A look at gaming in October 2013

October 2013 looks like a normal page on a calendar until you actually read the list, then you realize it’s a blueprint for the next decade of gaming. I’m flying solo for this rewind, running through what we would have been playing back then, what we missed, and what still holds up today. From Dishonored Game of the Year Edition to Borderlands 2, Batman Arkham Origins, and the kind of weird brilliance you only get with The Stanley Parable, this month is packed with games that still show up in “best of PS3 and Xbox 360” conversations.

Beyond Two Souls gets a proper spotlight too, because it’s one of those narrative-driven PlayStation games that hits hard when you meet it at the right time. I keep it spoiler-free, but we talk about why performance, structure, and tone matter, and how story-first games can be unforgettable even when the wider review narrative is mixed. If you’re into cinematic games, choice-driven adventures, and the era when studios were still experimenting wildly on seventh gen hardware, there’s a lot here to sink into.

Then we jump into the October 2013 news and it’s a full nostalgia punch: PS4 and Xbox One midnight launches, queue jumps, and that physical “new console buzz” that online shopping can’t replicate. We also unpack the moment GTA 5 sales turned heads and the industry wrestled with annual sequels versus longer development cycles, plus Nintendo’s Wii U losses and the marketing missteps that made a capable console feel misunderstood. Stick around for Stingray’s boot, where we pick out November 2013 releases and cap it with a film recommendation.

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Transcript

Welcome And Retro Format

SPEAKER_01 0:36

This is episode 22 of RGT, and this week we're in October 2013. And it is just me this week, Esther Solo. So uh a little bit of a shorter show as I haven't got George to bounce off of. But um I'll still be going through the usual format. Um, if you're new to this show, um, we basically go through what we would have been playing, um, bit of the news at the time, what we're and what we would have hoping to have been playing, maybe a little film pick at the end from Stingray's boot. Um, you might have heard us over on UCP, Handle Fix Controller Podcast, but this is our little retro sideshow little project. So um, welcome if you're new. Sit back, join in. Hopefully, you'll get a few memories from these games. Hopefully, you'll get a few memories from the news, that little nostalgic kit, and you never know, I'm not even tempted to go out and play a few of these games. Um,

October 2013 Release Rush

SPEAKER_01 1:31

but we'll start with what we would have hoped to have been playing in October 2013. Um, I normally take from a little bit from the month before, so it would have been the September, but there were so many good games on this list. Um I thought, no, I'm just gonna do the October ones because uh yeah, I think we might have been a little bit spoiled for choice. Um but straight off the bat, a game I have played but never finished. Um it's actually my daughter's partner's favourite game series of all time. Um, to the stage where he actually has the uh a tattoo on his hand, and that is uh Dishonored. This is Dishonored Game of the Year edition was released um at the start of October 2013. Um if you haven't played it, it's uh it's almost like a steampunk stealth game, um, like your thiefs and games like that. Um from what I have played, I played on PS3. Um great looking game, plays well. Um good story to a unique story, well written. Um, I must want to go back and play that. Any reason I stopped is because we do a uh a Gen 7 playthrough over on the Unafficial Controller Podcast Discord, and um on that we pick, we have a vote, four games each time we vote and we go through. Um and if you're interested, we've just finished our latest vote, which is uh we're playing Mass Effect the original game. Um so if you fancy joining in with that, check out the Unofficial Controller Podcast Discord. But yes, Dishonored. Um he loves that game. Um lot so I've had limited time with it, um, but very interesting. And obviously, they went on to do um was it the second one, I think, on the on the PS4 and Xbox One, but yeah, definitely something odd like to get back into. Um, definitely a franchise that seems good. Um moving on, we had things like Just Dance 2014. There's always a Just Dance game in a very popular um, you know, probably a good fitness workout for the people who like to dance, but I mean they've been on everything from Wii's and PS3s and you know, God knows what else, you know, to your switch today. Um MBA 2K14. Um, God, yeah, I remember that coming out, and it doesn't seem that long ago, but 13 years ago, or coming up for 13 years ago, absolutely crazy. Um, but one that did interest me here, Grand Theft Auto Online. Yeah, this was the start. This was the start of the BMOF, eh? Absolutely amazing. Grand Theft Auto Online. Um, this is when that all first came on, and you think even then I don't think Rockstar and Take Two could imagine to where that had got to to today, you know, the biggest gross and uh platform of entertainment ever produced, absolutely crazy. Um, and I know people that joined from the early days of Grand Theft Auto Online. I'm not, I wouldn't say they joined right here at October 2013, but they joined fairly early and they're still playing that now. And I just absolutely incredible. They captured something there. I know we have our online shooters and you know uh extraction shooters and FPSs and bits and pieces like that, but people seem to, you know, if they're live service, they get updated with bits, which Grand Theft Auto has, but with your first personal shooters, they wait for the next you know iteration of that game. But Grand Theft Auto seem to have attracted an audience and and kept hold of that audience, which is just absolutely amazing. Um, as we scroll down here, we've got uh another game of the year edition. Um Borderlands 2. Um, another game I've dabbled with. Uh the original Borderlands I played quite a few hours on on PS3, didn't complete another sort of looter shooter. Um, but my good friend Jo and her daughter, um, they play this um two-player. They've done a couple of the games. I think they're I think they might even be on to the new one now. Is it four Borderlands four? But they love it playing together and upgrading the weapons and going off and doing the missions, and it's great to see. And there's something with you know that sort of game and that art style, which I I do really like that. Would you class it as cell-shaded? Sort of animated um graphics I really like and claptrap and things like that. You know, I know they've done the movie, I don't know how I think there's mixed reviews on the movie, which a lot of times there is for gamer-based movies, but yeah, you know, it's popular. Uh, you know, it must be to have the fourth incarnation of it come out. But yeah, so Bordlands 2 game the year edition. We also had um F1 2013 come out on October the 4th. Um, I don't think I played too many um F1 games then. I got I got more into the F1 games um later on, sort of my PS4 Pro when I first set up my Simrig. Um that's when I got into the Codemasters sort of later. I suppose they would have been 2022, 21, somewhere around there. I used to play. But I mean, been going a lot of years, very popular in at Formula One. So, yeah, 2013 was a uh another again incarnation of that game. Um, we had some other games like Capcom Essentials uh to come out on PS3. Um we also had what else we got here. We've got Pokemon X was out October the 12th, 2013, Pokemon Y, October the 12th as well. Um, we had the Wolf Among Us from Telltale. Now, I haven't played that one. I've played the Back to the Future, I've played the Walk and Deads, I think two or three of them. Um Batman one I've played. Um and you know, the Telltale games are you know what they are that some people call them a walk and sim. I think there's a bit more involved in it than than just a walk and sim. Um, but I've always really enjoyed them, and I think you know, their sort of attraction to the games is that you know you're guaranteed a platinum platinum at the end of it, you finish the game, you get the platinum or you know, your thousand G, whatever whatever format you play on. Um, but I've always quite enjoyed them. That you know, I wouldn't say they're a they're a cosy game, but they're more chilled way of playing. You get the odd um you know, quick controls you have to do, um QTEs. Um, but no, I've always quite liked them. But Wolf Among Us is one I haven't played, so I would definitely like to play that one. Um, amongst others, I think they've done a Game of Thrones one, I think they've done a bo even Tales of Borderlands, I believe they done. Um

Beyond Two Souls Praise And Spoiler-Free Hype

SPEAKER_01 8:47

but also October the 8th, 2013, uh definitely one of my top ten games. Um, I've probably spoke about it on here before. I definitely have waxed lyrical about it on the UCP. Um, but that is Beyond Two Souls. Um, I love this game. Um obviously it's different, it's very cinematic, uh, very narrative driven. Um, but it's directed by David Cage, so it's gonna be, you know, Detroit Become Human and so on and so on. Um it was published by Sony and developed by Quantic Dream. Now I bought this game. Um I bought this I was on holiday down Cornwall, and there used to be a uh uh shop down there. Um I think it was Console Connections, I believe it was called in Truro. Long gone now, shame, brilliant shop. Um, had bits of everything in and new and sealed and everything, and there's this the steel book of this. Um, and it was brand new and sealed for like 12 12 pounds, I think. So I definitely picked it up, and it sat on the shelf for a couple of years before I played it, and then um I played through it and just was uh blown away emotionally. Um great performance by Elliot Page. Um absolutely brilliant, and this this it's got that Stranger Things vibe to it. You can definitely see that um the guys, the brothers who wrote Stranger Things probably had a bit of influence from this because it is that sort of powers, and you know, there's a section um where they're found in the woods and bits and pieces. So you can see that sort of connection there, but if you play it in the play it in the don't play it in the the timeline of their life, play it in the timeline of how it gives it to you, and that'll you'll have this like electrical current line, and you can play you play snippets from when they're young to when they're older, and you know, the you know, with the special forces wanting to use their powers and all the rest of it. Wonderful game, real sixth sense moment at the end with the with the ending, hence I will not say because I don't want to even know it's a 13-year-old game, you wouldn't want spoilers for that. Brilliant game. Um, yeah, I absolutely loved it. It never it never reviewed as much as what I thought it would. Um Scott William Defoe in it as well. I always thought it would review higher, really, because I think it's a great game, but I suppose those I mean that's got a bitter action in it, but those less action, more narrative-driven games probably are more select audience. But yeah, if if I know I've lot I say always going on about Beyond Two Souls, but definitely check it out. If you if you're a fan of David Cage games and you haven't played it, definitely check that out because that's that's got that lovely story to it.

Stanley Parable And Other Oddities

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Um we also had come out October 17th, 2013, the Stanley Parable. Um, I never realised that had been out that long. I played it when we got it on PlayStation 5 on the um, I don't know if it was on monthly games or on premium, one of the two. Um very, very unique game. Um, another one you could probably some people will bottleneck into the um walk and sim, I suppose. Um but yeah, the Sandy Parable is it's quite a cleverly written narrative to this game, if you can say it is a narrative, but it's almost like the you know, the overlords, the companies have got you stuck there working, working, working, and you know, you it all changes as you go through the doors and the different endings, and you and you have a narrator who's quite funny, and it's it's a weird game, but you start it and you just think, What is this? But the more you play it, the more you want to play again, and then try the different routes, and yeah, very strange, but something unique. Um, and you don't get many games like that that are completely off on their almost own genre, but definitely check out the Stanley Parable without a doubt. Um what else did we have? We had Lego Marvel Superheroes Universe in Peril. Um, I haven't played that one. I played a few of the Lego games. Um always quite enjoyed them. Um, I think if you've played one, I think you pretty much know what you're gonna get. Um but yeah, that's always um always been always been pretty well made. They're pretty good fun if you play multiplier and do things together. I mean, I recently checked out the um Horizon one. And if you've played Horizon, um Zero Dawn that is, or Forbidden West, or both, definitely check out the Lego one because it's got that story in there, but it's got that Lego humour with it. Um that's quite a good fun little game, you know. You sort of play through the you know the horizon world in a in a butt's told in a Lego story, it's really good, definitely worth checking out. Um we also had Goodbye Deponia, another one of the Deponia games. Um I think I've got um one or two of these on PS4. Um point and click sort of adventures, um, very obtuse. I for me, um, probably a bit too obtuse. Some of them are so random that's just trial and error to get in, you know, the results of the puzzles. Um I'm much more of a broken sword sort of man where I find them a bit more I can still some of them can be a bit obtuse in in uh broken sword, but I I like the story more involved in it. But yeah, the pony has always been fairly popular. People have you know always quite liked those, I think. Um we had Rocksmith 2014. Um I think I don't know if I'm probably thinking that that was was the sort of rock band Rock Smith, the um Guitar Hero was that sort of fading a bit then. I know they done one Guitar Hero done their sort of almost sort of live service sort of music one on the PS4 and did that sort of die off then. I suppose this was the start of the Wayne with a Rocksmith game. I've never played the Rocksmith one. Um I played Guitar Hero a bit, you know, when I used to have the game shed, it used to be quite popular for for nights, you know, a few drinks and play some songs. That used to be a good way of you know joining people in with playing some games through songs that you know normally weren't really gamers. Um, but yeah, I always quite liked it. But like I say, I think it's probably starting to I think it'd reached its peak by then. Um now another game on here that piqued my interest. Um a few years ago I had a work colleague recommend this to me, um, to which I played with a friend. And I suppose looking back now, you would classes is probably a roguelike, but this was uh how to survive. Um, and this was out October 23rd, 2013. Um, and it was like a I suppose you'd say um top-down sort of isometric game, and you'd upgrade your weapons and try and get further for each level and come back. So I suppose it is like a roguelike game, I suppose. Um, but it was just quite unique. It the controls were a bit funky in the way the characters went, but that's all added to it to help you upgrade and bits and pieces. I mean it was published by 505 Games and developed by Echo Software. Um, and it was like Yeah, you had sort of story and challenge mode if I remember rightly. Um, you're on this sort of island and you've got to try and survive these hordes of um zombies by going further and collecting bits to upgrade, and actually playing in multiplayer was it was a good fun experience, and a game is probably forgotten about now. Um, you don't hear many talk about it. Um we also had Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Dual Destinies came out. Um, I have got one of the Ace Attorneys on the DS, um, which I got for for Mrs. RGT, but she didn't really get on with it too well. But she's always been a massive fan of um Professor Leighton, to which I think she's played all of the Leightons up to the Switch one, which was I think it was Leighton's niece, I believe, which I have played, but she hasn't played, so she's just got to play that one. She's done, she's completed the whole set, and she's got them all as well, and she loved those. And then they done that they done a crossover, Phoenix Wright and Professor Leighton, which she she hasn't played, but the Phoenix Wright she tried, she didn't really get on with. But I've always been quite intrigued by that as uh you know an attorney game, always seems a bit of a random way to go, but you know, always drew a bit of popularity behind them, and something definitely worth checking out if you've got them in your collection. Um we also had 25th October 2013 and Batman Arkham Origins, another one of that great trilogy of games. Um and they always seem to that was Rocksteady, and they always seem to capture um capture the like the essence of Batman. You know, it's one of the first games I played with that sort of look and the graphics and the rain and the dark Gotham sort of crime and great games, um, you know, from Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and Origins. Yeah, they they were good games. And you know, in my eyes, definitely worth going back to and haven't really aged that much. Excuse me. There's always there's also um another one of the games. This is also in our big list of um games for the Gen 7 playthrough, which is Daius X Human Revolution. Um the director's cut came out 25th October 2013. I've sort of dabbled with Dios X, but um never got into them too much, but um that's why again why we've done this Gen 7 playthrough, because then plan in a group encourages you know to load these old games up and give them a go, you know. We also had um WRC4 FIA World Rally Championship. I mean I think they're on 12 or 13 now, but yeah, they've always been fairly steady, fairly popular games. Um the Rally Championships. Um I don't know if they're as popular now as they were in their peak. I think Rally has as a as a format lost, you know, quite a few of the uh um teams, you know, the um the big names and sort of went down to more independence, and I think that sort of affected the the game as well. But they're still making them, still seems popular. Um and I've always enjoyed a a bit of rally, um, but there was a time when I used to play the games quite a bit, probably around this time I would imagine, but definitely uh faded away after a while. We also had October 29th, 2013, we had Sonic Lost World, which if I remember is on the Wii U, but I I think it didn't release in a great state, and I don't think it really sort of captured the uh what the game is about. I think it struggled a bit and didn't really get great reviews, um, which is a shame. You know, you know, you look at the list of Sonic games now, I think there's more bad ones than there is good, which is a shame. I'm I'm old school Sonic me, a lot of the 2Ds, a lot of the Mega Drives, even Mars System to a certain extent, Game Gears, you know, they're there are my generation of Sonic. Um there was also the director's cut of Deadly Premonition, you know, the the famously uh so bad game is good. Um never played it myself. I've seen a few videos on it, and that's almost that Twin Peak esque esque game with poor frame rate, poor graphics. But that's got a cult following um to the point where they re-released it on the Switch, you know. Um it's just something about that game. Some games do, you know, they can be pretty poor and that, but they just this you just get a cult following. I think there's that uh Devil's Third, I think, in the Wii U as well, which was never reviewed that great, but people Love that's now quite an expensive game, but um October 29th, 2013. Ironically, we had Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag, um, which we now know is getting the uh the remaster that is coming out, which does look really good actually. Um I'll play quite a few of Assassin's Creed. Black Flag never really stuck with me. Um I played the first few hours, but I found it very obtuse and didn't really get into it. But I've got it on the PS4, but since I've seen this new version, I've sort of thought, hmm, maybe I could get into that again. So yeah, watch his space. I might uh I might give it another go. I know George has been been dabbling with it and and having a go, but he's he's quite enjoyed it. Um we also had they even done a Titan of the Dead overkill. I only thought there was only one Titan of the Dead, but no, they done a Titan of the Dead Overkill. So that must have been maybe a PC port they done or remastered the original, but that's interesting. We also had Battlefield 4. Um never really been an FPS man, um, but I know there was a bit of a bit of a time where the battlefields were quite popular. Now I don't know if Battlefield 4 was one of those. You probably know. I mean, if you want to let us know, you can drop us a message on this on your server, and that'll contact us through our provider. Um, or you can do questions at unoffished controllerpodcast.com or jump on the Discord or contact us on Instagram or Twitter or X, any of those. But just let us know if you're a Battlefield fan. Was Battlefield 4 good? Um, I think one of our subs over on uh UCP, Ginge, I think he's a bit of a Battlefield player or has been of recent years, but yeah, let us know if that's uh a game you've played or be interested in or anything like that. Um I think finally then I'll um I'll wrap up the what we would have been hoping to been playing with um they had Wii Fit U, um which I didn't actually realise they'd done a uh a Wii U version of Wii Fit. I mean something that was so popular on the Wii. I mean, getting that many Wii's in homes to people who weren't necessarily gamers, they aimed at that market. So doing the Wii Fit, which they did. I had people I worked with who had never gamed in their life but bought a Wii so they could do the Wii Fit at home and the balance board and bits. I never realised there was a Wii Fit U. Um, unbelievable enough. Definitely that was nowhere near as popular as the the original, unfortunately, with the Wii U, but we'll hear a bit more about the the Wii U in the news a little bit further on. Um but yeah, I'll jump into the news

News Desk Opens For 2013

SPEAKER_01 24:54

now. Um we scoured the very darkest back pages of the gaming mags and even delved deep into the internet web to bring you what was the latest stories in October 2013.

PS4 Xbox One Midnight Queue Culture

SPEAKER_01 25:07

First up from a Euro Gamer. Now, this first story, um, this was a nostalgic little look back on. I know it's only 13 years, but gaming was very different 13 years ago, and this was the it's it's titled Game that's the store game, game offering PS4 and Xbox One launch night queue jumps. If you pre-pay from two days before, um, like I say, this is over a year ago by Tom Phillips. Um prepay for your next gen console at game, and you'll get a fast track ticket for launch night that will let you skip the standard queue. Customers who pay off their console before launch day will be allowed to enter a fast lane to quickly exchange their ticket for their shiny new game gobbins and avoid a wait in the cold. Game has begun emailing customers with details of the offer as spotted by NeoGAF and Xbox One forums. You'll be able to pre-pay for your Xbox One on the 20th and 21st of November to quickly pick it up on the night of the 22nd of November. PlayStation 4 customers can do the same on the 27th and 28th of November ahead of Sony's big launch. Alternatively, you can place the value of your pre-order onto a game gift card from the 10th to 19th of November for a quick redemption on launch night. Game is also suggesting you bring along any games or accessories you want to trade in when you prepay. Trading in three or more items will net an extra 20% value that can be used against your console payment. Now, I found that interesting that last bit as well, with you know, three or more items you get 20% off. That's gonna tempt a lot of people. I wonder if anyone's regretted doing that since with you know if they're into collecting. Um but this it seems years ago, and I know it's only 13 years ago, but my best mate um he pre-ordered his um PS4 and done a a midnight um collection from a local game store um about half an hour up the road from us. And what he done, he combined it by he bought a brand new PS4, then he he also bought the Slim 500 gig PS3 for his daughter for her birthday and got the two in one deal. Um, but I always remember because he said being a midnight launch in the area that the shop was in, there was quite a few uh little hoodies hanging about outside. So he said he had a bag, a massive bag on that again with two brand new consoles in. He was like, I got back to my car quick because I was ready to fight to save my console, and I was always stuck in my head, but this is one of them, you know, this was for me anyway. Um this was the buzz of getting your new console, the pre-order, the midnight launches, the going collecting them from the shop and bringing them back in the car. Yes, I know it's easier nowadays. Um, you know, we we we pay for them online and they're they're on, you know, they're in our houses the next day, you know, like I did with PS5, like I did with Switch 2, like I did with Switch. Um but it's for me it's not the same to have that excitement of driving somewhere to pick up that console um to you know collect it that you've pre-paid, that journey home, getting the setup. And this was just a little nostalgic way for me, and that's when I started then thinking of midnight launches of when another story I've told before, but when Vice City launched, and I went and picked it up for midnight from a supermarket, and that anticipation, and when um like I say, my friend picked up the his PS4 and PS3, he got together amazing times, and you know, not that we're likely to get that again. Um, I think after sort of 2019-2020 and all what went on there, and that really spiked the sort of online side of the consoles and bits and pieces, and yeah, we didn't really um I don't think we'll see days like that again, but fantastic times, and you know, I know this is an audio show, but it's part of the article. I've got a picture of the game store here just packed with people queuing up, ready to pick up their new consoles and stuff, and yeah, absolutely brilliant. And uh, yeah, time I miss because some of my best memories of of picking consoles up is you know, from picking up from shops. Like I say, your online ones, you know, my PS5 turned up, took it out of the box, you set it all up, and away you went. But you know, when I bought my PS2 and my and my PSP and going to like electronics boutique or game station and and finding which one you wanted or which package they had, and you know, having to go on the demo kiosks and all that, it was all part of that experience to build that hype, and I just think we miss it now. I'm probably saying not a dinosaur, younger generation probably won't know nothing of that and never will, but yeah, that's that's a that's a time I miss, and I'm sure if you're listening to this, it's probably a time you miss as well. Um next up from Games Radar.

GTA 5 Sales And Annual Sequels

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Um GTA 5's sales are absurd, but don't defeat the industry's addiction to anionisation. The future is still yearly. GTA 5 has by my math, this is by sorry, this is by um Hollander Cooper, and this was published 30 October 2013. Um GTA 5, by my math, made nearly 2 billion since its release last month. That is absurd. That's more than absurd. That's put in a straitjacket absurd. That's lock it up in the Arkham Home for the criminally insane absurd. That's kill it because otherwise it'll break free and blow up a hospital absurd. It's absurd. Truly absurd. It's so absurd that our office actually argued for like an hour over whether or not it was possible when it was revealed, but honestly, it's not absurd enough to kill annualised game releasers. When Take 2 revealed the sales numbers, 29 million units in 30 days, many were quick to point to it as an example of the benefits of lengthy game development cycles. In a matter of weeks, Grand Theft Auto sold more than any Call of Duty game ever had, and that's some good evidence. While the industry seems to live and die by the yearly Maddens and Call of Duties and Assassin's Creeds, games like Grand Theft Auto can make billions of dollars in a matter of days, or so the thinking goes. But after doing a little digging, I think it's safe to say that while GTA 5 sales are impressive, and absurdly so, they're still far from disproving the profitable benefits of yearly sequels. Grand Theft Auto 4 has done quite well for the self since it launched in 2008. Another X game on the Gen 7 Playthrough. Over the years, the sales have snowballed into a monumentous 25 million copies sold. But games that size take a long time to make, and it's been five years since Nico Bellick first blew up Liberty C. How many copies has Call of Duty sold in that same period? Well, it's time for some math. Let's start with Modern Warfare 2. It was a huge hit in 2009, eventually going on to sell around 22 million copies. The next year was Black Ops, which came in at under 20 million units. Sold beg your pardon. Modern Warfare 3 sold somewhere in the ballpark of 13 million copies the year after that, and Black Ops 2 sold a shocking 24 million in 2012. None have hit the GTA's 25 million, but combined that they utterly eclipse that total. Overall, that puts Call of Duty games that have released since Rockstar's last Grand Theft Auto at nearly 80 million. And that's without counting the amount of money the publisher made on map packs or handheld spin-offs, Call of Duty Elite, or anything else that it has managed to monetize in the past five years. As it stands, Grand Theft Auto 4 isn't as profitable as five years of Call of Duty, it's barely more profitable than one big one. So let's go back to Grand Theft Auto 5, which, yeah, absurd. I have no idea how much is going it how much it's going to sell when the dust settles. I could do some math telling you that GTA 4 ended up more than doubling its first month sales in the long run. And GTA 5 will likely do the same. But that ignores factors like the end of the current generation and PC releases and software droughts. Oh, and you can't forget that this next Call of Duty and Madden and Assassin's Creed is releasing on both current and next gen consoles, amplifying the sales potentially by like a lot. I don't know, I'm not a math doctor. What I do know though is that this the age of annualisation is far from over. Absurd sales be damned so long as five years of Call of Duty is bigger than four years of GTA. Now I found this very interesting. But I don't think they realised it was going to be as big as it was. Annualised games will sell, or were selling then 25 million a pot, which is what GTA 4 done in one go. And then if you add them up on the yearly over the five years, they're probably nearly 100 million. But that's five separate games you've had to make, and five separate budgets. So you spend on five games. I know GTA 4's budget was probably huge, but you've still got to make five games to make the hundred million, so it probably levels it out a bit more, but I think that all started to change with GTA 5. I mean 2 billion since it released last month, in you know, 2 billion dollars since it released in a month is crazy. Um and if you look of stats, I think up till um I think it was up till recently they've done a count up of GTA 5 sales as of 2026. Has this show been recorded? And they have sold 225 million copies, which is crazy, and it's been over three generations. Um the game is absolute powerhouse, and like we spoke about in what we you know would have hoped to have been playing, um, or you know, would likely have been playing, Grandfifth online launched, and that then just pushed it even more because that became so popular online, everyone wanted copies, and I can still remember we were on holiday in centre parks in 2013 when my daughter was very young, and getting an um an update email of when my um GGA 5 PS3 game was gonna be arriving or hoping to be arrived, and to think that people are still playing that in 2026 is just like he said, absurd. And I don't think I mean do I think annulised games are as popular now? Uh maybe I don't know. Um we sort of went from they're sort of coming back again now with your call of duties, but a lot of these games went into the live service. Um so I don't know if you would say that the annulised game is still as strong as it was then. I know Assassin's Creed took a bit of a break for a while, changed the format because it's they started washing out their own market, and then they came back with sort of origins and Odyssey and took it down a bit more of an open world, different route. Um, and they still release them now. Are they yearly? I think we've no, but we've had that um the newer couple of the newer ones, shadows, and there was another one before that, and they've sort of gone to a shorter experience with a regular game, but a bit more quality in the game rather than a you know more quantity, you know, 100 hours of fetch quests. But are annulised games as popular? I probably don't think so. I think with the strength of consoles nowadays, I think you need to make a product that is you know it's harder to make as well. Don't forget with the ray trace and God knows what's going on on the on the big PC boys, but you know, you need to make that quality, and I think that affects having an an annual game. Some games take forward to five years, these big single-player games. I mean, GTA 5 is 2013, as of this date, which is uh May 2026, we still ain't got GTA 6. Yes, they've released games since, which you've been busy with, but you know, the bigger and the better the game, the longer it takes. So depends on your preference. I mean, is there a place for annulised games? I think so. Um I think they're worried at this point. Um they're all almost arguing the point, oh, yeah, yeah, we can still have these games, we can still have these games. And I think there's a place for all games, you know. Um, with how many people play modern games nowadays, there's there's you know, there's plenty of genres and and people's preferences to cover. But yeah, this was this was just the start that first month hit with GTA 5, and everyone was like, Whoa, hold on, this we knew this was be big, but 29 million units in 30 days is a year's worth of Call of Duty or over, it's crazy, and he and four years worth of GTA 4. Um, so yeah, I think take two Rockstar Games. We're thinking, Yeah, I think we've done it here. I think we've done it big time. Um right, and finally, our last news story is from the Verge.com. Um

Wii U Struggles And Marketing Lessons

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Nintendo losses continue despite slight Wii U sales bump. Um Nintendo made an operating loss of 18.4 billion yen, which is 184, uh beg your pardon, 187 million dollars on sales of 115 billion yen of 1.17 billion dollars. This quarter, as Wii U sales continue to lag, the company sold 300,000 Wii U consoles between July and September, and 87.5% improvement on the previous quarter sales were buoyed by a price cut and the Legend of Zelda bundle. But Nintendo notes that it's still losing money on the hardware. Wii U software showed more a more marked boost with 5.27 million units representing an improvement of over 400% on the previous quarter. Nintendo points to titles such as Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda, the Wind Waker HD as sparking growth. The company also managed to sell 2.49 million 3DS system portable systems, a year-on-year decline of around 20%. 3DS software sales were at 16.37 million, a 40% year-on-year improvement, buoyed by the Western release of Animal Crossing, New Leaf, sorry, and titles from last year that continued to perform well. Nintendo hasn't altered its forecast of a hundred billion yen operating profit for the current fiscal year, pointing to the recent release of Pokemon X and Y and the Wii U's upcoming Super Mario 3D World. It still expects to sell 9 million Wii U systems worldwide by the end of March 2014. The current total sits at 3.91 million. The company hasn't given has given no indication of any planned deviation in its hardware strategy, despite frequent calls for its franchises to be ported to smartphones and other mobile devices. Nintendo is experimenting with free to play models for some of its games and announced today that it will try new promotional activities such as free trend uh free campaign for upcoming fitness title We Fit You. Now yeah. You know, I think the writing was probably already a bit on the wall here for for the Nintendo Wii U. Now me personally, I got a Wii U a lot later on after release. I would probably say 2018 to maybe a bit before that, about 2017-2018. Um I actually got one before the Switch came out, I believe. But anyway, I quite enjoyed the Wii U. I still enjoy the Wii U. Um I think graphically it looked really nice. I enjoyed um I played through Breath of the Wild on the Wii U. Um, I enjoyed the gamepad, uh, games like um uh one of the Batman's, I think it was Origins, and games like that would use the screen as your map, and you could see enemies around corners on a on a little map as dots, and you could plan ahead. There was little things like that, and they also had like if you play Mass Effect 3 on there, you can have your your um inventory and all that on the screen, and change your guns on the fly. We're going, so it was nice little things like that. The thing was with the Wii Yee, was I think most people probably already know, it wasn't marketed correctly. Um people didn't really realise what it was, and I didn't really see anything about it, and when I did see it, and I think I was like with the masses, I thought it was almost an add-on for the Wii. As a lot of people did, and I've actually spoke to people who are casual gamers now that still do think it is. They didn't realise it was a standalone HD console, and for that it just it tanked it. Um they really struggled from the success of the Wii, which it's a good job the Wii was because it's you know, it gave them a few yen in the bank, and not only that, it was the 3DS that was you know, they were obviously still big into handhelds then, but they still had their home console before they migrated to the you know the hybrid. Um but the 3DS kept them going as well with game sales and and and sales of the you know the handheld console itself. Um I think it's just a shame because I think people who haven't owned a Wii U or played a Wii U instantly think it's rubbish. Now could there be improvements for the Wii U? Yes. I mean the battery on the game pad is pretty shocking and not very long. Um the range, because you can for you those of you who haven't played a Wii U, you have a little TV button on the pad, very you know, it looks very Switch-esque, and you can press TV button and play the game on the pad rather than on the TV, so you can swap between the two. That was unique, very good, but it just it wasn't marketed well at all to to put it into people's homes, and I think it is a shame because I I think it was a very capable console. Um I still enjoy mine. Um and also, like with me and George have said on on the UCP, it was almost that test bed for the switch. You know, it's almost that switch tech in there, you know, the pad. And then obviously someone at Nintendo had this genius idea to make the Joy-Cons detachable and make a hybrid. So why rather than making handheld, rather than making a home console, let's make one that does both. Rest is history, you know, and and the switch is going on now, again as of recording here, very close to overtaking the PS2. Of which I think it will. Um because they're still producing smaller models, and with deals and collectors and bits and pieces, I think it will, but yeah, it was it was a worrying time for Nintendo. Um and when you're when you're comparing this was only you know, a gen and a bit ago, that they were not selling a lot of consoles, and you almost had the worry for Nintendo. They'd almost sort of gone a bit of a hit of a console, then a not very good hit, and then an okay console, then a hit, and then they'd gone, and they were all up and down with with you know success. Um and this was a worrying time to where I think a lot of people thought, what are they gonna do after this? Are they gonna be able to pull this out of the bag? You know, are people gonna trust them after the Wii U? And and the stupid thing with the Wii U, it wasn't like it was a poorly made console, it wasn't like uh, and I'm not saying the Atari Jagger was poorly made, but the games for a 64-bit console were not 64-bit, and what was made was quite shoddy, and it wasn't like that, it was a very capable console that had some good games on it, um, and played well. And I really liked the system. I thought it looked more more mature than the Wii and looked good set at sitting at home under your TV. You had the charging dock for your pad, you know, where people would come round and say, God, what's that console? That's different, isn't it? Oh, is that that is that the controller, this big sort of tablet, yeah? And um, I just think it was unique and and a real shame. Um, I think they learnt the lessons because I remember seeing the very first trailer and advert for the switch, and straight away I thought, that's good. They're telling you everything about it, and they're telling you what it is, how it works, the girl in her apartment pulling joy-guns off and playing with friends down below, made that very unique, and they they sort of learnt the lesson of market and learnt the lesson of advertising. And as I said before, rest is history. Um but yeah, it was a worrying time for for Nintendo. Um but look where they are now. But that brings me into the news. Um I hope you like those stories. I think it's as I always say most weeks, I try and give a bit of a snapshot of the time as to you know what we were thinking, what journalists were writing, what they were predicting um, you know, from anything from game offering these one night launch queue, you know, night queue jumps, you know, which is fantastic because you you know you thought, yeah, I'll do that, I'll pre-order and pay up front, I can jump the queues and that. It's a thing of the past to queues now. The only thing you have now is when a console launch got a PS5 and you have to get on a on an online queue to try and buy it, and it's not quite the same thing nowadays. And also in these days, you always had whether you were queuing up and going up there, they'd have all the little bits of game and tat lined up. I'll grab that as well while I'm here, you know. So, yeah, it's a shame and days are gone, but I hope you like that little nostalgic look at that. Um, going into GTA 5 sales are absurd. Um, took the industry by storm to even where the you know the guys at Activision and that who were making the the Call of Duties were even getting worried that maybe the Analyze games were dead because of this massive game that had come out, was just selling absolute gangbusters. Um, but I don't think they had to worry. Um, it was a different sort of slice of the pie layer after. Um, most people would have probably played through Grand Theft Auto Five and then carried on on Call of Duty, but once that online came out, they probably stole a few of the uh the annualised game players, I would imagine. Um, and then we finished up with verge.com, um which we were just talking about, um which was you know a little bit of a sales bump for the Wii U. But Nintendo um was in a worrying stage at this point in 2013, and they never really it never really met the expectations. I mean, even when they sit on there they're expecting to sell 9 million Wii U systems by eight, but I think over the life's lifespan of it only ever sold 16, so I know people probably think, oh, 16 million consoles, that's a lot. When the switch now is on 150 odd million, it's you can see how poor that that console sold. But I hope you like those snapshots of time in in October 2013.

November 2013 Picks From The Boot

SPEAKER_01 52:30

Um, but it's now time for what we affectionately call Stingray's boot, what's nestled between some counterfeit nappies and a dodgy copy for Battle for Endor is some of the new release releases for November 2013. Springstop Wa Whoa. Um, I'm gonna do a traditional Ray today. Ray and Wayne have got out of the car. Ray's just how you would imagine him when you listen to this audio show. Double denim, blonde Pat Sharp mullet. Um, the denim top is a is a sleeveless number with a big snake tattooed on his arm. Little Wayne's got a skateboard, cap on back to front, looks like a realistic version of um Bart Simpson. The bluebird, slightly rusty round of wheel arches, but the Nissan Bluebird is parallel along with a cherry bomb exhaust and the Halfords wheel caps, and he's now come round to see what he's got in his boot. So let's have a look. Wow, what have we got coming out here? Out here, then hooray. Um November the 4th was outlast. I mean, oof, yeah, that's if I remember rightly, that's the game where you look in the complete darkness survival horror, where you look through the camera with night visions. You have to keep finding batteries for your camera. Um not for me, complete wuss when it comes to that. We also had Call of Duty Ghosts, we had Battle Worlds, Kronos, Castlevania Lord of Shadow. We had what else we got? Professor Leighton and the um Arzan Legacy. Um I don't I I haven't played that one, I don't think. That could be a contender. Marion Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Hmm. Wii U, I believe. I think I might have had a Wii U. Um one of the Wonder Books. Can you remember the Wonder Books on your PlayStation Move? I have got those. Um they're interesting thing to do. And I think they were by Mike Race, who've had on the show, the Retro Gamer Boy on YouTube. This one was Walking with Dinosaurs. And they also had came out at the same time. Excuse me, sorry, Wonder Book, Book of Potions, which um uh Mrs. RGT like playing, and you'd have to mix the potions on the screen. That very clever sort of that AR sort of tech. Um we also had Ratchet and Clank into the Nexus, which I think was last one on the Pierce 3, which is the one I picked up recently in Bristol when we went to a convention there, and that was the last one I needed for the PS3 collection. But I haven't played that one yet, but that's another contender. Um also we got Oceanhorn, Monsters of the Uncharted Seas. Um Knack. Knack was the release title on the uh PS4. I know um I know George absolutely hated that, but I have good memories of because I played it when my daughter was young. We played two player and I think was that one or snack two we played. I know we played knack and took in turns or whatever, but that was good fun. Need for Speed Rivals, another good game. Kill Zone Shadowfall. I know what George would be picking. Um Farm and Simulator 14. It'd have been all over that. Uh Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry, which I think was a PS3 exclusive, might be wrong. Let us know. Questions at unofficial trailerpodcast.com. Uh Light and Returns, Final Fantasy 13, Dead Rising 3, Rise, Son of Rome, uh, Mario Partley Island Tour. There's loads on there. Super Mario 3D World, which obviously we were talking about with the uh uh Wii U. Um great game as well. Super Mario 3D World, really good, lovely graphics that really good. Forza Motorsport 5, always always gonna be good if it's Forza Motorsport. Oh, we had a Legend of Zelda Link Between Worlds for the 3DS. I love that game. I've got that in the 3DS. That's a great game where you can turn into a 2D paper version of Zelda and go round the the walls, almost like a graffiti, it's really clever, great game that is to you know sort of find places you couldn't only get to. Um, anything else here that tickles my fancy? I

Final Game Picks Plus Rush Film

SPEAKER_01 56:47

think what I'm gonna pick, I think I'm gonna go with Ratchet and Clank Nexus, I believe. Um just because I love the Ratchet and Clank games, um, and I think that one being sort of an end of gen PS3, it's gonna sing on there, it's gonna look good. They always look good on there, to be fair. But I reckon that one with that sort of neon purple light is gonna look good. Um shall I pick one more Ray? Can I have one more Ray, please? You can let me have one more, yeah. I can. Riley if that's the case, then I'll have Professor Leighton and the Arzan Legacy, I think. Um Azran Legacy, sorry, not Arsran, Azran Legacy. Um give that a go, so I haven't played that one. I do, I you know, I'm a bit partial to Professor Leighton. Uh not as partial as Mrs. RGT because uh yeah, she's played them religiously, but yeah, so well, I think I'll have a movie pick as well, please. Ray. Um and I think I'm gonna go with uh Rush. Um which uh really surprised me. This game was that old because I remember uh uh this film, sorry, was that old. Mrs. RGT bought me the film for for Christmas one year and I watched that. I loved the film with Nicki Lauder and James Hunt and the competition and the rivalry and the head brought the stories to life and that. Great film. If you're into your Formula One and or you even race and you haven't seen it, definitely watch that. But yeah, Rush, that was that in 2013. Don't seem that long ago. Um do a bit of housekeeping.

Housekeeping And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_01 58:20

Um don't forget our I was gonna say our sister show, but that'd probably be our mothership, which is the unofficial controller podcast. Well over 300 shows on there. Check us out on um YouTube, Unofficial Controller Podcast on YouTube, check us out on Instagram, check us out on TikTok, check us out on Instagram. Oh sorry, done Instagram, check us out our website. We have the unofficial controller podcast.com. Um we have everything on there from my hidden gems lists, we have um events we've been going to, we have our challenge accepted, which is a a monthly challenge, which Digital Monk reruns, which is great fun, normally a high score or something or other like that, which gets a prize for the winner. Um he also does a let's get quizzical on Discord as well, little we weekly uh little quiz, which is always good fun. Um, which leads me onto the Discord. Check that out, Unfish Controller Podcast Discord. Um, if you want to join in there, the easiest way is go on to the United Controller Podcast Instagram, go on the link tree, and you can jump straight in, or you can go on to my Instagram, which is RetroGamer Thomas. I have a link tree and you can jump into it from there. Um, and like I say, I think I've covered we've got X, we've got TikTok. Um, and just in case you didn't hear it before, if there's anything you want to ask us, like questions about Discord, questions about this show, give us your memories of this show, um, give us the games you've been playing, um, or just anything in general that is questions at unofficialcontroller podcast.com, or if you want the probably one of the easiest ways, on your podcast provider, you are listening on to this on now. Um, you can contact us straight to the show. Um, if you want a shout out, leave a little bit at the end, keep it short, leave a little bit of the end, leave your name, and we'll we'll give you a shout out on the show. Um,

Thanks For Listening And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_01 1:00:15

I think that draws us to the end. A bit of a shorter show, it's only about an hour long, so sorry about that. Um sorry about it being a solo, but I hope that's alright. Um, but as always, thanks for listening. Um thanks for downloading. Um, go over to YouTube, leave us a comment, sub, subscribe, you know, all the other YouTube stuff, give us a shout on there. Um, and thanks again. And I think that just leaves me to say flashback, the games you loved, the stories you forgot. Thank you guys, and I'll see you in the next week.