game franchises cannot afford to be, many compromises were made to the Metal Gear Solid franchise all the same. Be it due to time constraints, hardware limitations, creative disagreements, or whatever other reason one could imagine, Metal Gear Solid – just like any other video game franchise – was built upon innumerable rejected concepts and ideas. With the future of the series highly uncertain following the departure of Hideo Kojima and other notable talents attached to the series from Konami, we felt that it would be worthwhile to investigate some of the series’ more fleshed-out rebuffs, to both wonder about what could have been – and show how many of these failures served as the foundation for future successes. From an ambitious iteration of Metal Gear Solid 2 featuring great white sharks and a mind-reading mask, to a subversive spin-off that went as far as to be showcased on-stage at E3 before being cancelled, and then revived under a different name and developer, the history of the Metal Gear Solid series’ rejected concepts illustrates that while some of the most inspired ideas will never see the light of day, others just need the right time and place to flourish. #gvmers #metalgearsolid #mgs Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Rise and Fall of Medal of Honor | Documentary

bj3qAIkbQw8 | 23 Aug 2017

The Rise and Fall of Medal of Honor | Documentary

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Special thanks to Stranno for the Medal of Honor: Vanguard footage: https://www.youtube.com/user/9esferas1 Special thanks to Fluffyquack for the Medal of Honor Airborne Multiplayer footage: https://www.youtube.com/user/FluffyQuack Medal of Honor. A series that has forever changed the way first person shooters are made. When the franchise debuted in 1999, no other action game had managed to successfully capture the intensity of the 2nd World War for which Medal of Honor is now famous. Its cinematic scope was a breath of fresh air in a crowded market of formulaic shooters and it quickly became the design template that many other developers would base their games upon. Even if you’ve never played a Medal of Honor game, you’ve certainly felt the repercussion of the iconic series. But what happened to EA’s once-great property? The franchise that formerly saw massive, worldwide success, with games that kept raising the bar for other first person shooters, hasn’t seen a release since 2012. To answer this question, we will not only cover the story behind the series’ rise to prominence and ultimate downfall but also provide a comprehensive overview of all the Medal of Honor games that have and haven’t seen the light of day. Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Kyle Mann Directed by Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #medalofhonor #moh Any questions or concerns? Reach out to us at: [email protected] Subscribe to GVMERS: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Lost Episodes of Half-Life 2

OT4oyuGlCmQ | 21 Jul 2017

The Lost Episodes of Half-Life 2

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In 1998, following the release of the critically-acclaimed Half-Life, Valve Software assigned themselves with the difficult task of creating a sequel that would not only live up to fans' expectations, but surpass them in every way. Half-Life 2 would feature an exciting new engine capable of rendering the game-world in stunning photo-realism, an engaging story, as well as a diverse set of characters and enemies. It was one of the most ambitious projects in gaming history, sadly, it would also prove to be one of the most troubled ones. With the game having suffered a number of delays and at one point even being leaked to the public in its entirety, to say that Half-Life 2's development was a stressful challenge for its creators to overcome would be putting it mildly. Even though Valve's hard work proved to be worth the wait when Half-Life 2 was met with acclaim from fans and critics alike on release, the troubled history behind the game would foreshadow the uncertain future of the series as a whole. While fans kept themselves busy by modding the game to no end, the company decided to work on additional episodes for the game. Episode 1 and 2 were developed simultaneously, this aided the developers in streamlining the story between the two games and allowed them to create an immersive and seamless experience for the player. Episode 1 was praised on release in 2006, much like Episode 2 in 2007, which ended on an ambiguous cliffhanger. According to interviews, the third episode of Half-Life 2 was to be released sometime after The Orange Box’s release, and would consequently wrap up all of the loose ends. Yet, mysteriously, nothing came of the sort. Surprisingly, the add-ons didn’t stop at number 3. On the contrary; other companies were in fact commissioned to work on additional episodes, yet, none of them saw the light of day. Thankfully, fans of the beloved series have devoted themselves to unearth as much information as possible regarding these enigmatic expansion packs. So, what happened during development? How did these lost episodes fit into the story of the Half-Life universe? And, most importantly, why were they cancelled? Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Jake 'The Voice' Parr Directed by Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #halflife #valve Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

Embracing F.E.A.R.

q8a6M4W9xJk | 30 Jun 2017

Embracing F.E.A.R.

SPOILER ALERT! Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The brilliance of F.E.A.R. and the lessons we can learn from it. Ever since the first-person shooter was popularized in the 1990s, several titles in the genre have attempted to do one of two things, or both, to capitalize on the kinetic feeling of immersion that comes with experiencing the game world and its going-ons through the eyes of the avatar: a) by empowering the gamer with a wide array of weapons and letting them loose on a virtual space chock-full of hostile NPCs all too happy to riddle their quarry with lead and b), by dropping the player in an environment that not only puts their navigational skills to the test, but also engrosses them with a tangible atmosphere that can prove inviting or unsettling. It’s a two-part formula that has stood the test of time for over 25 years, and it’s one that developers have been more than eager to iterate upon in sundry ways. With the advancement of technology, games have built upon the shooter template with more dramatic storylines, customization options, gameplay modes, and an emphasis on human competition. These are design choices that have embellished the template and attracted wider audiences, a development that was especially conspicuous during the last console generation with works such as Modern Warfare setting trends that defined the modern military FPS. Suffice it to say that the arcade-y and skill-based roots of the genre were gradually being diluted. For players that solely seek in shooters the raw satisfaction of blasting their virtual foes to pieces with boom-sticks while simultaneously traversing dynamic locales that captivate the senses and keep them on their toes, this sort of philosophy generally came across as a missed opportunity to distill and perfect the two halves of the formula. A few titles did, however, put an extra emphasis on the core FPS blueprint, and fewer still actually came close to perfecting it. And there is one first-person shooter in particular that stands out. One that took advantage of modern technology and did everything it possibly could to make the participant feel both like a true hunter … and the hunted one. That FPS was none other than Monolith Productions’ F.E.A.R.. Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Michel Sabbagh Directed by Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #fear #monolith Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

60K Subscribers! (Patreon)

RhdQIJ9kEhg | 21 Jun 2017

60K Subscribers! (Patreon)

https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Thank you, from all of us at GVMERS. We truly appreciate your support. :) Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Most Controversial Unreleased Game - Investigating Six Days in Fallujah

oqNvf2gcoys | 12 Jun 2017

The Most Controversial Unreleased Game - Investigating Six Days in Fallujah

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS We'd like to thank Nathan Cheever, the lead mission designer on Six Days in Fallujah, for assisting and advising us on this project. If you'd like to find out more about the game, he has a page dedicated to it here: http://www.curiousconstructs.com/games/sdif/ After the release of the critically-acclaimed first-person shooter Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the video game market was perpetually flooded with war-themed games for a decade. Open-world levels and exotic weapons commonly seen in the likes of iconic shooters from the nineties - these including DOOM, Quake, and Duke Nukem 3D - were dropped in favor of linear levels and realistic weaponry. Game plots were no longer mere backdrops for the action, and a large cast of characters would be integral to what’s going on. The days of macho, muscle-bound, one-man-army protagonists was over. While most modern military shooters were works of fiction loosely based on contemporary events, Six Days in Fallujah, a third-person tactical shooter developed by Atomic Games, was intended to be a virtual depiction of the Iraq War’s Second Battle of Fallujah of late-2004. This was a joint-offensive comprised of US, British, and Iraqi fighters. After the first battle in April, which took place after a small private security team were killed by Iraqi insurgents, it was discovered that that an estimated 3,000 members of this militia had set up their operations within the city of 250,000 people. An emergency evacuation allowed the Coalition to fight without fear of any civilians being caught in the crossfire. Collectively, over 100 Coalition fighters were killed and 1,000 injured. According to the Red Cross, around 800 civilians also lost their lives during the conflict. Much of the city was left in ruins from the battle, leaving many men and women homeless as a result. In summary, to call it a sweeping victory for the Coalition would be painfully inaccurate. Due to the critical backlash from the mainstream press, anti-war groups and the like, Six Days in Fallujah has remained unreleased to this very day, and soon enough, this ambitious shooter was forgotten about by practically everyone… that is, until now. Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Jake 'The Voice' Parr Directed by Ailert Riemersma Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Rise and Fall of Command & Conquer [REDUX] | Documentary

OlIkGlTMUNE | 01 Jun 2017

The Rise and Fall of Command & Conquer [REDUX] | Documentary

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS What is this Redux and why did we make it? First off, I'd like to thank Plokite_Wolf and Cypher for helping us revise and rectify some of the errors and expanding on the information of our first script. After having published our first 'version' of the video, it was brought to our attention that some of the information provided was either incorrect or needed to be elaborated on. I regret the fact that this has happened, as fans of the series we wanted to make a franchise analysis that takes the viewer through the highs and lows of the series as well as tell the stories of the developers at EALA and Westwood in detail. Making a documentary-style video about Command & Conquer has, personally, been one of my long-time goals but I didn't feel that it was fully achieved in our first video. The story of Command & Conquer is very nuanced and the Redux, or Revision or V2 (whatever you like to call it) seeks to tell this more accurately, with 10+ minutes of additional information I feel like this is a much more interesting video for fans of the series. Sorry to those of you who were waiting on a new video, our regular content schedule will resume now and I hope to have a new (exciting) video online next week! :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Among games that have defined the Real-Time Strategy genre, Command & Conquer is seen as one of the most influential titles. The C&C franchise, along with Warcraft and Starcraft, shaped the identity of RTS games during the '90s and would influence the designs of countless similar strategy titles in later years. Even though the franchise ended with a whimper instead of a bang, it managed to create an indelible impact on the history of videogames. Join us as we take a look at the rise and fall of Command & Conquer. #gvmers #commandandconquer #ea Script revision by Plokite_Wolf Additional revision by Cypher Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Josh Bycer Directed by Ailert Riemersma Special Thanks: John Decker http://www.cncnz.com/ http://www.cncsaga.com/ http://incompetech.com/ Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Prey We'll Never Play - Investigating Prey 2

ctAEu0ypMMU | 05 May 2017

The Prey We'll Never Play - Investigating Prey 2

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS In the early 2000s, the first-person shooter landscape was a crowded one. An overabundance of Halo rip-offs and World War 2 shooters had flooded the market, and it seemed like every other week a new generic shooter was hitting consoles or the PC platform. While there were many great action games that came out of this era, there were a dozen mediocre, forgettable first-person shooters for every great one that stood the test of time. Enter Prey, an innovative first-person shooter released in 2006 that took spectacular risks with its unique gameplay and setting. The game kicks off by dropping the player into the shoes of a Cherokee named Tommy who’s abducted off a reservation into an alien spaceship—and it only gets crazier from there. The detailed, highly interactive opening sequences of the game gave way to inventive level designs that most other shooters of the day could only dream of achieving. Letting the player use a host of bizarre weapons and powerful Spirit abilities, the game eschewed traditional shooter mechanics throughout the single-player campaign, and further let players fool around with its wild ideas in multiplayer matches. Featuring tons of unique ideas like walking on walls and ceilings, letting players warp through portals sprinkled throughout the levels, and dropping players in levels that break the laws of gravity, the game was a truly memorable experience from start to finish. While the game didn’t achieve a blockbuster level of success, sales were healthy for a brand-new IP, especially one as off-the-wall as Prey, with over one million copies sold. With positive critical reception and a solid start to the franchise, Prey went down in the history books as a standout from the usual shooter fare. #gvmers #prey Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Kyle Mann Directed by Ailert Riemersma Submit your videos to GVMERS: http://goo.gl/forms/ERoj7k3Pri Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Rise and Fall of Command & Conquer | Documentary

0ROk7Mgh13w | 22 Apr 2017

The Rise and Fall of Command & Conquer | Documentary

Watch the improved Redux version of this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlIkGlTMUNE Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Among games that have defined the Real-Time Strategy genre, Command & Conquer is seen as one of the most influential titles. The C&C franchise, along with Warcraft and Starcraft, shaped the identity of RTS games during the '90s and would influence the designs of countless similar strategy titles in later years. Even though the franchise ended with a whimper instead of a bang, it managed to create an indelible impact on the history of videogames. Join us as we take a look at the rise and fall of Command & Conquer. Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Josh Bycer Directed by Ailert Riemersma Special Thanks: http://game-wisdom.com/ John Decker http://www.cncnz.com/ http://www.cncsaga.com/ http://incompetech.com/ #gvmers #commandandconquer Submit your videos to GVMERS: http://goo.gl/forms/ERoj7k3Pri Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

A History of Cancelled Star Wars Games

jKJYGNBk7Ec | 02 Apr 2017

A History of Cancelled Star Wars Games

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Star Wars is one of the most popular settings in all of video games, so it’s no surprise that its owners are continually looking to create new bestselling games in the galaxy far, far away. But for every smash-hit like the Jedi Knight series, Battlefront, and Knights of the Old Republic, there are several games that never see the light of day. Games are cancelled for any of a number of reasons. But whether it’s the publisher canning the game late in development or an early concept that never gets fleshed out, it’s always disappointing to see games with huge potential left on the cutting room floor. Join us now on GVMERS as we look at some of the most prominent cancelled Star Wars games. #gvmers #starwars #1313 Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Kyle Mann Directed by Ailert Riemersma Special thanks: FuZaH: https://www.youtube.com/user/Machinima92, BananaSwag: https://www.youtube.com/user/xXBananaSwagXx Submit your videos to GVMERS: http://goo.gl/forms/ERoj7k3Pri Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Evolution of God of War

LXCnl2J9uQk | 14 Mar 2017

The Evolution of God of War

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The mid-2000s were plagued with dime-a-dozen action games for the PlayStation 2, Gamecube, and Xbox consoles, with a new third-person hack-and-slash game seemingly being released every other week. Nearly all of them were forgettable experiences, best relegated to gamers’ collective memories. But one action game for the Playstation 2 captured gamer’s hearts in 2005: that game was God of War, a wild third-person action game that kicked off a franchise that has sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. Join us at GVMERS as we take a look back at the evolution of God of War. Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Kyle Mann Directed by Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #godofwar #gow Submit your videos to GVMERS: http://goo.gl/forms/ERoj7k3Pri Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Cancelled Command & Conquer FPS - Investigating Tiberium

ieGNzeUex3g | 21 Feb 2017

The Cancelled Command & Conquer FPS - Investigating Tiberium

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Special thanks: John Decker (https://vimeo.com/jdecker) The Command & Conquer series is one of the most successful real-time strategy franchises of all time. From the original “Tiberium” games to the Red Alert spin-offs, the Generals entries, and beyond, the series has consistently produced some of the most exciting RTS experiences available, with a focus on intense action sequences supported by light base-building and resource-gathering elements. While the Command & Conquer games were a great addition to any real-time strategy gamer’s collection, the series was never able to successfully cross over into other genres, like the lucrative first-person shooter category of games. Command & Conquer Renegade attempted to bridge the gap in 2002, but only received a lukewarm reception, offering a mediocre single-player campaign with some fun but short-lived multiplayer The Command & Conquer franchise seems like it would translate over to the 3D action realm perfectly: it has a rich, campy backstory that would provide the perfect backdrop for an over-the-top action game akin to the Call of Duty or Battlefield franchise, and the series’ strategic roots could lead to some innovative base-building elements in a first-person shooter game, especially in the multiplayer realm. So it was heartbreaking for fans of the series to discover that a very promising, first-person take on the Command & Conquer games was cancelled shortly after its announcement in 2008, having been canned by EA Games. That game was dubbed simply “Tiberium.” Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Kyle Mann Directed by Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #tiberium #commandandconquer Submit your videos to GVMERS: http://goo.gl/forms/ERoj7k3Pri Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Evolution of Halo

9CNdP5c1JZo | 12 Jan 2017

The Evolution of Halo

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The Halo franchise is one that pulls in billions of dollars for Microsoft, with each release breaking records and moving Xbox hardware in ways that other game developers can only dream of. Live action shorts, toys and other merchandise, web comedy series, books and graphic novels, animated movies, and all other kinds of media have been created in celebration of the property. Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or not, there’s little doubt that you’ve heard of Halo. Let’s take a trip back through time to see where this franchise had its humble beginnings. Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Kyle Mann Directed by Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #halo #bungie Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Battlefront We Never Got - Investigating Star Wars Battlefront 3

iMpFYjLX4Yw | 19 Dec 2016

The Battlefront We Never Got - Investigating Star Wars Battlefront 3

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Huge thanks to FuZaH and BananaSwag for helping us out with this video. Check out their channels for more Battlefront III content: FuZaH: https://www.youtube.com/user/Machinima92 BananaSwag: https://www.youtube.com/user/xXBananaSwagXx Before EA and Dice announced their recent Battlefront game, there seemed to be little hope for fans of the franchise that it would ever return. Since the news had come out that Free Radical Design’s ambitious Star Wars: Battlefront 3 project had been cancelled, many fans had given up hope that the series would ever be continued. While EA’s iteration of Battlefront is a solid game in its own right, we at Gamers wonder how gaming history would have been different if Battlefront 3 had seen the light of day. Join us as we investigate the origins, development, and eventual cancellation of Battlefront 3. Narrated by Steve Petitt Written by Kyle Mann Directed by Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #starwars #battlefront Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Evolution of Mass Effect

84Z-hgU49qw | 10 Nov 2016

The Evolution of Mass Effect

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Since Mass Effect exploded onto the RPG scene back in 2007, the series has become one of the most beloved modern examples of the sci-fi role-playing genre, as each entry takes players on a lengthy tour of the series’ intriguing narrative, unique galactic setting, and diverse cast of characters. While many were left unsatisfied with the conclusion of the trilogy’s arc at the end of Mass Effect 3, there is no question that the series remains one of the most exciting and ambitious games in the modern era. Now, BioWare is entering crunch time to complete Mass Effect Andromeda, an all-new story with a new protagonist and a vast open world for players to explore. In this video, we at Gamers look back at the storied history of the franchise in preparation for the upcoming release of Andromeda. Games shown: - Mass Effect (2007) - Mass Effect 2 (2010) - Mass Effect 3 (2012) - Mass Effect Andromeda (2017) #gvmers #masseffect #andromeda Narrator: Steve Petitt Writer: Kyle Mann Director: Ailert Riemersma Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Best Star Wars Game Never Made? - Investigating Star Wars 1313

guGA2S_4ogA | 20 Sep 2016

The Best Star Wars Game Never Made? - Investigating Star Wars 1313

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Nothing garners more hype than rumors of a new Star Wars game, and the gritty action-adventure game Star Wars 1313 was no exception. Every demo reel and bit of gameplay information led to rabid speculation and anticipation from fans and critics alike, as the game appeared to represent a significant leap forward in cinematic storytelling in the expanded Star Wars universe. But all that came crashing down when Disney purchased Lucasfilm, and subsequently cancelled all Lucasarts projects in development, including Star Wars 1313. Star Wars video game fans have always wondered what these abruptly canned projects would have looked like, and we at Gamers are no exception. Today, we’ll will take a look at what might have been: this is the tragic story of Star Wars 1313. Narrator: Steve Petitt Writer: Kyle Mann Director: Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #starwars #1313 Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Evolution of Deus Ex

ClRPTzdc9-c | 12 Aug 2016

The Evolution of Deus Ex

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Deus Ex is, without a doubt, one of the most influential gaming titles. During a time when first-person games were heavily focused on combat, Deus Ex shook the world with its seamless fusion of role-playing, shooter and adventure game genres. It also paved way to new approaches to video game storytelling, letting players tackle challenges in multiple ways and drastically changing the course of each plot. With the upcoming release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, we at GVMERS wanted to take a look back at the series and see how it evolved over the past 16 years. Games shown: - Deus Ex (2000) - Deus Ex Invisible War (2003) - Project Snowblind (2005) - Deus Ex Human Revolution (2011) - Deus Ex The Fall (2013) - Deus Ex Mankind Divided (2016) #gvmers #deusex Narrator: Steve Petitt Writer: Miodrag Kovachevic Director: Ailert Riemersma Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Evolution of Pokémon

aI49ouHs708 | 04 Aug 2016

The Evolution of Pokémon

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Walk outside on a sunny day in any populated area, and it’s obvious that Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm. But before the Pokemon craze took over mobile phones, gamers the world over had already gone on many journeys collecting the virtual creatures in one of the many handheld and console iterations of the franchise over the past two decades. Let’s take a look back at the evolution of Pokemon. Games shown: • #gvmers #pokemon #pokemongo Narrator: Steve Petitt Writer: Kyle Mann Director: Ailert Riemersma Submit your videos to GVMERS: http://goo.gl/forms/ERoj7k3Pri Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS Watch all our Funniest Game Glitches compilations here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVX_ojm9zPq6aC6ioqHeKdFIENGI94dlQ Watch all our Hilarious Game Moments compilations here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVX_ojm9zPq5WSL4dv-mP_4TdyTImxk3L

The Evolution of Ghost Recon

-EqkvZLRvl4 | 21 Jul 2016

The Evolution of Ghost Recon

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Since its early days as a hardcore, semi-realistic military shooter, to its current incarnation as an intense, action-oriented online game, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series has entertained shooter fans the world over. Now, Ubisoft has announced the upcoming Ghost Recon Wildlands, a game that will move the franchise back to the semi-realism of the early PC games while expanding the playable area into a massive open world for the first time in the series’ history. We at Gamers are going to take a look back at the history of the Ghost Recon franchise as we look forward to the future of the series. Games shown: • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (2001) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Desert Siege (2002) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island Thunder (2002) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm (2004) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 (2004) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2: Summit Strike (2005) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (2006) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (2007) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Predator (2010) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (2010) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (2011) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (2012) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Phantoms (2014) • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands (2017) #gvmers #ghostrecon #wildlands Narrator: Steve Petitt Writer: Kyle Mann Director: Ailert Riemersma Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

What about Warcraft 4?

siKT67AOYBg | 07 Jul 2016

What about Warcraft 4?

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Today, we’ll be taking a look at one of the biggest names in real-time strategy – Warcraft. We already took a detailed look at the Warcraft franchise in our “Evolution of Warcraft” video; after realizing that Warcraft went from strategy to MMO to card game, we were left wondering whether to expect a return to the roots someday? Will we ever get to see a Warcraft 4? In case we do, we have a modest wishlist for it… Narrator: Steve Petitt Writer: Miodrag Kovachevic Director: Ailert Riemersma #gvmers #warcraft #blizzard Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Story of Project Titan: Blizzard's Cancelled MMO

FCvdNI0CDjc | 23 Jun 2016

The Story of Project Titan: Blizzard's Cancelled MMO

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS One game developer who always strives to make the most high-fidelity games in the industry is definitely Blizzard. Warcraft and Starcraft in particular were two franchises that transcended gaming and made their mark on the real world. World of Warcraft is known even among those who don’t play games, while Starcraft is often considered one of the biggest e-sports titles in the World. However, excellence comes at a price… Despite how long and how far into development a game may be, if Blizzard don’t feel it’s up to standard, they’ll shut it down. This was the fate of Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, Starcraft: Ghost and the ambitious project “Titan”, the biggest and most secretive of the three. Please bear in mind that Blizzard never released any footage of project Titan. We've used videos from various other games to give you a better idea of how Titan may have actually looked like. Sources: Destructoid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jos4UWnDM88 Polygon: http://www.polygon.com/2014/9/23/6833953/blizzard-cancels-titan-next-gen-mmo-pc Kotaku: http://kotaku.com/heres-what-blizzards-titan-actually-was-1638632121 Narrator: Steve Petitt Writer: Miodrag Kovachevic Director: Ailert Riemersma Special thanks to Plasma3Music for letting us use their Overwatch theme remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beZhAL_Fcx8 #gvmers #overwatch #titan Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Evolution of Battlefield

3ttSfRr4rbs | 13 Jun 2016

The Evolution of Battlefield

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Since its launch almost 14 years ago, the Battlefield series has become one of the most popular class-based first-person shooters on the market. From storming the shores of Iwo Jima, to bloody struggles over jungles surrounding the Ho Chi Minh trail, to futuristic fights with advanced tanks and mechs, Battlefield has shown its great versatility in the different eras and wartime tactics it is able to simulate. Now, EA has announced the upcoming Battlefield 1, a game that will take the franchise into the infamous, bloody struggle of World War I. We at Gamers want to take a look back at the evolution of the franchise as we look forward to the promising new release from DICE and EA games. #gvmers #battlefield #ea Games shown: • Battlefield 1942 (2002) • Battlefield Vietnam (2004) • Battlefield 2 (2005) • Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (2005) • Battlefield 2142 (2006) • Battlefield: Bad Company (2008) • Battlefield Heroes (2009) • Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010) • Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam (2010) • Battlefield: Online (2010) • Battlefield 3 (2011) • Battlefield 4 (2013) • Battlefield Hardline (2015) • Battlefield 1 (2016) Narrator: Steve Petitt Writer: Kyle Mann Director: Ailert Riemersma Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

The Evolution of Warcraft

ZuGw6yDBk5E | 10 Jun 2016

The Evolution of Warcraft

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS It has been more than two decades since gamers first entered the world of Warcraft. Blizzard’s fantasy real-time strategy about the bloody struggle between orcs and humans has since left the confines of not just its genre, but its medium as well. After an MMORPG and a collectible card game, fans recently got the chance to experience the story of Warcraft on the silver screen. Warcraft is a now a household name and, without a doubt, one of the biggest gaming franchises in the World. With the latest World of Warcraft expansion, “Legion” due this August, we at GVMERS wanted to look back at the evolution of the series, from its humble beginnings to its countless expansions. #gvmers #warcraft #blizzard Games shown: • Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) • Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness (1995) • Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal (1996) • Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (2002) • Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne (2003) • World of Warcraft (2004) • World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (2007) • World of Warcraft: The Wrath of the Lich King (2008) • World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (2010) • World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (2012) • World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor (2014) • Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (2014) • World of Warcraft: Legion (2016) Narrator: Steve Petitt Writer: Miodrag Kovachevic Director: Ailert Riemersma Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

Battlefield 4 - '80s Style

ys7XBJ2qca4 | 12 May 2016

Battlefield 4 - '80s Style

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS The Battlefield franchise is going back in time with the upcoming release of Battlefield 1! So we decided to do a time travel experiment ourselves, what would Battlefield 4 look like if it was released in the '80s? We hope you like the result! Special thanks to Hattiwatti for providing the Battlefield Cinematic Toolset that helped us create this video! http://www.bfcinematictools.com/ "Visuals/Design/Template Name etc." by Tre' Bennett- http://www.trebennett.com/ https://www.youtube.com/user/TreBennett3 Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

What about Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 3?

N0SfyHBiMNE | 29 Apr 2016

What about Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 3?

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS Thanks for joining us on another episode of GVMERS. Today we’ll be taking a look at the beloved Knights of the Old Republic series of role-playing games from LucasArts. While the first two RPGs in the acclaimed franchise provided memorable, dynamic storylines for players to enjoy, LucasArts canned the third single-player release in favor of other projects. Since then, BioWare’s massively multiplayer online spin-off “The Old Republic” seems to have eclipsed the Knights of the Old Republic games. But we at GVMERS will never forget. What would we like to see in a revival of the beloved series? A KotOR 3 would be a dream come true for any fan of the Star Wars universe, but only if it were done right. #gvmers #kotor #starwars Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS

What about Star Wars Republic Commando 2? (Imperial Commando)

3mQOOvYrZdk | 19 Mar 2016

What about Star Wars Republic Commando 2? (Imperial Commando)

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GVMERS It has been well over a decade since we were on our last mission with Delta squad, the infamous ragtag group of clones who took the spotlight in 2005’s Star Wars Republic Commando. A game that was praised for its rugged, challenging combat and excellent squad mechanics. Unfortunately, just as the storylines were being put together for a planned sequel, LucasArts decided on a company-wide reboot. Most of the developers left the studios and Star Wars Imperial Commando was canceled early in development. Many years later, RepCom is still popular among fans who are patiently waiting to get closure on the game’s cliffhanger ending. We thought it would be a good idea to dive deeper into the probabilities of a hypothetical sequel and give you some of our ideas and suggestions for a possible Republic Commando 2. Music by: Blue Wednesday - Rewind https://soundcloud.com/bluewednesday Subscribe to GVMERS http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GVMERS Follow @GVMERS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GVMERS Like GVMERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GVMERS +1 GVMERS on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/5/b/112054666781403337745/112054666781403337745/posts?pageId=112054666781403337745 Follow GVMERS on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/GVMERS