The Mystery Box
Have you ever seen one of those weird
capsule toy machines at a grocery store? The ones where you put in a few
dollars, turn the crank, and get a prize? They used to be everywhere, but I
guess people have gotten too smart for them, because I haven’t seen one in a
while.
The trick to these machines was that
they’d have a list of all the potential prizes stuck to the machine, but no
matter how hard you tried, you’d never get the one you wanted. The really cool
ones would never show up, and you’d just keep going until you either ran out of
money or gave up. Despite how infuriating this is, it really does work as a
business practice.
I think that’s why the recent
“blind-box” craze has sprung up. Toy companies are now offering blind figures,
forcing you to fork over around $10 for a slim chance of getting the toy you
want. I mean, I’d pay more than that if I could just get the figures I want
instead of risking getting a bunch of crap ones, but I guess these business
people know what they’re doing.
It’s also sprung up in the world of
video games, especially in games where cosmetics are integral. We’ve all felt
the cruelty of the loot box, especially in games like Overwatch. You rarely
ever get one of the legendary rank skins, and when you do, it’s for a character
you never play.
This week, Overwatch sprang a
Halloween event on us, including some new, ultra-rare costumes based on
Frankenstein, the Headless Horseman, and so on. I was pretty hesitant going
into this event, remembering how disastrously Blizzard handled the Overwatch
Summer Games update, but thankfully it seems that they’ve learned from their
mistakes. In the Halloween Update, the brand new skins are available for
purchase with in-game cash.
For three times the price of other
skins of the same rarity. Plus, you can only earn money by (what else?) finding
it randomly in loot boxes.
It’s okay though, you can still get
the new items in the Halloween loot boxes! The thing is, you’re only guaranteed
one new Halloween item in each box, because they’re mixed in with the Classic
set. You can also buy more boxes with real world cash, but this only increases
your odds of getting something.
There’s no guarantee you’ll grab that new Witch Mercy skin, because you’re just
as likely to find Goth Zarya in there instead. How would you feel if you bought
a Steven Universe blind box figure, only to open it and find We Bare Bears
merchandise? It’s not terrible, but it’s also not what you were advertised on.
And this is what frustrates me the
most, because the people behind these blind box schemes know that collectors will go to any means to get the stuff they
want. While I don’t buy any extra boxes, I’ve found that I’ve been playing
Overwatch a lot more since the update went live, in hopes to powerlevel and get
at least one of the new skins. With my luck, I’ll probably get one for a
character I don’t use instead of my sought-after Junkrat skin.
Again, this is an extremely sound
business strategy, because it keeps the customer coming back to try again and
again. I just don’t like it when the odds are stacked against me when I’m
trying to get the one I like. Because the Halloween loot boxes are mixed with
the regular boxes, I’m as likely to get a Classic legendary skin (which are
already none too common, mind you) as I am a Halloween legendary skin. At least
give me separate boxes so I can feel like I’m not getting shafted.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going
back to powerleveling some more. Dr. Junkenstien isn’t gonna unbox himself.
The NX Roundup
After a week off, the NX has returned
with a vengeance! It’s time once more for the NX Roundup, where we take all the
NX “news” of the week and cry out in confusion why Nintendo let this happen.
This week’s news comes to us courtesy
of banking firm Macquarie Group, who has declared the NX will be revealed sometime
next week. Now normally, this would be pretty big news. Unfortunately, this is
the NX, where everyone and their brother has thrown around rumours that it
would appear “next week” to no avail. At this point, it seems Macquarie is just
throwing their hat in the ring.
October 21 seems to be the magic date,
meaning that this may just be the final installment of the NX Roundup. Nintendo
is also holding an investor briefing on the 26th, so it wouldn’t be
surprising for them to unveil the NX before then. This rumour seems to have a
little more foundation than just some random guy tweeting out that he stumbled
upon a leak.
This wasn’t the end for Macquarie,
though, as they went on to say the NX reveal will come with drawbacks and be a
disappointment financially, because it wouldn’t be an NX rumour without
somebody assuming something. True, the rumoured pricing of somewhere between
$350-399 isn’t exactly ideal, but this is the first time I’ve heard these
numbers. Where did they come from? Nintendo sure didn’t give them to us. How
can you guess the price for a console we know absolutely nothing about?
But I digress. The 21st is
fast approaching, and we’ll just have to wait and see what Nintendo decides to
do.
Song of the Week
The main theme from Overwatch. I’ve
loved the Halloween organ take on this theme, but the original stands out as
one of the most iconic pieces of music to come out of gaming this year.
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