Comments 58

Re: Talking Point: Would You Want a Steam Deck-Like Portable PlayStation?

ChimpMasta

Personally I don't see that it makes any sense for the majority of people.

My Portal would always wipe the floor with a SteamDeck-esque handheld.

You can't fit a PS5 into that form factor. Power, heat, no, just no.

Most people play portables in their own home, sat on the sofa whilst their partner watches the TV, or in bed.

Better to release a Portal Pro with a HDR OLED, possibly with higher res or higher refresh.

Re: Australia's Planned Social Media Ban Won't Include PSN After All

ChimpMasta

Nothing to do with protecting children, and 100% to do with ID’ing adults.

If it were about protecting children, it would include games as certain games seem to be riddled with creeps.

Suspicious that it seems to be limited to places where adults share information and ideas that Governments would prefer they didn’t.

Noting Zuckerberg’s admission and regrets that they censored true but inconvenient information on behalf of the US Govt a few years back, and given how we’ve seen the UK Govt behave.

Re: The Last of Us 2 PS5 Pro Is Yet Another Version of a Great Game

ChimpMasta

That has to be the most pretentious load of twaddle I’ve heard in a long time.

FWIW, when I bought my PS5 at launch, my excitement was for a Days Gone 2 which sadly we now won’t get.

Whereas I refused to buy TLoU2 at launch, waited for it to be £25 in a sale, and a couple of years later I’m still only half way through and can’t be bothered to play it.

They definitely started to believe their own hype.

Re: Hands On: PS Plus Cloud Streaming Is a Game Changer for PS Portal

ChimpMasta

Just tested it.

The Cloud streaming was indistinguishable from the Console streaming. Image quality and latency had no perceptible difference.

Couldn't tell that either weren't native. Plays great all around the house unless I position myself with the immersion heater water tank between me and line of sight with the modem!

I'm not using my ISP's router of course. I bought an aftermarket model and turned the ISP router into "modem mode".

Not even close to top of the range and I'm not running a mesh setup.

Just a £100 router with four aerials on it. I suppose I could use a mesh to avoid the dead spot.

Edit: got to wonder if the update or the PS5 Pro improved the quality of console streaming, as it seems even lower latency than when I last used a couple of months back. Previously it was like not having your TV in game mode, now both cloud and console streaming are like playing on a mid-range TV in game mode.

Very very slightly slower than my QD OLED TV that has about the lowest latency you can get.

Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard's European Launch Sales Fall Short of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

ChimpMasta

@riceNpea yes. I wanted TLoU 2, not Ride to Hell Retribution 2, i.e. a lame revenge story that lacks all the components of TLoU 1 that raised it above its painfully average 3rd person shooter combat.

Same with DA:V - I wanted a gritty western RPG, not a game with Saturday morning cartoon dialogue aimed at 12 year old girls.

I have zero time for the those claiming the games are being attacked for culture war reasons. They are the ones turning it into a culture war issue, I’m merely pointing to objectively demonstrated design changes from previous titles.

Subjectively one can like or dislike those changes, but the fact they exist is objectively undeniable. Disliking those changes is not a culture war stance.

Re: Silent Hill 2 PS5 Pro Issues Are Being Worked on, Dev Confirms

ChimpMasta

@DonJorginho granted we all know about the flickering, but what did the patch attempt to do? Higher resolution, frame rate, better RT?

Must admit I’d not heard that as I’ve been busy so not seen all of DF’s videos from start to finish, and as I installed it from fresh on my Pro, I wouldn’t have seen a patch download.

Re: All The Game Awards 2024 Nominees Revealed, Astro Bot Up for 7 Awards

ChimpMasta

I agree with the definition of “can I buy the game and run it, or do I require another game in order to use it”.

Can you start with a blank PS5, with zero games in your library, buy Erdtree and play it?

If the answer is no, then it’s not a game and shouldn’t be eligible.

At that point you might as well start giving GOTY awards to cosmetics or maps.

Re: Disgruntled PS5 Pro Owners Campaign to Disable Support After Slew of Shoddy Patches

ChimpMasta

Why did we feel the need to buy our Pro's?

Partly a desire to see even higher fidelity in good games from competent developers, e.g. Forbidden West. Especially those of us who invested in large high quality TV's.

But perhaps the most significant reason, was because of grossly incompetent clown developers who couldn't get Tetris running at 30fps on an RTX5090 if they tried. We've had two years of catastrophically bad releases that don't run properly, and felt the need to brute force it.

It's hardly surprising many of those clown developers completely botched the PS5 Pro patches, when they couldn't even produce barely functioning versions of their games on the lead platform (original PS5).

Re: Konami Quiet as PS5 Pro Players Report Issues with Silent Hill 2

ChimpMasta

@gollumb82 nothing wrong with upscaling per se. Been using DLSS on PC for years and it’s fantastic if bumping the resolution up by one standard.

E.g. 1080 to 1440, or 1440 to 4k. It’s absolutely legit.

Same with frame gen boosting fps when you go from 60 to 100.

The problem is that it gets abused by incompetent developers, whose shoddy output runs at 700p 20fps and they try to abuse the tech for something that was never intended.

Re: Dressing Eve as 2B Won't Be Free in Stellar Blade's PS5 DLC

ChimpMasta

Smart business move. Can’t knock them for that. As distasteful as I may personally feel it is, that’s exactly what I’d have done if I were them!

I’ve not bought the game yet and the Pro upgrades look good.

Simple solution for me is to wait for the game to come down in price such that I can buy 2B and still save money.

Re: The Game Awards Confirms DLC, Remasters Can Win Game of the Year Days Prior to Nominations Reveal

ChimpMasta

Remasters are fine when it's like SH2 or RE2 where they were essentially new games.

Grey area in the middle ground would be RE4.

Whereas something like the Tomb Raider remasters should absolutely not be eligible. That's not a criticism as authenticity is a legitimate goal, but doesn't really distinguish itself enough from the originals to win awards.

Is there a list of media outlets voting?

Given that their opinions tend to conflict with sales figures a significant amount of the time, I'm not sure they are an authority and have any business voting.

Re: Review: PS5 Pro - An Impressive Yet Inconsistent Upgrade

ChimpMasta

@Stale-Bread yes with my experimentation on PC, the diminishing returns above 60fps really start to kick in, and it's around about 90fps where I lose the ability to perceive anymore benefits from going higher.

Currently play Alan Wake 2, Silent Hill 2 and FF16 at 30fps. Had no issue with say Uncharted 4 or Horizon Zero Dawn at 30fps in the day.

Depends how consistent that frame rate is, and how well the motion blur works. I also advise people if they want to use the 30fps mode, don't even try the 60fps mode. If you start flicking between the two you will reset your brain, and it takes 15 minutes of play to become accustomed to 30fps again.

The other chap is right though that OLED's are the worst type of screen for 30fps due to how responsive they are. LCD's provide natural motion blur, a bit like how CRT's used to provide free AA.

Another factor though is that higher end TV's automatically detect and switch to game mode. Many people with regular TV's are not playing in game mode, and their TV is interpolating frames and giving them a quasi-60fps with lag. I suspect that is why a lot of people reporting seeing no difference between 30fps and 60fps....

Not the case with me though, I'm playing those titles at a true 30fps.

Re: Review: PS5 Pro - An Impressive Yet Inconsistent Upgrade

ChimpMasta

@Vaako007 yes we’ve seen plenty of games tap out the PS5 base model. It’s frequently coughing up blood and limping along these days.

Sure, first party games often run better, but we aren’t heading towards some Utopia where third party developers achieve the same levels, especially one-size-fits-all engines like Unreal.

So yeah, the limits of the machine are now well known. There are no surprise leaps coming. It’s not going to get better.

Any fidelity improvements are coming at the expense of frame rate, with 30 destined to be the norm, and many struggling to hold that….

Re: UK Retailers Are All Discounting the PS5 Pro Already

ChimpMasta

@Porco that's not quire how it works.

The correct way to price such a device is to charge the highest price at launch when your most invested and keen customers want to buy it. The early adopters.

The high price ensures they are able to access the device rather than it flying out of stock, and deters/prevents scalping.

Then over time, you gradually lower the price until it reaches rock bottom once you reach saturation point.

This is how it always worked with electronics in particular.

It still works that way with some electronics like TV's (watch how LG C* TV's drop), but in recent years we've seen a bizarre situation where consoles are sold below the market at launch causing all manner of problems, and then remain at that price forever.

Essentially launching at the mass market saturation price, instead of the early adopter price. That is wasteful and leaves money on the table - and it often gets snatched off the table by resellers.

So yes I'd expected a high pre-order/launch day price, and then within weeks discounts starting to appear. If it were my business and my product, that's what I'd do.

Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows Will Not Have a Paid Battle Pass or Subscription on PS5

ChimpMasta

Reassuring if we believe them.

Regarding microtransactions...

I have to admit to paying for map unlocks, XP boosters and cosmetics in the past. But I never felt I had to. The cosmetics were really good IMO.

I still won't be buying this game though, despite owning pretty much every AC including the VR version. The design decisions with this game are just too artificial and political for me.

I'm not lost for good though. I will consider the game that follows. Ubisoft are the industry's whipping boy at the moment, but I usually get really good value out of their games and have fun.

They flew a bit close to the sun this time.

Re: PS5 Pro Enhanced, PS Store Situation Devolves into Confusing Mess

ChimpMasta

Legal grounds for a refund for those buying a game from that list and discovering it is falsely described.

Where are the media and games “journalists” though? They’ve also been trotting out articles listing these games.

Ethics?

They own Pro’s and the games, but couldn’t even be bothered to load them up to check before publishing misinformation.

Journalism should be more than copy pasting a list of games that we can all see for ourselves on the store front.

Re: Stellar Blade's Eve Bags a New Body Double for PS5 Favourite's Upcoming Update

ChimpMasta

@cburg I often wonder if there is an element of projection when people say "you need a girlfriend" when other people admire video game characters.

No animosity and not having a jab at you, but I wonder if those people have ever had a girlfriend, and perhaps have false assumptions about what effects it has or does not have on you?

I have a girlfriend, and I still 100% like looking at attractive women. As do my friends who have girlfriends and wives.

Of course we are banned from looking at attractive women IRL, and even on TV there can be trouble if the eyes linger too long and she notices.

But video games are unmonitored because she has zero interest in them. My GF thinks they are all war stuff like COD, or Minecraft!

I actually think people with girlfriends will be more likely to appreciate hot character models in a video game than someone who hasn't got a girlfriend - because the latter group are more likely visiting various websites instead as the need is greater.

Re: Stellar Blade's Eve Bags a New Body Double for PS5 Favourite's Upcoming Update

ChimpMasta

@AhmadSumadi a lesson in character design for the developers of Concord.

A good character design will have players passionately invested in that character. That investment could be due to a multitude of reasons. Be it pure physical attractiveness, or they look cool etc.

The characters become more important than the gameplay.

Players with that level of investment, will shell out big money on skins.

Overwatch did well because almost every character had a passionate following on a par with Eve or Lady Dimitrescu.

If Deviantart is full of images of your character(s), you know you are going to be very successful.

Re: PS5 Slim Price Drop Confirmed, $380 Until 24th December

ChimpMasta

@carlos82 you reminded me of something.

I remember replacing my PS4 with.....another PS4. I also replaced my PS4 Pro with......another identical looking PS4 Pro.

In both cases this was due to internal revisions that resulted in significantly less fan noise.

So there are strange upgrades to be found in odd places, although I don't believe there is any benefit with the PS5 to the Slim, albeit using a bit less electricity.

I understand the decibels are about the same, as the lower power consumption is offset by less effective cooling? I'd have "upgraded" mine to a slim if they'd improved the PSU's and eliminated the coil whine though.....

Re: GTA Trilogy May Finally Be Worth Playing on PS5, PS4

ChimpMasta

I played them on PC back in the day. That was and will remain the ultimate experience of those titles.

However I think people are a bit harsh on the remasters.

They were absolutely a lazy sub par release that Rockstar should be ashamed of, but compared to what most of you played on PS2, they were a significant step up.

People forget how bad those originals were on console by today's standards.

Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Sales Keep Pace with Dragon's Dogma 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in UK

ChimpMasta

@Loamy you are right about nuance. When there are two groups of extremists with very absolute views shouting past each other, nuance doesn’t get a look in.

I think certain topics are perfectly acceptable in games.

However, there is a difference between smart, subtle and thought provoking narratives, versus someone punching you in the face and outright lecturing you.

Appropriate time and place is also important. There is a difference between how a narrative hits when appearing in say Watch Dogs 2 that was set in a near-contemporary San Francisco, versus the same narrative appearing in a quasi-medieval world where people use Shields and Swords.

The lack of nuance from the media and various factions on forums just goes in one ear and out the other to me. I ignore what reviews say and watch their footage, as well as watching playthroughs where footage can’t be cherry picked to push either narrative.

Then I independently make my own mind up. Sadly the only way I can get past the screeching and see the nuance.

Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Sales Keep Pace with Dragon's Dogma 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in UK

ChimpMasta

I nearly bought it as I liked the preview footage. Graphics and combat look good and I never used the tactical mode in Inquisition anyway. Didn’t in the end due to the Saturday morning cartoon dialogue. Seemed bizarrely aimed at a very young audience.

The remark about people oddly invested in its downfall is strange, as there are large numbers oddly invested in talking it up and ignoring what was obvious to me from watching more detailed reviews and play through footage.

You can’t pull the wool over my eyes.

Dogma 2 is decent but whilst I enjoy parts, it has a lot of problems. I’m not even talking about the tech issues which were catastrophic.

Both are over rated.

Re: PS5 Pro Makes Unpatched PS4 Software 'More Palatable' on High-Res Displays

ChimpMasta

Be interesting to see how this compares to what the latest TV’s do, and whether it has superior latency outcomes.

The latest models of mid to high range TV’s do pretty good upscaling.

Actually my TV made Breath of the Wild appear to be at 60fps, and I’ve seen tests showing that it does so with no more latency than the TV I had ten years ago produces in its game mode!

Re: PS5 Pro Pre-Orders Are Stronger Than PS4 Pro, But Scalpers Are Losing Money

ChimpMasta

@__jamiie yes, scalpers only exist when there are enough consumers who are prepared to pay far more than the RRP, combined with a stock shortage at the RRP.

That shortage exists precisely because it is being sold far cheaper than most people are prepared to pay.

I don’t blame the scalpee though, as they are simply paying what they believe to be a fair market value for the product. I.e. what they believe it is worth to them.

The solution is entirely with the manufacturer, in this case Sony. They need to sell the item at the true market value, when balancing demand with the rate they can supply.

Re: Black Myth: Wukong PS5 Physical Copies Available in December

ChimpMasta

I didn’t know it was digital only.

Given the sales success of this game, doesn’t that bring into question the idea that Alan Wake 2 had slower than hoped sales due to it being digital only?

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great. But those holding it up as a poster child for why physical sales are still very important, may need to revise their theory?

Re: Sony Promises It'll Launch Major PS5 Single Player Games Every Year Moving Forwards

ChimpMasta

I don't care really. There are loads of good games out and coming out from third party studios.

Previously the XSX was the most powerful console "on-paper" and had better features such as the superior VRR window. Granted games didn't often run better due to low priority from developers, but I mostly bought third-party titles on it (cheap keys helped too).

Now I have my Pro and it is clearly leaps and bounds the most powerful console, every single game I buy will be purchased on the PS.

It doesn't need first-party games to earn its keep under my TV anymore.

Not why it's such a big deal to people, unless you are primarily a PC gamer and own a PS5 exclusively for the exclusives.

Re: PS5 Pro Pre-Orders Are Stronger Than PS4 Pro, But Scalpers Are Losing Money

ChimpMasta

Per my anecdote of my delivery driver asking me what was going on. as they had so many identical boxes to deliver, I well believe this shifted large numbers.

The difference to past releases is that they did it right:

1, building enough of them by the release date

2, charging a price that wasn't significantly lower than consumers were prepared to pay

Lots of people clearly valued it at £700 in their heads. At least if you look at the quantity of stock they had, approximately that number of consumers thought it was worth it.

If they'd sold it for £450, then clearly as we can tell from the comments on the web, three times as many people (than there was stock) would have have wanted it.

It would have sold out and scalpers would have been selling for it for £700. Props to Sony for selling it for £700 themselves. I'd rather they take the profit and reinvest it, than for a scalper to pocket it.

It also means that those who really want one, can buy one.

Rather than the old "F5 lottery" free-for-all of people randomly refreshing every device in their house at a certain time, and getting one based on luck rather than desire.

Or not being able to refresh at all, because they are at work.

Re: Sony Comments on Concord Disaster, Says Game Should Have Been Tested Earlier

ChimpMasta

It's not enough to shut the studio. Heads should roll at Sony.

It didn't need testing.

It's a hero shooter. It lives and dies on its heroes being appealing and gathering a passionate following of fans.

It only took one glance to tell that they were ugly and unappealing.

The "big shots" that Perturbator refers to above, get paid the big bucks to know the market and spot something like that immediately. They failed. They need to go.

But hey, it's not my company so they can do what they like...

Re: All PS5 Pro Enhanced Games

ChimpMasta

@twitchtvpat not patched as far as I know. Potential misinformation.

It's quite frustrating hearing about games that supposedly support Pro all the time, when really it's a just a statement from a developer that it would get a patch "at some point".

I'd like a list of games that actually have a proper patch NOW.

Re: Hands On: Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy 16, and Metaphor: ReFantazio All Get a Boost on PS5 Pro

ChimpMasta

FF16 should be a poster child for the Pro if it had a proper patch.

It has a "fake" performance mode that was clearly tacked on at the last minute following outrage at other 30fps games.

It's not even close to 60fps and has the resolution of a 3DS game in combat. So if they could bring that up to something resembling the resolution of the 30fps mode, and keep it inside the VRR window at least, it would be a massive win.

Re: Poll: Did You Buy a PS5 Pro?

ChimpMasta

The delivery driver asked me what was going on as they had dozens of large identical boxes to deliver.

They laughed when I told them.

That’s just my small area, so imagine that multiplied by the entire town, city and country. Then other countries.

Oh and just those from the Sony store, let alone Amazon.

Sony shifted a lot of them!

Re: Hands On: $700 Later and Dragon's Dogma 2 PS5 Pro Performance Is Still Far from Perfect

ChimpMasta

At the end of the day, this game was a botch job.

The PS5/XSX hardware specs were well known to the developer early in its development, but forget that, because it doesn't even run perfectly on my PC's 7800X3D which is currently regarded as the best gaming CPU out there.

Given that latter point in particular, you can't really blame the console hardware.

Putting aside what you all might like about the gameplay and some of the systems the game uses (and I do enjoy a lot of it), you have to concede that the physical implementation of it was an appalling failure.

They should feel ashamed.

Re: Metacritic Responds to Ongoing Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review Bombing Campaign

ChimpMasta

@AceTrainerMatt what gives you the say on what is a “genuine” concern to an individual though?

You are working on the basis that their motive is to harm the game with a low score, in which case I’d agree that there are bigger scabs to pick at in a lot of titles (can’t personally speak for DA:V).

But doesn’t it occur to you that they are genuinely down rating a title due to an issue that really is a make or break to them, regardless of how trivial it is to you or I?

Politics for example can be very polarising, even in small doses.

I’m an fps/stutter obsessive and will absolutely slate 9/10 games and refund them for minor performance issues that a lot of people wouldn’t even notice.

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