It’s a strange thing to think back on Daily Reaction’s past. It was once a storied and beloved part of PlayStation LifeStyle. We all have reactions. That’s why YouTube videos like “Teens react to elders reacting to The Avengers cast reacting to tweets reacting to their film” are so popular.
Reactions aren’t just opinions though. Reactions are a dive beneath the headlines. Reactions are a sum of personal experiences, preferences, and perspectives. It’s how something relates to the world around it. The ties that bind, as it were. We’re all constantly reacting daily. Behind the scenes, the PSLS Slack chat is often filled with writers all coalescing and discussing the day’s news. Reacting to it, if you will. (You’d be really surprised about how much Nintendo talk goes on with the news team of a PlayStation website.) So I thought, if we’re doing it there, why not here?
And thus, after nearly four years on hiatus, the return of Daily Reaction.
I’ve been kicking around the restart of Daily Reaction for a long time, but it’s time. A new site design, next-gen on the horizon, and how crazy the gaming industry has been so far this year mean that I’ve got a lot to say. In some ways it feels poetic to relaunch one of the very features that kickstarted my own career here at PSLS so long ago. A lot has changed since then, but we still have things to say.
To me, one of the most important parts of Daily Reaction is that it is not a knee-jerk reaction. We have Twitter and comment sections for that. With my history in debate (fun fact: if you get a letter in debate class in high school, it is called “forensics”), I’ve learned that the most effective way to argue your own side is to fully and completely understand both sides. Some of our most interesting exercises were in being assigned to argue the opposing side of a debate successfully. It taught me a lot about perspective, and in the fast-paced era of “blink and you’ll miss it” headlines and reactions, it’s got me thinking that we’re missing a little bit of perspective.
Daily Reaction was always the near-perfect blend (because let’s be honest, nothing is perfect) of quick responses while offering a more insightful deep dive into whatever headline was dominating the news cycle for the day. In the time since then, things have only felt like they’ve sped up. More news. More things to talk about. More controversies. And that’s just in gaming. Things like THQ Nordic falling flat on its face with moronic and tone-deaf decisions, Apex Legends on a faster climb that gaming’s previous darling, Fortnite, or the latest sales charts are just a few bits of fodder that are ripe for the picking.
This column was also an opportunity for us to get our Photoshop skills in. Started long ago by Sebastian Moss and Dan Oravasaari before I even joined the site, the trend continued all the way up until the last time we reacted daily. It even made its way over into the headers for the Morning Wood vidcast series that my wife and I ran for two years. And I assure you, it will continue. Photoshopped images were and still are a staple of Daily Reaction. See the top for the latest photoshopped abomination, which is the first of many more to come.
An Evolving Conversation
The best part about Daily Reaction is that it can change and evolve to be what it needs to be. Some days it might just be me reacting solo. Sometimes I might bring in another voice from the site to lend another perspective. Some days we may cover heavy and difficult to cover topics, and others it could be something innocuous and silly. The idea is to keep the conversation going and to get people talking about a subject beneath the surface of the headlines. Whether that’s through deep insight or parody (or a parodied deep insight), I just want to spark your brain and get you thinking.
Here’s the other thing. I know you’re not always going to agree with me. That’s all right. Part of discussion and debate is opening up our perspectives to understand as many facets as we can in order to make our own informed decisions about something. Daily Reaction is a conversation. Let’s chat it out, whatever the “it” of the day is. We can talk about why I heavily feel that whole THQ Nordic AMA thing is wrong. How about a discussion on why games as a service with microtransactions are so hot right now?
One of my visions for Daily Reaction is to go back and look at things we were reacting to when we called it quits on the column originally. Reacting to the reactions, as it were, four years on. Did Microsoft’s cloud computing pan out with Crackdown 3? Did Nintendo step down from “the big three?” (We really bungled that one up considering where Nintendo is now.)
Truth is, while I have some ideas of what Daily Reaction will be, the ever-changing nature of the video game industry means that I actually have no idea where this will go. 2019 is already shaping up to be completely different than I had envisioned for games, yet the industry moves so fast that all of those oddities just seem to be the new normal.
And with those 900 words, Daily Reaction is back. It may not feature the original founders Dan and Sebastian, but I assure you that, for better or worse, its spirit lives on. Will you join in the conversation?
Daily Reaction: The Slideshow
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Are Villains Really the Star of the Show? – The Joker, Call of Duty and Until Dawn
A great hero is nothing without an opposing force to drive him, her, or it forward, and we explore the villains, antagonists, and foes in both likely and unlikely places.
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PS Plus Vote to Play – Are We Generalizing Indie Games?
The term "indie" has been slung around the industry to mean low budget garbage, but are we being unfair to a subsection of the industry that leads in innovation and creative freedom?
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How Sharing Is Changing the Industry – PSN and the Share Button
The ability to easily share our experiences has vastly changed how we game and how the rest of the world perceives video games. Just how much is sharing changing the gaming landscape?
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Cracking Down on Xbox One Cloud Computing
Despite the punny title referencing Crackdown 3, we actual drool over the possibilities that the cloud can offer as Microsoft shows off their latest footage featuring multiple servers worth of full destructibility in the world, while we also cite some minor concerns we may have with the tech.
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Microsoft’s gamescom 2015 Press Conference Impressions
Microsoft finished their 2015 press conference at gamescom and it was a solid showing. Here are our blow-by-blow impressions of what Microsoft had to show off.
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Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band 4 – Rhythm Games’ Encore
Rhythm games are coming back, but do gamers want the encore? Find out more about our history with the genre and what we are (or aren't) looking forward to when plastic instruments make a comeback.
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Can a PlayStation Plus Voting System Make Gamers Happy?
Trying to appease unhappy gamers, Sony is giving them a choice to vote on the free Plus games for certain months. Will gamers still find a way to complain, or will this help ease the pain of feeling slighted by "bad offerings?"
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Ouya’s Downfall and the Home Console Market
R.I.P. Ouya. We hardly even knew ya. In this edition we throw back all the way to the first Daily Reaction that talked about the Ouya and how it might be able to alter the gaming landscape. Have our views since then changed?
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Are Gaming Accessories Important? VR, Fight Sticks and Gaming Headsets
Peripherals such as headsets, VR, plastic instruments, and motion wands can alter the way that we experience games, but are they required or even important to the gameplay experience?
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Console vs PC: Rounds 1 and 2
Read the Daily Reaction Part 1 here.
Read the Daily Reaction Part 2 here.Console gamers and PC gamers often butt heads on which is better, but which one is truly the victor? We examine the pros and cons in multiple aspects of these platforms in this two part article.
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Kickstarting Shenmue III, Broken Age, and More – Money Where Your Mouth Is
Kickstarter is a platform that can be used to gauge market interest by requiring consumers to put their money where their mouth is. Is this a good home for games that are demanded, but may not be financially viable?
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How Important Is 1080p and 60fps and Overall Graphical Fidelity?
Graphics and visual fidelity are a massively debated factor in games, with some people attributing a high value to the magic numbers of 1080p and 60 frames-per-second. Is there a point where visual fidelity just isn't as important as other factors?
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Clamoring for Information: The Desire to Know More
We're constantly pawing at any new bit of information that we can find out about games, but the information ebbs and flows in our industry. Does our desire to know more cause releases to be little more than a flash in the pan?
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Remembering Our Giants – The Loss of Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata
Nintendo's President and CEO has passed away, which makes us realize the fragility of life and relative infancy of the gaming industry.
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A Dangerous Minefield of Video Game Spoilers
There are certain parts of an experience that hinge on the unknown, the mystery, and the surprise. Metal Gear Solid 2 swapping Snake out for Raiden? Aeris' fate in Final Fantasy VII? These are just a small sampling of the kinds of things that can have an impact if they are spoiled prior to a first experience and we're looking at how the unknown crafts a sense of wonder.
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PSN Down - Does it Matter?
So the PSN is down again. Maybe not right now, but if history has taught us anything, it's that Rome wasn't built in a day and the PSN goes down periodically. Does the loss of our network connection really matter that much though?
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The Last of Us 2: What We Want and What We Don't
Nolan North has seemingly outed the existence of The Last of Us 2, and while Naughty Dog and Troy Baker both claim ignorance, we wanted to share our conflicting thoughts on what we want and what we don't want in a sequel to one of the greatest PlayStation games ever.
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How Technology Will Push the Horror Genre Forward
P.T. may be a distant memory, but new and coming technologies could change the face of horror games as we know them, allowing for fresh and immersive ways to be scared.
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How Early is Too Early to Announce a Game?
When should developers and publishers reveal their games? Can the strategy for timing between reveal and release impact a game's development and sales performance?
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Has Nintendo Stepped Down From the Big Three?
Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have long been considered the "Big Three" in the console games market, but has Nintendo abandoned their seat at the table?
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Is Backwards Compatibility Forward Thinking?
Microsoft announced backwards compatibility for the Xbox One at E3 2015, but is the time and money spent to make it happen forward thinking for the console market?
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Oculus Rift vs. Project Morpheus - Pre-E3 Announcements
Project Morpheus and Oculus Rift are the primary contenders in the battle fro VR supremacy, and we compare the currently known specs and features.
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Games, by Gamers, for Gamers
Many of the video game industry's biggest names are gamers themselves, and we talk about the importance of games by gamers, for gamers.
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The Evolution of Discovery
Games have become about something more than simple high scores or arcade competition. We explore the evolution of the ability to discover in video games.
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Countdown to E3 2015: Tips on How to Spend the Next 10 Days
The wait for E3 can be a difficult one, so we're offering you some ways that you can make the wait more bearable. Are you reading this after E3? There are still plenty of entertaining pictures to accompany each suggestion. You can't go wrong with a Reggie Photoshop!
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The Pros and Cons of App Based Extended Content
Some games have expanded beyond the screen in our living room by allowing our phones to connect with the game. Which ones are successful and which ones are unnecessary?
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The Strategy Behind Having E3 Press Conferences
May I have your attention please? If you'll direct your eyes to the center of the stage, we'll be talking about why the major players in the industry hold E3 press conferences.
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The Difficulties of Keeping an Embargo
As games journalists we have access to privileged information that we may not be able to reveal. Finding a balance between bringing content to our readers and maintaining positive PR relationships is crucial to our continued operation.
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Unfair Bullying of Developers Over Game Updates
Game updates can create a stream of consciousness that a game is broken or that a developer took the lazy route during development. Is this treatment fair, or is the advancement of technology to allow for these updates an incredible thing?
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Tempering E3 Expectations
Building up expectations to unreasonable levels can lead to disappointment when they are not met. Expect us to talk about tempering those expectations to enjoy every announcement, even the unexpected.
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Evaluating The Witcher 3's Graphical Downgrade
Accusations of The Witcher 3 being downgraded graphically from its reveal trailer have caused a bit of a stir, and we're taking our own look at the claims.
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The Adventures of Dynamic and Static Storytelling
Dynamic storytelling allows for more player freedom, but limits the kind of story you can tell. Static Storytelling let's creators have control of the story, but is an on-rails experience for players. Which is preferred?
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Reigniting Destiny's Fire with House of Wolves
Did Destiny's second expansion reignite a fire that was snuffed out by The Dark Below?
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Why Microsoft has the Right to Brick Consoles
Do you ever read the terms of service? perhaps you should start, because we're looking at why companies may have the right to lock you out of content you think you own.
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Always Online - The DRM Compromise
Advancements in technology are giving us increasingly connected worlds in our games, but are online components just hiding Digital Rights Management?
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The Value of Gaming - How Much is Your Time Worth?
We spend a lot of money and time on our favorite hobby, but how do we measure the value of the money and time we spend on the games that we play?
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The Backlog Problem
More and more games are coming out, more than we have time to play. With the rising number of games, there is also an increase to games that we want to play. Do we go back, or do we leave them behind?
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Narrative vs. Experience - How are the Best Stories Told?
Would you rather be told a story or experience it for yourself? Is there a balance in a game telling you about a narrative point versus playing through it?
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What Makes a Perfect Star Wars Game?
Everybody loves a good Star Wars game, but what makes the best Star Wars game? We take a stab at what we want to experience and what combined elements would bring balance to the Force.
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Has PlayStation's Powers TV Show Failed?
Numerous mixed reviews and a lack of solid marketing have left the critical future of Powers in limbo. Though there will be a season two, we explore whether the series has already failed in its intention to bring a streaming exclusive to the PSN.
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Information Leaks - Do They Hurt the Industry?
Games are a huge endeavor, and as such, information is not easy to contain. If something gets leaked outside of marketing's planned strategy, how does that impact the developer, publisher, and the rest of the games industry?
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HD Remastered Edition - Does Recycled Content Hurt the Industry?
Daily Reaction is back in a new form, and our first post is talking about HD remasters and the trend of making what's old new again. Should we be living in an HD version of the past?
