When Insomniac releases a sequel to this year’s smash hit Spider-Man for PS4, don’t you think Mary Jane should get some journalism gameplay? This week on Kotaku Splitscreen, we discuss.
I’m back from my honeymoon and there’s lots to discuss, starting with our first impressions of the new open-world game Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Then, Kirk and I dive into this week’s news (34:36) on a leaked Harry Potter game, Google’s Project Stream, and much more. Finally, it’s time for a Spider-Man spoilercast (56:27), getting into the strengths and weaknesses of the story, MJ and Peter’s relationship, and what Kirk and I want to see from Spider-Man 2.
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Jason: For the second game, if you can still play as [MJ], they need to think of better gameplay mechanics for her than just sneaking around.
Kirk: That got a little old.
Jason: And so I have an idea. Most of the game you’re playing as Spider-Man... and then you switch to MJ, and she’s in her office at the Daily Bugle. And you have to learn how to write, in reverse pyramid style, a news article, starting with the lede. You have to go in order, go find quotes, go transcribe your interviews, pick the best quotes, figure out how to put them in an article. Then you have to deliver your article to an editor, and then accept your editor’s edits without getting really mad at them, and then you have to incorporate them, and then you have to file by deadline and then you have to do it all again the next day.
Kirk: I can imagine a review for this: “Liked: Same great web-swinging as ever, really improved combat, surprisingly involved journalism simulation.”
Jason: The tagline would be “From web-slinging to web-writing.”
Kirk: Oh god. I’m sure that would sell millions more copies.
Jason: What if in Spider-Man 2, MJ has to deal with the fact that the Daily Bugle is being overcome by blogs.
Kirk: Pivoting to video!
Jason: She has to start a podcast that competes with J. Jonah Jameson.
For much more, listen to the entire episode. As always, you can subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts and Google Play to get every episode as it happens. Leave us a review if you like what you hear, and reach us at splitscreen@kotaku.com with any and all questions, requests, and suggestions.