u/PoshVolt

Anyone else see this plain as day? They're falling for the same exact thing that hurt them in the PS3 era: hubris.

Let's revisit. After the astounding success of the PS2, they were at the top. They had killed Sega's last console hurrah, the Dreamcast. They had relegated Nintendo's GameCube to off-beat secondary console. And Microsoft's Xbox did fine but didn't really pose a threat. They thought themselves untouchable.

So they came in with a really out-of-touch cocky strategy for PS3. A super expensive price for the time, with an elitist attitude around it. Sony's president even saying people should work extra hours to afford the PS3. They made its infrastructure hard to develop for. And they didn't bother to come in with must-have 1st party exclusive games. They just assumed people would get a PS3 no matter what.

Microsoft swooped in at the perfect time with the 360 and a very pro-consumer strategy. Friendly price, friendly features and great exclusives like Gears of War. Took a HUGE chunk of Sony's market. Almost half of it.

Then they corrected course and did a complete 180⁰ with the PS4. It was basically the true successor to the PS2 strategy. Very pro-consumer, very pro-developer. They bounced back. In part also because Microsoft got cocky too and made some of the same mistakes, completely fumbling the Xbox One launch.

Now we're here. PlayStation is at the top again. Microsoft haven't been able to recover since the "X bone" days. And Sony is slipping back into thinking they're untouchable. People are getting pissed.

Enter Asha Sharma. She has an opportunity to release a friendlier pro-consumer Xbox and make a comeback. I think she sees blood on the water and that's why she's mobilizing the development of Elder Scrolls 6, which she can launch as an exclusive if she wants to do an aggressive push.

Is this not obvious to the people at Sony? You would think they already learned this lesson. What do you guys think?

EDIT: Deleted a short sentence that mentioned once the physical disc controversy, because a lot of people were zeroing in on that, thinking it was the whole point of the post.

The combination of this being GTA's first female protagonist and also their post-RDR2 design direction towards more realism/simulation...has me wondering how the world will react differently when playing as Lucia. These are probably things Rockstar thought about.

For example, will male NPCs actually dare to hit you? Wouldn't it be immersion breaking if men attack you as Lucia in the exact same way they would attack Jason? If you shove a guy, will he try to de-escalate or get away? Or will he punch you? If he does, do other NPCs then attack the guy for hitting a woman?

Maybe if you bump into a guy with Jason, he may get aggressive with you. But with Lucia the same guy wouldn't mind.

We already know she's short. Will NPCs underestimate her more due to her size? Not realizing she's actually a trained fighter. I think carrying bodies has been talked about in leaks, so maybe she can't carry bigger people and has to drag them.

Will you get catcalled while roaming around the streets? I think they probably have that. In Trailer 2 Jason gets catcalled by a lady. Will you get creeps who follow you as Lucia until you deal with them?

I think they have a lot to play with when it comes to these social dynamics. Any other theories? Or do you think they'll stray away from any of this and have the world react the same to both?

Bear with me, I'm just nerding out. 😅

Based on what we've seen in Trailer 1 and 2, I think this may be how the game starts:

It begins with Lucia in prison. This is the tutorial area where we learn the ropes of gameplay in a smaller, more controlled environment. Do missions for other inmates, like prison gang leaders. Learn hand to hand combat, use items like shivs to stab someone, food mechanics in the prison cafeteria, shop mechanics by buying contraband from an inmate's cell, working out in the yard and possibly playing basketball there. Your cell is your safehouse and your cellmate is your buddy. Maybe there's a main prison antagonist, like an inmate that keeps fucking with you or an asshole corrupted prison guard.

Then for the second half of Chapter 1, you're released. Jason picks you up and gameplay switches to him. You finally experience the outside world (like the classic Fallout experience of stepping out after starting the game locked in a vault). You drive her home. Lucia has the ankle monitor, so she's stuck between home and her community service. Explore the new safehouse as Jason and the things you can do there. Learn to use the smartphone. You do simple errands to learn more game mechanics, like buying something at a shop. Go to the gun range and learn shooting mechanics. Learn fishing, drinking and billiards with Cal. And do missions for Brian, the landlord, related to his drug smuggling business.

Eventually Lucia is freed from her ankle monitor and Chapter 2 begins. Maybe they do a time skip to the day her house arrest ends. Now you finally have both characters available and learn the mechanics of switching between them or using both together. You probably go out to celebrate and that's what they show in Trailer 2 of them getting some beers and shots at the local bar.

What do you guys think? Any other ideas of how the beginning may play out?