DeathlySW

@Balosi it was but only as tiny fine print. The average consumer needs to be made aware of it in an obvious manner. Any legal team worth a lick would have informed Sony of this. This has been a wild year for them.

@Savage_Joe fair enough, assumed it was a misquote. But yeah, some folks have gone too far with that. Making an account is one thing but advising a bannable action is another. This is a dumpster fire that should have been seen a mile away. Simple things easily avoided are clearly hard for Sony to spot. Have to wonder if valve played a role in the back peddling, last I checked refunds of that nature are out of platform holders pockets. Would be surprised if they weren’t happy to claw it out of Sonys pockets.

@Savage_Joe never said to sign up for a us PSN account, not sure where you’re quoting that from. I’m well aware Sony region locks stuff, so I wouldn’t ever advise someone to do something that will get them banned.

In terms of the one more account to sign up for comment, yeah I don’t see the issue. If I went to your steam page I have no doubt I’d see games in your library that require the same. It’s not a bad thing, but acting like it’s a new low is absurd. That being said, Sony made a massive mistake on this one. They released a game in countries where they knew, or should have known, that people were literally renting the game without knowing it. I recently quit PlayStation and moved to steam (steam deck mainly, gaming habits need a revamp) and this is one of those times where I am reminded how I made the right choice. Sony is moving backwards after failing to move forwards.

@Ralizah I’d wager they also had some very unfriendly words with Sony behind the scenes. It’s not like Sony to reverse course this quickly. Props to arrowhead for talking some sense into them.

Good. In the future they’d be well served by 1) not making this kind of change on a Friday and 2) file the necessary paperwork to ensure you aren’t selling a product in a country your plans don’t support. This is not rocket science but common sense.

That being said, creating an account isn’t a huge deal. Pc gamers constantly sign up for new accounts in all kinds of games and online content, this is small fry.

Just to add some extra clarity for folks wondering why there’s so much outrage. It’s not that a psn account is required (if that’s the issue someone has they’re the problem, and I could care less), it’s that in the case of Helldivers 2 the game was sold on steam in countries where a PSN account is not even a possibility. Sony then delisted the game in those countries, so even people who bought it cannot play it which left valve to clean up the mess. A minority? Perhaps, but it’s a very bad move.

Adding fuel to the fire is that Sony did it on a Friday which means a bunch of their employees come back in on Monday to a flaming inbox and damage control. Ghost of Tsushima will share the same fate if Sony makes the same mistake. Don’t sell the game in countries you can’t have a PSN account in. Period. Dumpster fire averted.

As a good analogy for the issue of due diligence, who remembers Rogers Communications and Shomi? In Canada Shomi was a fledgling streaming service Rogers telecommunications created as an exclusive to their customers. Only they took shortcuts and none of the paperwork to make it legally exclusive to their customers was filled out and they didn’t do anything to remedy that. They were forced to provide the service to their competitors too, which led them to just shut it down. Sony is doing the same thing with the countries that HD2 was delisted from, just shoving the same exact thing on every single storefront and not bothering to follow any kind of protocol or process to ensure it isn’t put where it’s not meant to be.

@BeerIsAwesome I had no idea they’ve been around this long. Thanks for the info! I definitely hope to see what they’re working on, I liked returnal aesthetically but game play wise it was a bit too arcady for me.

@Deoxyr1bose it’s not the lack of a teaser that’s an issue, I personally don’t like them anyway because they say nothing except “it’s coming eventually.” My issue is the near total silence about upcoming projects. It is not in any way business as usual, and with the increased prices, cross gen release and fewer releases in general that is not a way to paint a platform as healthy. PlayStation is fine as a company and console, but I’d like more information about what’s to come.

Worries me a little because unless I’m mistaken, Returnal was Housemarques debut or at least the first game that really did well. Seems a little arrogant to go to this kind of format so soon after success, no? Where’s the next game?

@AdamNovice I won’t lie, some of those VR games look pretty cool and I’d totally play them if they weren’t VR.

@CaptD never thought I’d see the day where this many companies actively chase away money while thinking it’s making great decisions. Not because of any anti big corporation sentiment, but because I never believed so many wildly successful bigwigs were actually stupid.

@theSpectre it runs better than most other games I’ve played. Gameplay wise it’s a dumpster fire, but performance wise there’s few studios better than insomniac. Well, except Sucker Punch. That Ghost of Tsushima engine is amazing.

@Terra_Custodes I played this one for a few hours and then uninstalled as I spent ages at creation figuring out every nook and cranny of my character and then experienced the bug that killed more play throughs than a survival mode run: The missing script, where crucial characters forget they’re supposed to do something and hard lock the game.

Disgust at this game aside, I completely agree. The ps5 Pro 1080p-4K upscaling rumours are nice but I’m tired of what really is a developer level issue. The issue of quality control that has plagued the Nintendo switch has finally come to home consoles and frankly it’s time for less developer friendly sentiment. Developers are nothing without the consumer, and neither are the platform holders. If a game doesn’t perform well, fine the developer for submitting it for approval in that state and don’t sell it until they figure it out. Less losses from Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo and more satisfied consumers.

Jury is still out on whether I’ll upgrade or not, but with each new release I’m leaning closer to bailing on consoles and going back to PC. There’s no excuse for a game to be unable to hit 60 fps without being locked at 1080p.

Was playing and then quit. Why? Take a guess. Preston Garvey is still broken in When Freedom Calls.

I’m speechless. I know Bethesda is incompetent but…wow.

@DennisReynolds my issue with it is less about what it adds and more about the fact that it came out extremely late when the game’s overall design is lacking a lot of replay value as it stands. If the base the game feels barren and lacking a reason to stay then new game plus has an additional barrier to pass when it comes to quality.

At the end of the day I was immensely disappointed with SM2 and felt its replay value was non existent due to the pesky minigames and empty world. But that’s just me.

@Yorozayu that’s not what I said but ok. They can’t blame getting hacked on the poor quality of replay ability and late/subpar new game plus. The hack itself is horrible though, and I genuinely hope those affected by the data leaks can get some measure of reparation.

@TheUnSeen it does alter one thing which is a Hard R graffiti sign thing at a certain spot in the game. Which is clearly an oversight and I’m genuinely fine and supportive of them removing that.

I’m genuinely curious what the heck happened with Spiderman 2. Basically this day one update adds far more content than Spiderman 2 did for its new game plus and wasn’t delayed by six months. I call BS on the whole “we were hacked and data was leaked” excuse, as horrible as that was. As consumers we really need to have higher standards. Loyalty is worth nothing if it’s given blindly.

I’m not gonna lie, I just went from “don’t care” to “this could be special.” Sounds more like final fantasy tactics meets persona meets fire emblem. We’ll see.

I don’t bother to even have interest in games without any release date or at the very least proper ingame footage. Don’t sell me on your vision, sell me on a product.

@get2sammyb heads up it looks like new game plus is being added as a day one update!

@Dodoo completely. Not trying to start any arguments, I just get really ticked off when this guy has anything to say.

@Dodoo you also don’t see other ceos that trust a verbal agreement with the saudis. This guy is a giant dodo.

Lars, you’re an idiot. Quit and sell off the remaining studios to pad your retirement if you have to, but you could have taken the blame before laying of thousands. But even that wouldn’t have been enough because any businessman that thinks verbal agreements are good deserves a cardboard box on the street and nothing more, because even homeless people aren’t as dumb as you are.

Jesus Christ, this guy stokes my hatred more than any other exec

@ShogunRok how’s replay value? New game plus? Postgame endless dungeon mode?

@TheEnygma I mean i only bother with the English dub if Johnny Yong Bosch is cast. That’s how I know there’s good stuff. Otherwise English subs and native dub.

@get2sammyb any idea if the promised new game plus update will warrant a review update? Since the postgame would likely be smoothed out?

@ATaco I definitely agree and that’s why i largely played it over genshin, graphics snobbery aside. Just feels kinda weird.

@ATaco genshin is aesthetically mismatched to me, which is why star rail appealed more. That being said I find the combat in star rail to be typical “smart phone auto battle” stuff which is offputting. Don’t know why but genshin looks terrible on PlayStation. On the phone it looks much better but it’s like all shadows were removed on console. Weird.

I’ve become increasingly invested in the Japan vs Korea shtick recently and it’s evident in this statement. Basically Japan has been moving backwards over the last decade or so and seems to be reverting to some of its isolationist ways. This has a resulted in many Japanese publishers and companies who conduct business outside of Japan to establish offices in Seoul, Hong Kong etc. Sonys partnerships with Chinese developers like Hoyoverse, closure of Japan studio and their new Korean initiative is also a result of increasingly unwelcoming attitudes from Japan.

Don’t get me wrong, Japan is a massive player in the industry but we’re seeing companies start laying groundwork for a worst case scenario where Japan is too difficult to work with/in. I’m not surprised this game got a pass, though it does boggle the mind why the Japanese arm of a western firm got shafted since it’s really nothing to do with Japan.

@NEStalgia yep that’s my big issue. Persona doesn’t evolve anymore. Same game copied and pasted, just different characters. SMT loves introducing new mechanics and new narratives, but persona is always the same these days. This one looks great, but it still feels like persona. Reviews and sales are my go to for this one.

Looks great but I’ll wait for a sale. Hard to tell if it’s just a Persona reskin or not, and the fact that it’s yet another cross gen release is concerning. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy ps4 owners are able to play these games, but I also feel we’re past the point where it’s not ok to be frustrated at the lack of next gen material. Still looks good!

@Wiceheid it also wouldn’t surprise me if the NCR hold was short lived. The legion was insane and would have lasted even shorter, but the NCR side quests paint a pretty vivid picture of inept command and short sighted goals. Even Boone can’t stand them, despite retaining respect for some of the ideals. It’s pretty believable that it fell pretty fast.

If they did, and ps plus premium had South Park I’d return for that alone. Plus other properties under paramount are plenty valuable on their own, not to mention Amazon prime’s addons also include paramount off shoots. They’d make their money back easily.

Frustrating that they’re removing the dangers of a cool mechanic like this instead of fixing performance issues. Glad we’ve got plenty of good games the next couple months, just hope Capcom doesn’t give this game the Dead Island 2 treatment.

Beat it a couple hours ago. Little mixed if I’m being honest, they talked up the difficulty a LOT but it felt much easier than the base game. It’s more FF XVI, which isn’t a bad thing but it kind of left a sour taste in all transparency.

@itsfoz lost all interest in that studio after dying light 2. Zero faith they can make that leap and stick the landing.

@Jaz007 worst thing is the voiceover for the one guy narrating the trailer. Good lord, sounds like AOL’s “you’ve got mail” voice trying to become sentient.

Kay Vess’s hairstyle though. Love the old TMNT live action movies from the 80s, but I never thought Star Wars would be packing a character with April Oneils hairstyle.

@Phelaidar this. The fact that every edition that actually has extra content is 144 CAD and higher is absurd already, but Ubisoft has been racing to discount their games more than most. It’s obvious these massive price points are making it harder to actually sell their games, at least enough to recoup costs and make a profit.

For me, tired of Ubisoft anyway. The formula is dragged out and overplayed nowadays, and removing towers doesn’t make a difference. Also can’t help but mention X Defiant, which based on the beta is one of the their most promising games in years, is still MIA and I’m just assuming its cancelled.

@XenonKnight same here, definitely sounds more like a proper next gen system. That being said, price aside if there’s shortages I’ll let scalpers destroy them before I pay them. A big upgrade for a better experience but not mandatory enough to pay some bum.

@J2theEzzo that was so confusing! I played on switch and plan on replaying on ps5 next time it’s on sale. Farming death was so satisfying

This happened once to me, of course at the final boss, but I clawed my way back. I did still give up though, and don’t plan on coming back at all. I love final fantasy but this remake trilogy somehow has managed to go from “super fun, great to look at, nostalgic” to just “oh more of this, whoopee”. It’s sad because all the ingredients of a special experience are here, execution is just delusional and assumes the audience’s love of the franchise is greater than their love of themselves.

@tselliot you’re not wrong at all, even prior to launch ads were sparse. YouTube had them for a bit then they vanished. Final fantasy usually sells like hotcakes so if it’s underperforming to this extent it’s clear public opinion isn’t so hot. It’s a gorgeous game, super fun until you realize how long and dragged out it is. Then it still surprises you by being gorgeous and simultaneously offputting. I’ve never played a game that I loved and after 20 hours hated so much I gave up even trying to care.

If you’re in Toronto and want a deluxe edition copy in mint condition, Kijiji is where you’ll find me. On a serious but no less true note, the game had so much bloat I quit after failing at the final boss for two hours. Not because of difficulty but because I just didn’t care enough to be more focused and tactical. I burnt out several chapters prior and my drive to see the story through was gone. Also can’t deny the penultimate chapter and it’s one segment that I won’t spoil was literally a fanfic, both funny and gross.

Excited to get back into XVI with the Rising Tide this week though!

@Porco the critical reviews were insanely positive but they all cited lots of bloat and an overly long campaign. That was a big sticking point for many. If a game is fun but outstays its welcome, that fun becomes non existent.

@8bitOG I’ve never supported piracy but I’m not so sure about my platform choice after this generation. Losing tolerance for the model, pricing and game quality. I don’t know if I genuinely feel like games deserve anything at all, big ones at least. Indie devs are the ones carrying this generation right now.

@Porco latter two are the most relevant I feel. The game doesn’t respect my time, I got to the final boss, died multiple times after spending forty minutes on it and gave up. Wouldn’t be as big an issue if the game wasn’t so bloated, but I started skipping it cutscenes in the last several chapters which I did not do at all the first 23 hours. Yes, getting halfway through the game took 23 hours and that’s only stopping to do SOME side content. Like four or five side missions.

A so so game that started out amazing, dipped to great, then good and then “why do I care?”.

@McBurn I did just that. It sucks because I went the whole thing avoiding spoilers, but this last fight was so much of a drag. Two hours and I was like “ok I’m done”. The core thing is that unlike many games, this one felt like it not only didn’t respect my time but actively wasted it. Destiny 2 is the closest I can think of, and I still enjoy it because the core gameplay is fun and very smooth. This one has a lot of jank to trudge through in order to truly feel seamless, and that’s before the whole debate about length comes into play.

I will say, I never much found Sephiroth to be a great villain. Passable but that’s it. This game made me actively not care about him, all his scenes are fan service and just have no weight.

@McBurn I still haven’t beaten the final boss. I was checked out too, and that fight is a slog. Really cool at first then outstays its welcome. I want to do it but I just don’t know if I ever will. The game is amazing, but way too long and it detracts from its strengths.

This needs to be considered a criminal activity honestly. It basically is a way to bully staff into quitting so they don’t have to be paid benefits. Any executive that is ok with this should be thrown into the sewer and left to rot. Just lay them off like a human being.