While "The Last of Us" was a huge hit, FOW's "Wasteland 1981" A-round test had also begun.
Player and media scores were good, staying between 8.5 and 9 points.
However, for a DEMO test with early access, this score was already quite excellent.
And many players also praised the game's gameplay.
But compared to "The Last of Us," "Wasteland 1981" was clearly less impressive.
On one hand, it wasn't the full game, so players couldn't experience the entire story.
On the other hand, "The Last of Us" was simply too outstanding.
The story of Joel and Ellie was already excellent.
But the world-building in the post-apocalyptic setting was equally brilliant.
The game's story was also full of reflections on human nature.
It wasn't presented as the main story but rather shown to players through side stories.
It simply depicted the danger of the apocalypse and human nature through various side stories.
The hunters in Pittsburgh, and David's hunter group.
They cruelly ate human flesh and enjoyed torturing humans.
Although they were still human, they were no longer human.
Tommy, Jackson Town.
In the same post-apocalyptic world, they could be self-sufficient and continue human civilization.
These two extreme examples also proved one thing: human nature is complex.
The game had a dark, gloomy, and oppressive combat.
It also had incredibly bright moments, like Ellie petting the giraffe.
Although "The Last of Us" depicted a world of extreme despair and cruelty.
There was still a ray of light in this cruel world.
But this ray of light was definitely not from Flores, who attacked the Boston quarantine zone at the beginning, putting hope in a vaccine.
Instead, it was like Tommy and others who could maintain their integrity even in the apocalypse.
.........
Regular players were still immersed in the world of "The Last of Us."
Game media also continued to praise "The Last of Us."
But Alex from FOW was very upset.
Although "The Last of Us" had exploded in reputation and sales, frankly, its impact on "Wasteland 1981" was limited.
After all, they had only released an A-round test DEMO.
It was still a long time until the official release, and the two games were not of the same genre.
From a gameplay perspective, "Wasteland 1981" actually had a very strong advantage.
But the crucial point was something that made Alex a bit upset.
"Wasteland 1981" wasn't just aiming for market success; it also hoped to win awards from major game media.
Although his current position at FOW and his influence in the gaming industry meant that awards weren't that important, there was a saying: "What you can't have, you always crave."
He had never held a trophy before!
Last year, he felt it was the closest he had been to a trophy in years, but "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" came out of nowhere.
And this year, he felt "Wasteland 1981" had a chance to compete again.
Before the middle of the year, "The Last of Us" completely shattered his hopes.
Although the game wasn't fully developed, after "The Last of Us" was released, Alex immediately played it.
He wanted to see what made this game so strong and whether the media's scores were inflated.
But after finishing "The Last of Us," Alex had to admit one thing, even if he didn't want to.
That "The Last of Us" truly deserved the praise of a perfect masterpiece.
Moreover, the theme of "The Last of Us" and its interactive elements were more advantageous for awards.
In terms of a movie genre, "Wasteland 1981" was more commercial, while "The Last of Us" balanced commercial appeal and art.
Especially since everything shown in "The Last of Us" was not new.
Whether it was puzzle-solving or stealth, these were systems that had existed for many years and were already mature.
But the key was that "The Last of Us" perfectly combined these elements with the story, characters, and the world's interaction.
This allowed players to become fully immersed in the game.
Even though Lucas had explained the interactive elements of "The Last of Us" in detail, actually achieving it was very difficult.
.....
The popularity of "The Last of Us" continued to grow online.
But at this time, Lucas was no longer at Nebula Games but in the laboratory of Magic City Game Division.
Besides Lucas, responsible personnel from domestic game giants like NetDragon and SkyNova, as well as some well-known industry designers, were all there.
This was a relatively core internal meeting; regular designers and companies were not invited.
"Mature brainwave capture technology?" Listening to the introduction from David, the head of the Game Division, and the surrounding technical staff, Lucas and the others showed great surprise.
Brainwave intention capture and non-invasive brain-computer interface technology were not entirely new; they existed even in his previous life.
However, due to technical, cost, and safety limitations, they had not been widely adopted.
Although technology in this parallel world was stronger, such technologies had always been applied in some special fields.
For civilian use, they were often not very effective, such as in medical fields for patients with conditions like deafness or ALS. Using brain-computer interfaces with speech devices to quickly and fully express their thoughts was still very difficult.
This was because non-invasive equipment that collected brainwaves would have corresponding delays and missing information.
But the latest technology had filled a gap, and the mature development of the technology could be applied in various aspects.
"So, the gaming industry is also a field that is greatly changing?" Lucas asked, showing surprise at David's words.
He was actually quite unaware of this.
"That's right, and there has been some progress overseas as well."
"There will be dedicated external devices paired with CosmosVR, and the VR game consoles will open up various ports. Of course, currently, it's mainly for A-list and B-list game developers; ordinary game developers don't have the funds or strength to test the waters."
"Also, the market share of CosmosVR has actually surpassed that of the previous generation of VR and PCs. Your game companies should be paying close attention to this data as well," David explained.
"Indeed. However, this new technology can be a huge change, even a revolution, for the gaming industry," Lucas remarked emotionally.
Others like NetDragon next to him nodded.
In a way, this new technology could overturn current player control habits.
Current VR games still used traditional controller modes. That is, the game station has a button system built-in, similar to a gamepad. Players control the game through the controller, but instead of dual-wielding gamepads and mouse/keyboard, they dual-wield controllers, similar to the detachable controllers of the Switch.
But if the new technology can be matched with game projects, it would be revolutionary for players.
Of course, the actual effectiveness still depends on the actual results.
For instance, aside from other things, feedback delay is a very important point.
Just like input lag between a game controller and a real device, a delay of 0.5 seconds versus 1 second might not sound like a big difference, but it can lead to a vastly different gaming experience.
It sounds good, but we need to see what level it can reach before judging if it will become mainstream.
Just like motion control games, they are destined to be targeted only at niche users and casual players.
As for the reason?
Imagine playing an FPS or action game where you have to constantly run in place and swing your motion controller to perform attack actions.
It might be fine at first, but if you have to do it for half an hour, an hour, or even longer, can you handle it?
Similarly, what types of games and what groups of players the new technology can be applied to still depends on the actual results.
But for now, it will clearly be the hot topic in the short term.
(End of chapter)
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