Never Entertained: GTA 6 versus Zelda is the wrong fight

The internet spent the week arguing about which game wins the holiday. We think that is the wrong question, and the right one is which brand still has your attention after the controller goes down.

This is the first episode of Never Entertained, a new show we do live every Friday at 10am ET. Four of us argue about the week in games, media and IP: Greg Posner on live games, Simon Pulman on IP and media, Justin Ruiss on advertising and the business, and Colan Neese on the news and the numbers.

Three arguments in this one. Nintendo is taking the shelf space Sony and Xbox are giving up, and doing it on purpose. A Wolverine game built for everybody landed for nobody, and the panel splits on whether that is a design problem or a culture one. And Netflix is reaching for cinemas while the person already paying for it every month cannot name a single thing on the service.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro

01:30 The internet is asking the wrong question

01:56 Meet the panel

03:04 Nintendo's foil box and the shelf everyone else left

06:21 Going outward versus going inward

07:38 What the new Zelda actually sells

10:32 Nintendo's real problem is the Switch 2 transition

12:57 Nostalgia as a purchase driver: the Costco napkin

14:27 "I don't know who Sony is aiming at"

18:29 The barbell: aggregators, IP, and the middle you die in

24:32 Sony's risk is becoming a machine, not a brand

25:01 Wolverine lands, and the discourse is not about the score

28:40 A culture where games must be for everybody

31:02 Discovery, mastery, and what a guidance line costs

34:24 Six-year dev cycles aimed at a moving culture

36:48 Everyone gets one strike

39:31 What Marvel actually cares about

42:38 "94% of the market hasn't played your game"

45:20 Netflix wants cinemas, and is reporting box office

47:02 Why Netflix's hand was forced

52:04 "A midlife crisis company"

55:14 You can license the show, you cannot own the creator

57:08 Last words

59:03 What we are working on, and where to find it

WATCH IT INSTEAD

https://youtu.be/bTgaleZwS5I

THE WRITTEN VERSION

The arguments laid out properly, with the quotes and the numbers attributed:

https://playerdriven.io/live/never-entertained-gta-6-vs-zelda-wrong-fight

IF YOU RUN A COMMUNITY

Community Driven is a three part series that gives you a method rather than a think piece. You start with the game rather than the channel, work out where your players already gather, and build a hunt map as you read. It hands you into a free Academy pack at the end.

Part one: https://playerdriven.io/blog/start-with-the-game-not-the-channel

The pack: https://academy.playerdriven.io/packs/find-where-your-players-gather

THE REST OF THE WEEK

Tuesdays: this podcast

Wednesdays: Design Desk with Lewis, on systems, player psychology and game design

Thursdays: live with Colan

Fridays: Never Entertained, live at 10am ET

MORE FROM PLAYER DRIVEN

The Operator's Briefing, every Tuesday: https://playerdriven.io

Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/GC5PkbKFH

Player Driven is the learning network for the people who design, run and rebuild live games.