Topic: PlayStation 5 --OT--

@LN78 @Th3solution. Just won't launch any games at all and where it tells you your online status is blacked out.

Not having a lot of luck with stuff recently. Car in the garage and PS5 now playing up 😞

@MightyDemon82 Have you tried logging into the store? There's a terms of service update that you have to approve. Then you can log back into PSN.

@LN78 I did that at the beginning of the latest update. No access to PS store or online. It says I'm connected but then it fails.

Well, I've just posted my PS5 back to Sony . Nothing wrong with it per se, but £480 for a PS4 Pro Plus with a catastrophic UI was a bit too much to bear.

I can't believe someone at Sony didn't go and boot up a PS4 and say "just add more stuff to this, it works really well". Friends list hidden away, having to press PS button, then options on the game icon to close the application, no folders and themes - GAH!
And while some of the updates were nice enough, games like F1 2021 runs no better on the 5 than the Pro, apart from the DualSense making some weird 'ponk'ing noises that the PS4 version doesn't suffer with.

PS4 Pro with 1TB internal Crucial MX500 SSD is still working fine so I'm definitely going to wait to see what the redesigned version looks like this year before I dip my toe back in.

@MightyDemon82 Ah damn. Thought I might have cracked it, there. Sorry mate.😔.

@LN78 Thanks for trying though. Might have to get it repaired or just buy a new one when I can afford it!

@MightyDemon82 have you tried connecting using an ethernet cable rather than WiFi, at least to see if you can get online that way?

@NEStalgia Ok, I didn't know that for sure since you only ever mentioned your Xbox One X. Nice that you got lucky enough to still be able to get your Series X replaced.

Discipline is not always my strongest suit, but I will do my best... I hope. If I do stick to this format, then the timed exclusivity should be ok as Xbox tends to have really short timed windows that make me question the purpose, unlike the year or two Sony usually does.

I guess as long as it keeps working and is only an annoyance, then you're ok, but that's really weird that it does it even though you've never even used the drive. I get not wanting to disconnect your external drive, but you could always do it once just to test things out and then just plug in back in afterwards. Obviously with having so many games on it, you'd still have to use it, but at least you'd know if that was the cause and possibly replace it at some point.

@KilloWertz Yeah I actually had a weird almost revelation that probably isn't, with the beeping. Yesterday it beeped once. But I happened to notice that when I shake the audio rack next to it, I would get a lot of beeping. Then when I stop it stopped. I did it a bunch of times, shake the rack, it beeps a number of times. Stop shaking it, the beeping stops. But then after several times of that pattern it wasn't beeping with or without shaking it, so that may have been just a really weird coincidence. And the rack it's also not touching the PS5 in any way, which is on the floor located in front of the rack, and it makes no sense that the two should be related at all. I thought maybe it's not the PS5 that's beeping at all but something else....but, nothing else makes the same beeps PS's do, and it doesn't happen when the PS5 is running. This thing will drive me completely batty eventually!

FWIW, I'd forgotten, but I think the PS4 Pro did the beeping even when it WAS running, so this is actually a little different than that. It's the weirdest thing. I swear I find there's some device I didn't even remember I had buried somewhere behind the audio rack that coincidentally has the same beeps a PS has and for 5 years I've been thinking the PSs beep lol. I'll probably try the drive disconnection at some point, as a last resort but it has to be when it's beeping consistently enough to check cause and effect....and it seems like it wants to be elusive.

I think XB exclusivity and PS have different purposes. For XB I think they're mostly trying to use the temporary exclusivity for GP launching games to give GP subscriptions a big lure and inject new subscribers. It only needs to be short term to do that. For PS's exclusivity. Honestly their angle is kinda slimy and goes with the kind of sleazy business tactics Jimbo and crew use that makes me really dislike them. They're using their total market dominance to be able to pay relatively low prices to buy out potential sales on competitors products for what they see as key titles so that they can pretty much lock down entire genres for a pittance. Like FF, by paying the relatively small fee to buy out whatever lost sales not being on XB will miss, they can pretty much lock down the entire JRPG market as their own by taking a tentpole nobody in the market for the genre would want to miss. If you're Square-Enix, you know you're going to move less units on XB than on PS, so there's not a huge loss skipping XB, and skipping the development costs on that port if PS is willing to pay the lost sales and then some, which PS can only do because they're already most of the market so buying the competitor's volume is peanuts, which then ensures that the competitor's potential volume remains peanuts. It comes back to the whole MS-ABK thing. On one hand I hate all the consolidation around. And I hate "big tech" as much as anyone. On the other hand, Sony really needs a kick in the teeth because they play as dirty as they come and they do it through abusing their near-monopoly on the console market, such that everything they've accused MS would gain the ability to do in all their legal dealing is hypocritically things they already do themselves, and their whole complaint is that they fear losing their pseudo-monopoly and not being able to do it anymore. PS runs as dirty as Nintendo was in the 80s.....and Nintendo needed Sony to use their wallet to bribe up the industry to kick them into place. Sony needs the moneybags to kick them now....but then I'd worry that there's no one left to kick MS when it's their turn (again).....

@MatthewJP @LN78. The gaming god's must be smiling on me as it's back to it's old self, as if nothing was wrong 😃. I think it was related to that terms of agreement, because I had to sign in after successfully connecting to the WiFi and ok another thing about passwords at checkout. Very strange, but chuffed it's not dead!

@MightyDemon82 That's good to know, mate - happy days.

@NEStalgia The room you use for gaming must be haunted or something. Maybe it already has driven you completely batty and you just don't realize it yet.

Yeah, it is extremely weird that it randomly keeps thinking you are ejecting a disc when you have never even used the drive before.

Both companies use tactics that are slimy and such. Microsoft is trying to buy huge studios to fix their exclusives problem because they severely mismanaged things for many years and were left with little in the way of exclusives. Sure, the timed exclusives are underhanded, but so is buying ZeniMax and Activision/Blizzard. It is the way of the industry now though, so we just have to live with it. If I want to play a new Bethesda game, and obviously I want to, I have to own a Series X. Sony is too complacent though, especially given some of the things they've done this generation. If there was something wrong with the UI on the PS4, I have confidence they would fix it in due time most of the time. Now on the PS5, there's stuff wrong with it that has been there since launch. The lack of communication, with almost everything being a secret is also annoying.

@KilloWertz whispers I see dead consoles.... No beeps today, though I didn't turn it on today...

I actually put the order in for the vr2. Hopefully I don't end up regretting that, but I did. Also ordered Moss 1 and 2 while it's on sale digitally.... And sanity has taken leave of me and I actually ordered the Edge controller too...... A moment of expensive weakness because I love my xb elite 2, it also contributed to be making that my main 3rd party machine, and though edge is more expensive and looks like less of an upgrade, I used to live my wired razer raiju for PS4. Lack of metal parts is disappointing though... I'm in the middle of finishing up hzd still and decided to put that on hold for the new controller next week. I dare anyone to call me a ps hater. I've bought my right to complain! 😂

I think I draw the line of sleaze where what Microsoft does is heavy handed but it's at least out in the light of day and everyone is free to hate or love them for it. What Sony does is cloak and dagger cover of night secret handshake sort of stuff most customers that don't hang out places like this never are even aware of. Can't do anything about brute force but being manipulated doesn't sit right...

At some point around the time Ryan and Ken Yoshida (not to be confused with Shu) took over, PlayStation ping pongs back and forth between thinking they're Sony Pictures and thinking they're Nintendo. They don't seem the remember they're PlayStation at all. as I pay 200 for a pro controller with no metal and a half set of paddles... 😕

@NEStalgia I see what you did there.

The VR2 should be a great VR headset. It's just a matter of them supporting it with games better than they did the first one. The tech itself is fantastic. It's obviously your business, but there's no way I'd pay for the Edge controller given that it seems like a mild upgrade with a slightly worse battery life. If it had a much better battery in it, kind of like what Microsoft gives you with the Elite controller, then I would have considered it. The price would have likely driven me off, but I would have at least thought about it. I hope it ends up being worthwhile for you though.

I would rather have to wait a year or so for a game than not be able to play it on my console of choice simply because one company ran things incompetently and had to do this in order to have exclusives. Them buying Obsidian and Ninja Theory were both brilliant moves, but then they went too far imo. Not looking to argue about it, so we'll just agree to disagree there as obviously neither company is good regardless. It's not like a believe PlayStation is a good company either. They are almost like they were in the first half of the PS3's lifespan, but they have the luxury of still being really successful regardless this time around. I do miss the Sony of the second half of the PS3 generation, and despite my reservations, I do hope Microsoft finally starts delivery this year regardless of how they got the exclusives.

@KilloWertz Yeah, I went back and forth on the Edge. The thing is I have the rubber coming off one of my DS5 sticks as-is, so I still need to spend at least $70 and put it off to fix that. And with the "joycon drift" hitting a lot of DS5's hard (so far not mine), I figure I'll probably end up not really paying that much more in the end to get an "upgrade" but I agree with you. It seems like while Elite goes for total premium experience, Edge is just a DS 5 with an improved plastic mold and some baubles added (for more money.) and I'm definitely not thrilled about the battery. I kinda can't believe Sony messed up on a $200 controller that badly. They've been toying with the premium controller thing since Layden's time, and that's what we got. I almost got the Scuf Layden was peddling at that last infamous E3 but decided I wasn't using the PS4 enough to justify it. PS5 is still exclusives only but it's getting more time than my PS4 was at the end (VR excluded.) Still better than a Scuf in some ways.

I saw a youtube video with an interview of the designer of the Edge saying how they created it after talking to eSports players who liked the DS5 and weren't happy with their other brand pro controller (Scuf or Razer I assume), and I just had to laugh......a modded DS5 was their answer a decade late and at the same price point

I don't expect it'll supplant Elite v2 as my favorite controller by a long shot, though ironically I may have it longer, since Elite v2 has a famously high stick drift rate as well (again so far not mine) while this has the replaceable sticks, so it may be the worse controller that lives long enough to justify the price better in some ways. Though it's $50 more.... and the battery will kill it before the sticks do. Terrible design. But I don't dislike the stock DS5 (first Sony controller ever I don't absolutely hate and actually kind of like) so a few upgrades can't hurt. $200 though for what it is is just....ugh.

I'm basically banking on needing a $70 DS5 to fix the rubber and assuming I'd need at least one more due to drift or more rubber failure, so at $140 vs $200 the upgrades seem more justifiable (-20 for replacement stick). It's what I tell myself anyway

I wouldn't mind 1 year timed exclusives if it really was 1 year timed exclusives. That wouldn't be shady, just a stated business deal. But more we keep seeing this nebulous thing that they talk about "1 year" but quietly they mean "we can renew indefinitely if we chose to and we'll never tell anyone the situation." It's the secrecy and lack of transparency that's troubling. Do the year. That's fair. Then it's done. No more secret extensions that nobody knows about. No more paid special content to make games worth less on competing platforms. Especially whenever Square is involved. Whatever their cozy setup with Square is, I'm picturing Goro Majima as their go between on the deals. Everything is always sketchy. That and the buying of exclusive content in games to make them "best on PS games." Why they do it works, you go look at reddit and you see "should I buy xb or PS" and so many people advising that a lot of big games have additional content on PS so it's definitely better. That kind of dirty competition, bribing sweetened pots, only possible BECAUSE they're a near monopoly for now, just doesn't sit well.

I don't trust any of these companies as far as I can throw them, and I agree ABK in particular is a bridge too far (though I have mixed feelings because ABK has been dead as far as anything but CoD is concerned for a decade and has been circling the drain, and only about 5 companies are big enough to buy them anyway...and most of what they have left that's good is PC-exclusive, so it actually is a natural fit...) I'm fairly torn on a lot involved there. TBH I think the CONCEPT of the buyout is worse than the reality of a well meshing company that was dying despite big profits mostly from mobile. Yet I also can't stand all the mergers, and I'll scream bloody murder if Sony revenge buys Square (though I really don't think they will.)

But the one thing I've been hoping no matter what way that deal goes down is that it forces Sony's own dirty dealings into the light of day and draws scrutiny because their content lockdowns have been just on the wrong side of legit for a long time. They got ugly mid-PS4 when they got dominant, and most of their spending hasn't been on making customer's experience better, it's been on making competitor's customers experience worse. So ugly. Classic Sony though. The fact that their top complaint on CoD, in Jim's own slightly paraphrased words are "This would enable them to do with CoD exactly what we've been doing with CoD for 10 years and that's not faaaaaairrrr!" (really, the paraphrasing is minor there because he nearly really did say that verbatim... ) is everything wrong with them right now.

They were OBNOXIOUS during the early PS3, but I have to say, I honestly thought they were more honest then. That was Kutaragi, and the thing was an outrageously priced pariah, but it really was loaded to the gills with tech. It was hubris, but it was honest hubris he believed in. Jim's PS is just nickel and diming their own customers and using that boon to kneecap competitors then boasting of success while pretending they're a bit player.

Despite big companies being big companies and therefore naturally evil, it amazes me how much the PEOPLE at the time really determine who the company is. First half PS4 PS had Kaz, Shu, Shaun, Jack.....those guys actually cared about the brand and the product and it showed. You felt like a valued customer with them. Iwata's Nintendo was like Willy Wonka's candy factory. Sure they gouged but you felt like the folks at the top just wanted you to have a good time and put everything into it. Matrick's XB....I mean he didn't even pretend he liked us, he openly told us he hated us and thought we were stupid with only slightly softened words. And it showed.

Now today, XB's Phil is kind of the new Iwata. The company sucks, but you can tell he just cares about the experience, and I don't think they'll shaft customers while it's in his hands. What happens after him and a standard suit goes into the chair though worries me. Nintendo's Furukawa.....it makes Nintendo feel like walking into an old school bank. You're not a person, you're a client, and as long as you make your deposit, bow, and walk out, there will be no trouble, though you will see nothing but scowls on the teller's faces. And Jim/Ken Yoshida's PlayStation feels like a mob front. The roulette table is top notch and the bar is quality, you'll have a fun visit, but it'll cost you, and you definitely do not want to see the "business" facilities in the basement that make it run....

@Kidfried People really imprint on recognizable, likable figures. It's funny: in terms of sales, popularity, and density of acclaimed releases, Nintendo and Sony are, if not at their peaks, at least not far off, despite being run by the world's most generic looking Japanese dude and an Englishman who looks like a bit of a goofy goober, respectively. They actively subtract the amount of total charisma in any social space they enter. Yet Microsoft has been flailing for years under Uncle Phil, whose charming demeanor seems to be the one thing propping up the Xbox's public image as a brand at this point.

Of course, it's the same with anything. Yuji Naka's name was the only reason anyone cared about Balan Wonderworld when it was announced. How many movies have used the name of a famous celebrity or musician as a gimmick to get eyes on a new TV show or movie? Celebrity is a powerful force.

Quite impressive how phoned-in the Persona 3 ‘remaster’ is. They outsourced it to a dev which basically ran it through Waifu2x and called it a day.

@nessisonett At least they're not charging $50 for it like the SMT Nocturne remaster.

@NEStalgia Ok, after reading half of it, taking a nap, and then reading the rest of it.... I am ready to respond.

It does make some sense when factoring in you having to buy a replacement controller anyways. Hopefully you don't experience stick drift with it if you decide to go through with it. As for the DualSense itself, it probably doesn't hurt that they made the design of the controller similar to the Xbox as far as form factor goes, which I thought was a plus. Unlike some people, I don't find it too big at all. Honestly I thought their previous controllers were all small.

True, and a perfect example is Final Fantasy VII Remake. It was only supposed to be exclusive for a year, but then that time ended and Square Enix handed it over to the PC. Their exclusivity window for both formats is long expired, but for some reason it will never appear on an Xbox console (0% chance now since it's now been almost 3 years since it released on the PS4.

For me, Nintendo's greed has been a turn-off after getting the Switch earlier last year. It's absurd that you still have to pay full price the vast majority of the time on titles that released digitally all the way back at launch in 2017. That's by far my biggest problem with Nintendo after buying that Switch.

@KilloWertz LOL! With controllers, I'm amazed that these companies don't make small and large or something. It seems like you're either in the camp that thinks the XB controllers are egronomic perfection, and DS5 being more like XB is the biggest improvement they could make to their cramped old controllers, and the other camp thinks DS3 was the best controller ever made and anything you can't palm is too huge. For me? Yeah, the XB controllers feel just right, and every prior PS controller was small, cramped, and cheap, so DS5...I still like XB's ergonomics more, but it's the next best thing. DS4 I "hated less" than DS3. DS3 is the single worst video game controller I've ever held. I think I'd put the no-name generic pads above it. PS3 is possibly my favorite PS but that controller.....it was soooo bad....

My theory for FF7R is that it became "generational exclusive" meaning it may appear on Series Z but not X or something. Though that's still sketchy because if Sony had actual exclusivity they would be marketing that exclusivity, so I don't know how much of that is Square alone being extortionate and trying to shake down MS for GP money or how much is some really sleazy (as in legally questionable) stuff between them and Sony that can't be public. But yeah, that's the kind of stuff that has to go and makes me really uneasy about the companies. If you bought it you bought it, good for you, but if there's a handshake in a smoke filled room to wash each other's backs by knifing the competition.....that's as dirty as it gets. And it's the kind of stuff that exists not to benefit their own customers but only to hurt their competitor's customers. It's like mob dealings.

Speaking of the mob. Nintendo! Nintendo's greed's been turning me off since the 80's but Stockholm syndrome runs deep and here I still am... A friend of mine back in the 00's had done a cost chart comparing the Wii and all the required attachments accessories and a game to get a complete system, vs the "six hundred ninety nine US dollars" nightmare PS3, and the numbers actually came out that TCO on PS3 Phat was cheaper than Wii! That's Nintendo in a nutshell. Of course Hiroshi "Totally Not A Yakuza, Honest!" Yamauchi was still running the show from behind the shadows back then, so they've slightly softened in their old age. Only slightly. Mario gets a $5 sale now and then....