Games the Shop had organised a midnight launch for Just Cause 3 and Rainbow Six Siege and your iLL correspondent attended to see what the hype was all about. There was palpable excitement, particularly for Just Cause 3, with some gamers passing time on the queue debating the merits of the Just Cause series over the GTA series. A few dozen people had turned out, mostly young guys in their late teens or early twenties. There were a couple younger school-going teens too, accompanied by their parents.
With moments to go before midnight, the crowd participated in a 20 second countdown, echoing all around the now empty Oberoi Mall. A vast majority of gamers were buying Just Cause 3 for the PlayStation 4, with fewer interested in Rainbow Six: Siege, and the PC or Xbox One versions. The expansive Collector’s Edition for Just Cause 3 was unavailable, but expected later this week, thanks to Indian Customs. There was limited swag in stock for Just Cause 3 as well. The Rainbow Six: Siege – Art of Siege edition was available though, with a cap, stickers, poster and a snazzy keychain given away.
Surprisingly, there were more takers for the PC version than Xbox One version of Just Cause 3. When asked “Why not Steam?”, the most common response was “crappy internet connection”. Unlike some recent releases, the PC version is an import, apparently with the full game on disc(*cough* Metal Gear Solid V*cough*Fallout 4*cough*). Interestingly, a couple of PC gamers were unaware of Steam’s new Indian Rupee pricing model and Autumn Sale, which actually results in the Steam Store version of Just Cause 3 being cheaper than retail. Rainbow Six: Siege is in the ballpark too. With this information in hand, they vowed to give Steam a shot for the next release. The PC version was scheduled to unlock at 1PM IST, but someone at Valve jumped the gun a few hours early, so we could enjoy Rico’s adventures in the morning itself! With the regional pricing model in place, the next step has to be region-wise midnight unlocks for Steam.
Inside the store, a PlayStation 4 was set up with Just Cause 3 for gamers and media to try. In my (very) brief hands-on, the game felt very much like an evolution of Just Cause 2, with the same core mechanics strapped to a fine tuned engine. As a PC gamer, I was quickly frustrated by the long loading times and low framerate though!
Overall, the event was a success, though routine. The turnout was encouraging, although we do hope to see some diversity in the future.
E-xpress Interactive, the games’ distributor in India also held a media launch for Just Cause 3 at Smaaash, Lower Parel for Just Cause 3, in tune with the adrenalin pumping action theme of the game that was attended by my colleague Chirantan Raut. He reports that while the event was a formal meet to launch the game and have a friendly chat with mediapersons, Smaaash does offer some interesting VR experiences such as a VR Rollercoaster, VR Hand Glider, VR Flight Simulator, etc among other that use Oculus Rift and some mechanical gimmick to simulate a brilliant Virtual reality experience. The only kicker for the big boned among us might be that these rides do come with a weight restriction of 80kg. Until next time, iLL out.
