I am not buying Death Stranding 2 (right now)
Against all odds, I'm going to use Death Stranding 2 to enact some self-control.
For context, I have ADHD and wild impulse control issues around buying stuff (the self-flagellating basis of this blog was born from this fact). Despite the 70 smacker price tag I very much want to buy DS2 immediately, but I have many, many other games to play first and limited disposable income. It's also just a hard fact that I will not play it as soon as I get it. The standard ritual of looking at the box, putting the disc in the console to install/update and then forgetting about it is all but guaranteed.
The response to the game so far has been positive, with the most enticing refrain being that those who didn't connect with the first one are really enjoying the sequel. But I want to resist this as a rationale to buy right now even though it speaks to me. There are many benefits to not buying now - the game will be significantly cheaper by the time I'm able to play it, there'll be patches and updates that improve it, and I'll have the deeper satisfaction of not accumulating more fucking stuff. But man, I really wanna walk around those beautiful mountains and witness what baroque misogyny Kojima has farted out this time.
This is an interesting exercise, and a hard one. I feel pathetic in how tough basic self-control is for me in this regard, but this is also an opportunity to drill down on the external factors that make it so challenging.
I'm learning that word of mouth is the enemy of self-control as far as I'm concerned. By the power of basic media criticism I can fend off game journo hype for the mostly-compromised dross it is. But when real people on a discord share their real and enthusiastic thoughts, it's a direct hit. I'm already eyeing that next day delivery, or rationalising that I can get off my arse and go to Game on my lunch break. These perverse little negotiations we have with ourselves are all a part of it. The seal is broken by the admission I simply want the game and that's okay, my life is hard, I deserve a little treat (in addition to the near constant flow of Little Treats) - the rest is just working out the least embarrassing way to indulge the inevitable.
It goes without saying that word of mouth is the most potent form of promotion and the most effective way for folks to buy your shit early and at full price. This feels particularly intense as far as gaming goes. It speaks to the configuration of gaming being this deeply intertwined monster of industry, journalism and fandom. The boundaries are ill-defined if they even exist in the first place. I wonder if we'll reach a point where shrewd (sinister) PR people monitor social spaces like discords and approach popular, respected individuals to do a lil promo. Have the game early and for free and exclaim your excitement about it, that's all we ask. The self-regulating nature of these spaces will hopefully do the lord's work were this ever to become a thing. I'm going to chalk this up as unlikely paranoia for now.
But anyway - sorry to KojiPro, I shan't be rushing to buy your latest indulgence even if I am extremely compelled to do so. 2025 is the year of functional despair and premo self-control. I've got another ten thousand hours of Metaphor ReFantazio to play before even looking at another game. I may have to exile myself from 95% of the internet I engage with, but I will succeed.