-What's up, everybody?
I'm Mike Hume, the editor of "Launcher."
And we are stuck inside.
And I suspect you guys are as well, so we, Team Launcher,
are here to help you with some video-gaming questions.
I am joined by reporters Gene Park,
Elise Favis, editor Mikhail Klimentov,
and our video producer Jhaan Elker.
Let's get right to it, guys.
Where should we start if you're a newcomer to gaming?
-It's not like you can just buy a DVD player
and play any movie in it.
All of these platforms are competing with each other.
Each of these platforms have their own
in-house development studios to make these games.
But if you really want to get into something
a little bit less complicated and more simple,
I wholeheartedly recommend the Nintendo Switch.
And the reason for that is that Nintendo, for decades,
since the '80s, has always,
always deliberately designed their games to be accessible,
to widen their audience.
That's always been their standard goal
as a video-game company.
-It's kind of a hybrid console that you can either dock
and play on your TV, so it's like a home console.
And it's also a portable console that you can bring
anywhere on the go or just play in bed
if you want to relax and whatever.
Nintendo has done a very impressive job
of not just a very great selection of games
that Nintendo has made, like "Mario" franchise,
the "Zelda" franchise.
It's also been a great space for independent games.
And a lot of those are easy to drop in and out of.
-Jhaan, you have a PlayStation,
which is obviously pretty celebrated
for its own exclusive titles.
Talk about that.
-The PlayStation 4 probably,
if not has the most exclusive titles
that are available for it.
The PlayStation 4 in general
is known as a more serious gamer console.
Games have a tendency to last about 50 to 60 hours plus.
And that's not just engaging with the story
that the game wants to tell,
but exploring the world that comes around with it.
So if you're looking to get truly immersed in a game
and you don't really value interacting
or doing as much of a social element in video games,
the PlayStation 4 is probably
more of what you're going to be looking for.
-You have no idea what loss is. -Mikhail,
I know your primary console is the Xbox.
What do you like about it and why is it your primary console?
-I think if I put myself in the shoes of a player
who's just trying to get into gaming for the first time,
I don't know that I would recommend,
you know, "The Last of Us" or "God of War."
I would recommend titles that anyone can pick up
that are serviceable,
kind of simpler, let you play on your own time.
Don't require tens of hours of investment.
And on that front, I think the Xbox has been really strong.
I'm a big Game Pass evangelist.
Game Pass, for $5 a month, $10 a month,
offers you this massive catalog which range from "Minecraft"
to "Sea of Thieves."
And then if you really want to dip your toes
in the more intensive titles,
you can play, you know, "The Master Chief Collection,"
you can play the "Gears" franchise,
all sorts of titles that would be deemed more serious.
-Arrest that man. -Captain.
-Arrest him! -Captain!
-Get word to Worth that trouble is coming.
-There are PC gamers who think that PC is the only way
you should be experiencing video games.
Why should newcomers maybe steer clear
if they're not too comfortable getting into gaming?
-Because of the barriers of which kind of hardware you need,
what kind of graphics card you need,
what kind of memory and processing power you need.
I just bought a laptop because as a console gamer,
I just wanted something simpler.
-If you do already own a PC
and even if it's not the most powerful PC out there,
there are also definitely lower-tech video games
that can be played on a PC.
I think that the telltale franchise is the whole franchise
of "The Sims" from "Sims" 1, 2, 3, 4.
But I think for looking at modern, big-scale video games,
then your best bet would likely be with a console.
-And obviously there's one platform we haven't talked about
yet that pretty much everyone these days owns,
certainly in America, and that's a mobile phone, a smartphone.
-Mobile games, I would say in general,
have the lowest barrier of entry
for anyone getting into video gaming.
But the way that they make up for this fact
is by creating a model known as free to play,
which essentially means that, yes, some of these games
you can actually download for free
and just play regularly until you hit either a certain point
or need a certain piece of equipment
to help you further out in the game.
I would just caution people
that see the game that's out there for free,
just to be aware that there are certain elements of the game
that might be behind these money pay walls.
-If you're playing on iOs,
then you can get a subscription to Apple Arcade.
That's a great subscription- based platform
with video games on there that are not only accessible
but also don't have micro-transactions.
-I have always recommended "Valley"
as a great starter game.
And then when I have, sometimes they would come back to me
and say, "I'm very confused by what I was supposed to do"
because they don't understand the menu system
or, like, objectives and everything.
There's a whole language to video games
that people don't understand.
-I would definitely recommend something like "Minecraft."
I think back on, like, people in my family who are not gamers,
but we've played "Minecraft" and become acquainted
with controls and control schemes through that.
-Because this is the most significant sandbox
you'll ever set foot in.
-I recommend "Sky" by thatgamecompany.
What I hear from people who are trying to get into gaming,
since so much of gaming is 3-d movement,
they can't seem to acclimate themselves
by being able to move around.
Games like "Sky" are able to give you that ability
to stretch your legs and get your feet wet
before you get into something more complicated.
-If you do want to get used to shooters
or even RPG mechanics, I think the "Mass Effect" trilogy
is actually a great place to start because it's blending
storytelling and those mechanics together.
-I need to know we're doing it for the right reasons.
-I think they do a very good job of teaching you the mechanics
and getting you more acquainted to those controls
so that eventually,
if you do want to go into "Destiny"
or whatever it may be, it will seem a little easier.
-There is an actual quiz you can take to find out sort of
where you fall on the gaming spectrum.
-This doesn't just ask you, "Do you want to just shoot
some people or do you want to be a puzzle gamer
or do you want to just farm?"
This mostly asks you, like, what motivates you?
What keeps you going?
What kind of person are you? Are you an overachiever?
-It seems like it's super helpful.
Again, you can find that quiz in Gene's article online
right now at washingtonpost.
com.
-Some of the best review outlets for trying to figure out
if you'd like games is going to be YouTube.
Literally just searching for the gameplay
and taking a look at it yourself to see
if this is the type of game you'd be interested in.
And also reddit channels, which are basically just large forums
where video-game fans, or fans of anything really,
gather to discuss certain topics about the game itself.
Another outlet is the Steam app,
which is also a website that coalesces
all of the information about a game into one hub
and they offer games for you to download
through their app themselves.
-The other great thing about Steam, too,
is there's so many sales where you have 50%, 60% off,
70% off of games on PlayStation and Xbox.
If you sign up for their online subscriptions,
then you also get, like, a handful
of free games every month.
Oftentimes there are great games.
PlayStation's done a really good job, too,
with bringing more massively multiplayer online RPGs,
which is role-playing games, to the platform,
which we haven't really seen on consoles very much.
But now, you know, we have "Monster Hunter,"
we have "Elder Scrolls Online."
-Children of the sea, your bonds cannot hold the tempest.
-Those who have joined us for an introduction to gaming,
hope you learned something today.
Hope you take the plunge. Hope you get involved.
We'll see you online.
I'm sure you've got more questions,
but we'll have more answers.
Come join us on launcher.
gg.
And in the meantime, have a great one, everybody.