I really effing wanted this, more than any other announced game, and based on recent comments from Bethesda spokespeople ("it's not exclusive") it sounded like a PS5 release was a surefire thing.
It's honestly so disheartening hearing MS pulled the PS5 version. I was.never fussed about Starfield or Redfall, but losing The Elder Scrolls VI was painful and as a big Indiana Jones/Treasure Hunter fan, this cuts extra deep.
Microsoft's portfolio growth route is the most ugly and cynical one in the industry. If you really can't see the difference between what PlayStation are doing with Spiderman and their other exclusives vs this you're either willfully ignorant or misguidedly trying to adopt an middle ground position.
This is predatory and worsening the video games landscape for consumers. Thank God Microsoft are taking a beating from regulators on the Activision Blizzard acquisition. They want total monopoly and they have the money to accomplish it.
We must always remember why they need to resort to these tactics: because they've proven time and time again that they're the one hardware manufacturer incapable of supporting their development teams properly. They have the most studios, yet the least appealing portfolio of games to consumers. The culture at Microsoft is known to be rotten, and their blitzkrieg of the industry should be stopped at all costs.
Great month for Extra and I'm looking forward to getting sunk into Killzone Liberation too. It always felt like a game that, were it on a platform with two analogue sticks, ought to have twin stick controls, so I'll be curious to see how I find it with just one stick.
While I'm excited for Killzone Liberation, Premium continues to have dreadful offerings and Sony should be ashamed. Even if no third party publisher agreed to put their games on the service, Sony would still have hundreds of their own games they could port to service if they were at all interested in fulfilling their promises to their subscriber base.
I sort of wish this wasn't announced so in advance as August feels ages away. Still, should be good. They own so many great IPs now. Fingers crossed for Timesplitters.
Bobby Kotick is a disgusting specimen of human flesh who oversaw and engaged in egregious abuse towards employees at Activision. He is not allowed to be disappointed in anyone's behaviour.
@GymratAmarillo Ohhh, that makes senses and it is great news. Sony cares even if just a little bit. I couldn't for the life of me get my head around it reading the article, I was thinking "aren't any ps classic games that get trophies doing so retroactively, considering they came out on platforms without trophies."
I don't understand this article. Syphon Filter, Ape Escape and Pinball Heroes all had trophies? Why is this new? Why did we eve think this was impossible? Sony said before Premium even launched that some games would have trophy support.
Wooo I love these. Overall I played much less than last year, which isn't surprising given how busy 2022 was. Death Stranding was my most played, up from 2nd place last year. Surprised I put so much time into Vice City, but I was going for that platinum so it must have clocked up. Deathloop and Ratchet were great fun, and BF1 is my go to online game for playing with mates (though I rarely play multiplayer).
@Shepherd_Tallon The majority of the market are people who want to play Fortnite, Call of Duty, Fifa and the occasional first party blockbuster that breaks into the zeitgeist. They are largely unaware of the micro-factors affecting the Playstation ecosystem and are uninterested in issues the hardcore base raise, such as diversity of experience in the first party catalogue or closures of studios due to a failure to meet lofty financial targets. The PlayStation brand is sturdy and built on the shoulders of a near-three decade long, largely successful run.
The more hardcore audience such as Push Square readers represent a minority in the market and are overwhelmingly more likely to have already picked up their consoles, so their grievances will have little to no effect (at least in the short term) on sales for the platform.
If you're enjoyment of your experience with PlayStation is dictated by their sales success, you have no reason to worry. If you are, however, an enthusiast gamer with a vested interest in a healthy gaming community and marketplace and your values and desired experiences are being threatened by increasingly profit-driven market moves, I can understand why you might have criticisms to voice - and a gaming news website for enthusiasts is probably a good place to do it.
Massive step up for those who are on essential tier and I'm personally delighted to be getting Crash, but for anyone on a higher one this is a bit of a slap in the face. Sony really need to step up their game as this just feels disrespectful to their highest paying customers.
@dark_knightmare2 I really don't feel like I'm downplaying the Retro list. How many games have they added? From what I can tell most of them were part of PS Now already.
You're right that there are more new high profile additions than I mentioned (Guardians is a great one), but I was only listing examples. The thing is these games still aren't particularly new and they're competing with day 1 launches. I don't mind if Sony want to skip that, but they have to go all in on every other aspect, and so far it doesn't seem like they're doing that. (I will say the one exception I've seen - Stray - is a doozy!)
I do think it's unacceptable that the highest tier is launching with so few classic games, though the mid tier seems to be a better value proposition.
I've been a Playstation player all my life and want them to succeed (I pre-emptively subscribed to the highest tier of plus for the next three years), but I don't think this is how you launch a new brand if you're trying to avoid obscurity and correct the mistakes of PS Now. They easily had the power to do more and give themselves a fighting chance, so it's frustrating that they dropped the ball in so many places.
@dark_knightmare2 Aside from a few high profile additions like AC Ragnarok, Demons Souls and Returnal, the selection is basically just a cut down PS Now catalogue (at twice the price), and the highest tier classic games total about 10 games. This isn't going to make a dent in Gamepass (yes, they are competing), and it's likley to piss off the most faithful Playstation gamers who opted for the highest tier only to get shafted out the gate.
This smells like a load of farts in the wind to me, and I've always been critical of the presumption it would get delayed into '23.
It's as if the gaming community had an over-correction at some point from being too optimistic for early releases and not appreciating the work needed, to suddenly mass predicting that all non-anual games would get a delay because that's what we became used to .
Let's look at this practically. It was originally announced for 2021, and while that may have been a bit unrealistic/marketingy to begin with, it must have had some foundation in reality.
-Last year we also saw gameplay - lots of it, that was no vertical slice. It's safe to say the game had been largely put together at that point.
-Unlike GOW 2018, the foundations for this game were in place. The engine was already built, as we're a large proportion of assets. Basic design decisions were done, the script likely already had a good structure. Essentially there is far less workload and production time needed for this game.
-Artists on the project have long said the game is playable, and Santa Monica were early this year very heavy handed in their affirmations that the game would release this year.
-Voice actors playing major roles on the project have stated their work is finished on the project which means that all those final call-backs for additional dialogue often done very soon before release have concluded.
I think the game is clearly in some sort of near-finished state. The only possible reason I can imagine for a delay to next year would be something catastrophic (I can't say what) or a need to redesign something fundamental due to something like overwhelming negative play-tester feedback, which honestly I doubt knowing the caliber of talent at Santa Monica and the fact that likely 90% of the game mechanics are returning from God of War, and already critic and consumer approved.
It's of-course possible and I could have egg on my face, but it just seems more likely that these "rumours" are the last anxious twitches from the fans and press before the fears are hopefully soon put to bed, likely in a release-dated showcase or trailer coming sooner than people think.
@AdamNovice Even without taking inflation into account, your numbers are off. The three films combined made around $710 million. Uncharted's numbers are still great of-course.
I actually gave this a shot last year and I had a really good time. I wanted to grind up to level 50 for the trophies but it flew by, and I never felt like I was really grinding. That being said, I did stop in the mid fifties and I can understand people who played for longer being frustrated with the lack of new meaningful content.
One of the dumbest moves Sony made was closing Evolution. There's easily room for more than one racing franchise in the first party line-up. Still, glad to see the team is getting to work on so many hit franchises. They did excellent work on Onrush and Dirt 5.
I think they've missed the mark in understanding what people loved about Black Flag. I want to be wrapped up in a pirate yarn, playing as a character with agency, not just some mute avatar. I want to be able to jump off my ship and swim to nearby islands, walk around towns at night and get into brawls in local taverns, not just designated safe hubs. Not for me.
@nessisonett But the technological and quality of life jumps were far bigger then than now, it's apples to oranges. A 2022 game is far more similar in design to a 2012 game than a 2002 game is to a '96 game. Also, all of the major issues that needed to be addressed like frame rate and resolution were fixed in the 2014 PS4 release, which itself runs perfectly on the PS5.
Hey everyone, this didn't work for me but just tried it through a link on hotukdeals.com and it just worked (and i did it by buying a discounted £50 digital card from shopto for only £45. So worked as of 09:40 BST
@kyleforrester87 Well Polyphony kind of circumvented the negative press by postponing these economy changes until after the metacritic scores and initial sales had come in (this looks totally pre-meditated in my book), so I see these scores as something of an equaliser, at least a way for those consumers who already bought the game to get their voices heard. Dirty tactics on dirty tactics.
Metacritic user scores are still a terrible way to decide if you want to buy a game though.
@rpg2000 If there's a problem, it's more likely the unchallenged impulse to call people 'whiny' for having another opinion. Do you really not see the irony here?
I remember having my mind blown when I first played Ps Vita games like Uncharted Golden Abyss, Killzone Mercenary and Gravity Rush and realised how great gyro-aiming was.
I was then so disappointed when Uncharted 4 didn't have it. Of all the improvements, it would have been no.1 for me on the PS5 collection. Hopefully Playstation see a positive reaction to this and studios start patching it in.
@Apfelschteiner They already have several studios in Japan, but if you're becrying the closure/restructuring of the game dev Japan Studio, I share the sentiment.
Comments 355
Re: Best Dreams Games to Play While It's on PS Plus
@nessisonett I double second this. And the sequel!
Re: Indiana Jones Game Deal Amended to Exclude PS5, PS4
I really effing wanted this, more than any other announced game, and based on recent comments from Bethesda spokespeople ("it's not exclusive") it sounded like a PS5 release was a surefire thing.
It's honestly so disheartening hearing MS pulled the PS5 version. I was.never fussed about Starfield or Redfall, but losing The Elder Scrolls VI was painful and as a big Indiana Jones/Treasure Hunter fan, this cuts extra deep.
Microsoft's portfolio growth route is the most ugly and cynical one in the industry. If you really can't see the difference between what PlayStation are doing with Spiderman and their other exclusives vs this you're either willfully ignorant or misguidedly trying to adopt an middle ground position.
This is predatory and worsening the video games landscape for consumers. Thank God Microsoft are taking a beating from regulators on the Activision Blizzard acquisition. They want total monopoly and they have the money to accomplish it.
We must always remember why they need to resort to these tactics: because they've proven time and time again that they're the one hardware manufacturer incapable of supporting their development teams properly. They have the most studios, yet the least appealing portfolio of games to consumers. The culture at Microsoft is known to be rotten, and their blitzkrieg of the industry should be stopped at all costs.
Re: Another 27 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games Available to Download Now
Great month for Extra and I'm looking forward to getting sunk into Killzone Liberation too. It always felt like a game that, were it on a platform with two analogue sticks, ought to have twin stick controls, so I'll be curious to see how I find it with just one stick.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for June 2023?
While I'm excited for Killzone Liberation, Premium continues to have dreadful offerings and Sony should be ashamed. Even if no third party publisher agreed to put their games on the service, Sony would still have hundreds of their own games they could port to service if they were at all interested in fulfilling their promises to their subscriber base.
Extra is doing great though.
Re: Apparently Some People Hate the New PS5, PS4 Prince of Persia Game
@nessisonett Honestly this reads to me as "But look at this other thing you all hated, you loved it".
I don't know of a single Prince of Persia fan who felt Jake Gyllenhaal was an accurate representation of Prince of Persia.
Re: Guerrilla Collective, Sponsored by PlayStation, Showcases Indie Games in June
Is Guerilla Collective at all associated with Guerilla Games?
Re: THQ Nordic Dates Digital Showcase with 'World Premiere' PS5, PS4 Reveals for 11th August
I sort of wish this wasn't announced so in advance as August feels ages away. Still, should be good. They own so many great IPs now. Fingers crossed for Timesplitters.
Re: Activision Boss Disappointed by Sony, But Commits to Best Games Possible on PS5, PS4
Bobby Kotick is a disgusting specimen of human flesh who oversaw and engaged in egregious abuse towards employees at Activision. He is not allowed to be disappointed in anyone's behaviour.
Re: Indie Bloodborne in the Right Way for 11 Minutes of Lies of P Gameplay
Well that article title gave me a headache.
Re: Meet the PS Studio That Helped Bring God of War Ragnarok to PS5, PS4
@BeerIsAwesome Thanks for the heads up, I do want to try that out and it's lying about in my PS+ library somewhere (probably under 'G').
Re: Once Thought Impossible, PS Classic Super Stardust Portable Just Got Trophy Support
@GymratAmarillo Ohhh, that makes senses and it is great news. Sony cares even if just a little bit. I couldn't for the life of me get my head around it reading the article, I was thinking "aren't any ps classic games that get trophies doing so retroactively, considering they came out on platforms without trophies."
Re: Once Thought Impossible, PS Classic Super Stardust Portable Just Got Trophy Support
I don't understand this article. Syphon Filter, Ape Escape and Pinball Heroes all had trophies? Why is this new? Why did we eve think this was impossible? Sony said before Premium even launched that some games would have trophy support.
Re: Random: The Last of Us' Google Easter Egg Will Grow on You
It sounds cool, but it isn't appearing for me.
P.S. How much are HBO/Sony spending on this marketing? It's insane!
Re: Reminder: Last Chance to See Your PlayStation Wrap-Up for 2022
Wooo I love these. Overall I played much less than last year, which isn't surprising given how busy 2022 was. Death Stranding was my most played, up from 2nd place last year. Surprised I put so much time into Vice City, but I was going for that platinum so it must have clocked up. Deathloop and Ratchet were great fun, and BF1 is my go to online game for playing with mates (though I rarely play multiplayer).
Top Games:
1) Death Stranding Director's Cut (96 Hours)
2) GTA Vice City Definitive Edition (93 Hours)
3) Deathloop (71 Hours)
4) Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (40 Hours)
5) Battlefield 1 (29 Hours)
Re: PS Stars Guide: All Campaigns and Solutions (November 2022)
'November Check In: Play your favourite game on PS4 or PS5!'
Does anyone know how to find out what your 'favourite game' is according to PlayStation?
Re: Poll: Do You Care About 60fps on PS5?
Yeah the poll isn't working
Re: September 2022 NPD: Replenished PS5 Stock Sends Sony's System Soaring
@Shepherd_Tallon The majority of the market are people who want to play Fortnite, Call of Duty, Fifa and the occasional first party blockbuster that breaks into the zeitgeist. They are largely unaware of the micro-factors affecting the Playstation ecosystem and are uninterested in issues the hardcore base raise, such as diversity of experience in the first party catalogue or closures of studios due to a failure to meet lofty financial targets. The PlayStation brand is sturdy and built on the shoulders of a near-three decade long, largely successful run.
The more hardcore audience such as Push Square readers represent a minority in the market and are overwhelmingly more likely to have already picked up their consoles, so their grievances will have little to no effect (at least in the short term) on sales for the platform.
If you're enjoyment of your experience with PlayStation is dictated by their sales success, you have no reason to worry. If you are, however, an enthusiast gamer with a vested interest in a healthy gaming community and marketplace and your values and desired experiences are being threatened by increasingly profit-driven market moves, I can understand why you might have criticisms to voice - and a gaming news website for enthusiasts is probably a good place to do it.
Re: The Last of Us HBO Teaser Watched 13 Million Times, Trends Worldwide
Personally, I don't love the cinematography or costume design. Production values seem very 'Walking Dead' to me, but hey it's early days.
Re: Talking Point: Is a PlayStation Showcase Really Happening This Year?
PlayStation Showcases are not a joke Jim! Millions of gamers suffer every year!
Re: Talking Point: What PS Plus Essential Games for PS5, PS4 Do You Want in August 2022?
@TheCollector316 Stray just came out last week! No way it'll be on PS Plus Essential for at least a year or two.
Re: Killzone Shadow Fall PS4 Servers Will Shut Down, Three Other Games Too
There really not giving us much of a heads up are they? Less than a month?
Re: Pac-Man World Re-Pac Brings the PS1 Platformer Back with PS5, PS4 Remake
Pac-Mandicoot!
Re: Rumour: PS Plus Essential PS5, PS4 Games for July 2022 Leaked Early
Massive step up for those who are on essential tier and I'm personally delighted to be getting Crash, but for anyone on a higher one this is a bit of a slap in the face. Sony really need to step up their game as this just feels disrespectful to their highest paying customers.
Re: PS Plus Collection's Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Won't Upgrade to PS5 for Free
@themightyant Exactly the same situation for me. I'll be digging out my disc copy. Hype!
Re: PS Plus Extra, PS Plus Premium Now Live Across the USA
@dark_knightmare2 I really don't feel like I'm downplaying the Retro list. How many games have they added? From what I can tell most of them were part of PS Now already.
You're right that there are more new high profile additions than I mentioned (Guardians is a great one), but I was only listing examples. The thing is these games still aren't particularly new and they're competing with day 1 launches. I don't mind if Sony want to skip that, but they have to go all in on every other aspect, and so far it doesn't seem like they're doing that. (I will say the one exception I've seen - Stray - is a doozy!)
I do think it's unacceptable that the highest tier is launching with so few classic games, though the mid tier seems to be a better value proposition.
I've been a Playstation player all my life and want them to succeed (I pre-emptively subscribed to the highest tier of plus for the next three years), but I don't think this is how you launch a new brand if you're trying to avoid obscurity and correct the mistakes of PS Now. They easily had the power to do more and give themselves a fighting chance, so it's frustrating that they dropped the ball in so many places.
Re: PS Plus Extra, PS Plus Premium Now Live Across the USA
@daveofduncan This isn't competing with Gamepass five years ago, it's competing with it now.
Re: PS Plus Extra, PS Plus Premium Now Live Across the USA
@dark_knightmare2 Aside from a few high profile additions like AC Ragnarok, Demons Souls and Returnal, the selection is basically just a cut down PS Now catalogue (at twice the price), and the highest tier classic games total about 10 games. This isn't going to make a dent in Gamepass (yes, they are competing), and it's likley to piss off the most faithful Playstation gamers who opted for the highest tier only to get shafted out the gate.
Re: PS Plus Extra, PS Plus Premium Now Live Across the USA
This is dire. I hope Sony get smoked for this, they need to learn a lesson.
Re: Saudia Arabia's Public Investment Fund Purchases a $1 Billion Stake in Embracer Group
The Saudi Arabian government, like, sucks bro
Re: Rumour: God of War Ragnarok Delayed into 2023, Say European Sources
This smells like a load of farts in the wind to me, and I've always been critical of the presumption it would get delayed into '23.
It's as if the gaming community had an over-correction at some point from being too optimistic for early releases and not appreciating the work needed, to suddenly mass predicting that all non-anual games would get a delay because that's what we became used to .
Let's look at this practically. It was originally announced for 2021, and while that may have been a bit unrealistic/marketingy to begin with, it must have had some foundation in reality.
-Last year we also saw gameplay - lots of it, that was no vertical slice. It's safe to say the game had been largely put together at that point.
-Unlike GOW 2018, the foundations for this game were in place. The engine was already built, as we're a large proportion of assets. Basic design decisions were done, the script likely already had a good structure. Essentially there is far less workload and production time needed for this game.
-Artists on the project have long said the game is playable, and Santa Monica were early this year very heavy handed in their affirmations that the game would release this year.
-Voice actors playing major roles on the project have stated their work is finished on the project which means that all those final call-backs for additional dialogue often done very soon before release have concluded.
I think the game is clearly in some sort of near-finished state. The only possible reason I can imagine for a delay to next year would be something catastrophic (I can't say what) or a need to redesign something fundamental due to something like overwhelming negative play-tester feedback, which honestly I doubt knowing the caliber of talent at Santa Monica and the fact that likely 90% of the game mechanics are returning from God of War, and already critic and consumer approved.
It's of-course possible and I could have egg on my face, but it just seems more likely that these "rumours" are the last anxious twitches from the fans and press before the fears are hopefully soon put to bed, likely in a release-dated showcase or trailer coming sooner than people think.
Re: Uncharted Movie Crosses $400 Million Milestone
@AdamNovice Even without taking inflation into account, your numbers are off. The three films combined made around $710 million. Uncharted's numbers are still great of-course.
Re: Red Dead Online Not Abandoned, Take-Two Boss Says He's 'Heard the Frustration'
I actually gave this a shot last year and I had a really good time. I wanted to grind up to level 50 for the trophies but it flew by, and I never felt like I was really grinding. That being said, I did stop in the mid fifties and I can understand people who played for longer being frustrated with the lack of new meaningful content.
Re: Criterion Games and Codemasters Cheshire Merge into One Need for Speed Studio
One of the dumbest moves Sony made was closing Evolution. There's easily room for more than one racing franchise in the first party line-up. Still, glad to see the team is getting to work on so many hit franchises. They did excellent work on Onrush and Dirt 5.
Re: Skull & Bones Finally Resurfaces Thanks to Leaked Gameplay Footage
I think they've missed the mark in understanding what people loved about Black Flag. I want to be wrapped up in a pirate yarn, playing as a character with agency, not just some mute avatar. I want to be able to jump off my ship and swim to nearby islands, walk around towns at night and get into brawls in local taverns, not just designated safe hubs. Not for me.
Re: Unannounced Remake Project Added to Naughty Dog Employee's Resume
@nessisonett But the technological and quality of life jumps were far bigger then than now, it's apples to oranges. A 2022 game is far more similar in design to a 2012 game than a 2002 game is to a '96 game. Also, all of the major issues that needed to be addressed like frame rate and resolution were fixed in the 2014 PS4 release, which itself runs perfectly on the PS5.
Re: PS Plus Extra, Premium Release Dates Shared By Sony
@nessisonett At least we get the best boxart. I'm still haunted by the awful US version of Heavy Rain...
Re: Poll: What's Your PS5, PS4 Game of the Year So Far?
Please add Shadow Warrior 3 so I can vote. It's the only 2022 game I've played (though I have just picked up Horizon FW).
Re: Savvy PS5, PS4 Users Stocking Up on PS Now Subs to Convert into PS Plus Premium
Hey everyone, this didn't work for me but just tried it through a link on hotukdeals.com and it just worked (and i did it by buying a discounted £50 digital card from shopto for only £45. So worked as of 09:40 BST
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/playstation-now-12-months-using-shopto-method-3914923
Re: SpongeBob Remaster Already Free to Download Through PS Plus
Whoooooooooo...
Re: Battle Royale Craves Flesh in Bloodhunt, Out on PS5 Next Month
@PhhhCough Absolutely!
Re: PS5's PS Plus Collection Not Going Anywhere
This is a good move!
Re: Xbox Game Pass Inspired PS Plus Reboot Reveal Rumoured with Splashy Lineup of Games
@OmegaStriver And that's exactly why it's not free.
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Gran Turismo 7?
@kyleforrester87 Well Polyphony kind of circumvented the negative press by postponing these economy changes until after the metacritic scores and initial sales had come in (this looks totally pre-meditated in my book), so I see these scores as something of an equaliser, at least a way for those consumers who already bought the game to get their voices heard. Dirty tactics on dirty tactics.
Metacritic user scores are still a terrible way to decide if you want to buy a game though.
Re: Test Your PlayStation General Knowledge - Issue 3
Oooh this one was tough. 11/15 (with a couple of good guesses).
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Reaction GIFs Are Just the Best
@rpg2000 If there's a problem, it's more likely the unchallenged impulse to call people 'whiny' for having another opinion. Do you really not see the irony here?
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Has Gyro Aiming, Many Accessibility Options
I remember having my mind blown when I first played Ps Vita games like Uncharted Golden Abyss, Killzone Mercenary and Gravity Rush and realised how great gyro-aiming was.
I was then so disappointed when Uncharted 4 didn't have it. Of all the improvements, it would have been no.1 for me on the PS5 collection. Hopefully Playstation see a positive reaction to this and studios start patching it in.
Re: Souls-Like Sequel Salt and Sacrifice Dated for 10th May on PS5, PS4
The name breaks something in my brain because it sounds so much like 'Soul Sacrifice'.
Re: That Solid Looking Zorro Game Is Slashing to PS5, PS4 in June
Have you ever heard a score trying so hard to sound like the Pirates of the Caribbean theme without breaching copyright law?
Re: Sony to Open Bumper New Office in Liverpool, UK
@Apfelschteiner They already have several studios in Japan, but if you're becrying the closure/restructuring of the game dev Japan Studio, I share the sentiment.
Re: State of Play Announced, Featuring 30 Minutes of Gran Turismo 7 PS5 Gameplay
@Max_the_German Isn't CET just GMT+1?