Comments 1,338

Re: 'I Much Prefer PS Plus' Lifecycle Management Strategy': Devs Chime in on Xbox Game Pass Impact

EfYI

@NishimuraX

Let me put it this way: I have never read a comment on any site or channel from an exbot that disavows GamePass. They have been effectively conditioned into accepting the subscription model. Few users still profess to buy, and one would assume it is the more affluent users. I can't blame GP users for throwing themselves at such ridiculous offers - they must feel like they deserve it at this point seeing as their trillion-dollar horse in the race has come in a clear second in almost ALL of the races, except for the Playstation 3-era.

I JUST saw a YouTube video by chance. I prefer using sites like this for infotainment. In the video, they're talking about XBOX Prime, a new powerful console set to kickstart M$' foray into Next-Gen gaming with a head start on Sony. So, as a Sony Pony I look forward to seeing if They ACTUALLY gave up on the console war and the idea that competition benefits both companies.

As for Dring's tweets: he could have so many incentives to try and reframe the narrative and so I don't find him credible. Corden is also tweeting that 'more is coming' which is just as credible as Dring's report. WHY would exbox publish on PS5 IF they didn't need the money to mitigate the bankrolling of loyal exbots?

Re: 'I Much Prefer PS Plus' Lifecycle Management Strategy': Devs Chime in on Xbox Game Pass Impact

EfYI

@Stickleman

It is as much a loss leader as a basket of free groceries is - when you have that why buy anything else?

So, M$ is incompetent in their pricing strategy and they are failing their employees and quite frankly backstabbing them considering how much money they have.

They don't have to act callously, they choose to for the sake of incentives in executive wages and shareholder$.

PS Plus is great value. GamePass is just stupidly cheap. So cheap it destroys gaming and Xbox gaming by attrition. But for some reason, the xbots HAS to be babied. They consistently are awarded deals that are better than what their competition offer: on their gaming storefront, on third party websites like Purexbox, on subscriptions. And yet so far, they have been beaten at every turn because Sony makes better games, consoles and peripherals.

I am happy to NOT take the Game pass deal and happy to NOT buy games that are on GamePass to signal to the devs/publishers that putting your games on the service isn't exactly driving their sales.

Re: 'I Much Prefer PS Plus' Lifecycle Management Strategy': Devs Weigh in on Crippling Xbox Game Pass Impact

EfYI

@RiverGenie

I have a few comments:

How many new, full priced games have you bought whilst having GamePass?

I'll tell you the truth - you have bought less games full priced since getting a subscription and prices of full games going up.

And so have everyone else!!

I can't blame you for taking a good deal. I won't do that. But I can blame the company behind when it leads to so many layoffs despite the company delivering profits. And as long as there hasn't exactly been a game of the year from Xbox studios EVER since Game pass began you can't say that the model promotes the very best in games. It is common sense that it would promote malpractice most of the time.

You use PS Plus more than you care to admit. You use it to build a library of titles you may or may not play, and if you have 'Extra' that's one more library of available content.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 588

EfYI

I regret to inform that I have spent too much time ranking Ascension in Slay the Spire. Such a crazy good game - can't even start Balatro not when StS exists.

Also, I have played as the necromancer in Diablo 4 and had to quit due to boredom after leveling up to having skeletons, skeleton mages AND a golem. The magic of what Diablo was is definitely gone for me. It now feels like a mobile horde game (I haven't actually played those of course).

I also played Powerwash and progressed three jobs into career mode until I had my fill FORever. Fun game and addictive gameplay, but also it is as fun as doing the dishes, and if I have dishes to do then why postpone it?

Furthermore, I played Like A Dragon which is okay and intriguing in terms of story and characters. I really don't like the turnbased combat, but maybe it evolves into more later on. Right now, I am on the 'Rock Bottom's chapter.

I also booted up Ghost Recon, but the age of the game is showing. It is just a half-bad shooter now. And speaking of half-bad shooters, I also play Destiny II's story mission to see the culmination of the story. So far the witness is a bit lame.

Last but least, I retried AssCred Odyssey but I just don't like AssCred (I played 2 which was super fun) and how it plays as an action RPG.

This is the power of PS Plus - the Netflix of gaming. I am having fun, sort of, but in my backlog the real good games are waiting. I kinda knew I wouldn't be able to play my owned games, as I am too focused on 'getting my value' from the library of rentals.

Re: Romero Games Appears to Have Closed as Xbox Layoffs Cast Dark Shadow Over Industry

EfYI

I have been cursing Microsoft's name for a long time, and this is not even the culmination of their wrongdoing.

They made a machine that throttled game development and lowered the denominator with Series S and they literally bankrolled the entire operation of Game pass for their customers.

Nobody were spending much on the subsidized, unsustainable GamePass, but it effectively ruined the affordability of Xbox' platform.

This hit is a sustained hit - they won't recover from this because it is such a huge self-inflicted loss that you can't see them ever going forward again. They have butchered many studios and we have yet to see and feel the impact in game development as a whole and the overall wellbeing and morale of employees.

Micro$oft could have taken the hit what with their trillion of dollars in the coffer.

If PlayStation won the console war, then Micro$oft just demantled a big part of their version of the Marshall Plan (or World User Recovery Programme).

Re: PS6 to 'Push the Boundaries' of Graphics, Doubles Down on Machine Learning

EfYI

Oh, I just thought that if Playstation launches a console I hope they come out swinging with at least one first party and several third party titles.

I don't think that Nintendo did well on switch 2's launch. No reviews and nothing to play really except for Mario kart. And people will be much more critical of Playstation than Nintendo.

Re: PS6 to 'Push the Boundaries' of Graphics, Doubles Down on Machine Learning

EfYI

I would be willing to upgrade a PS5 Pro to a PS6 if there's any sort of real improvement, and since it already looks and performs great this is becoming increasingly less important to upgrade.

The price of entry matters too - can I sell off my very cheap PS5 Pro and make a profit whilst getting a better machine (for less than the Pro?) then I will make the trade. Otherwise, I will probably be satisfied with the Pro for a long, long time.

The PS5 handheld is also super enticing and if that's a cool machine, I might sell off the cool Portal to help finance it.

PlayStation needs to start signalling that they are on top of their development in all studios. This generation has embarrassed them a lot, even if they have done well in some aspects. The live service push, the constant remastering, the lack of 1st party titles, the backing of the wrong studios like Haven and Firewalker...

Re: Brazilian Gamers Infuriated by Sudden PS5 Price Hikes

EfYI

I think the same happened in Turkey, and apparently the difference in prices across platforms are part of the reasons for marking up prices.

The only problem is that it leaves millions of gamers with an affordability problem, and it isn't fair. It isn't PlayStation's fault the economy is tough. Maybe the gamers should vote for honest politicians. I wrote that last sentence doubting that there is such a thing as honest politicians.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 587

EfYI

I am browsing videogames more than 'playing' these days. I took the Days of Play-offer on premium which is equivalent to Netflix with an absolute wealth of content and added functionality.

The best feature for me is actually to stream games directly from the Portal without waking the PS5 Pro.

So, I finished Bloom and Rage and was quite satisfied with the story, the vibe, and the soundtrack. The themes are a bit heavy and important, so I really hope young people check this title out. I can't recommend this one for angry old men or young punks who think everything is 'cringe'.

I finally tried Return to Monkey Island which is available on plus, and it is still so hilarious (I expected the humour to be outdated). In the prologue, the first time the girl says anything it introduces the 'skip dialogue' option and ..... if you don't use it she goes on and on and on. A little kid endlessly plodding on about everything she knows about anchors were such an unexpected laugh.

And I've started more games than I'd care to admit, but the actual play time is very low.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 587

EfYI

@blockfight

Gaming with the headset on is a cool way to immerse yourself. I remember playing a narrative driven game on it. I chose to let it randomly decide what to say or do and the absolute chaos unfolding kept me breathless from laughter because I couldn't breathe. It was that funny!

Re: PlayStation Thinks Its PS Plus Games Are 'Improving' Every Year

EfYI

I wouldn't go so far as to say the quality is going up. In reality, it fluctuates. There are good or bad months both in terms of incoming and expiring.

I see this as advertisement for the service. Come join us, they're saying to the slightly bigger games that are nearing 1-1.5 years in age.

I am overall happy about Premium tier as it has unique functionality with the portal and PSVR2. You can stream via the portal and get psvr games via the library. On top of that are access to three solid libraries + a movie library. I treat it like Netflix and that means dropping a game when it fails in maintaining my attention.

Re: PS Plus Essential Games for July 2025 Announced

EfYI

A good haul objectively - for me I will try all of them out and drop them if bored.

However, I hardly played anything from this month. A little Final Shape, but that is it.

These days I play so many just out of curiosity. I browse.

Re: Microsoft Rivals PSVR2 with Meta Quest 3S Xbox Headset

EfYI

@VaultGuy415

Yeah, they could have smaller units of first party studios or even second party studios that made their games playable or developed smaller games themselves. But calling it dead doesn't help the gamers make informed decisions that result in purchases.

If they are fair, they take into account how many games that are playable in VR are published on PS each year. They should take the library into account and the fact that PS Plus has VR content.

Saying it is dead is a very negative narrative. So they are Negative Narrative Nancies on this issue and promote more positive narratives about most other venues of Playstation. IMHO, ofc.

Re: Feature: Top 20 PS5 Games of 2025 So Far

EfYI

Good to see KCD up there. It will be close between Split Fiction, KCD, Clair Obscure and Death Stranding. So far, this year has been incredible for gamers. I think one or two titles will yet have to join the GOTY lidt of candidates.

For me, the game of the year will always have to be KCD II. A very special game that together with BG3 would make a very exclusive list of all-time favorite games.

I also remember seeing Claire Obscure in a trailer last summer thinking that this game could be special. I really hope they will consider putting out to PS Plus.

Re: Death Stranding 2 (PS5) - A Masterpiece in Every Sense

EfYI

I am playing more of the original and honestly I am not particularly engaged in the story or gameplay. I won't finish it, most probably, and I won't have much incentive to get the sequel. Funny, but the sequel might sell more than the original with this level of hype. A 10 out of 10 is astonishing for one that doesn't truly get this game after putting in the time for understanding...

Re: Atlus JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio Tags on 1 Million Sales Since Launch

EfYI

@Questionable_Duck

Plenty of people have explained how they've stacked for many years for close to nothing. Still, to this day you can just cancel and get a refund. Also, there's conversion of points into subscription which also subsidize the most loyal.

Therefore, if you are integrated in the platform you will find yourself to have been heavily subsidized for years and probably still will be for some years to come.

This narrative comes from XBOX gamers. But it is extremely funny that it is the bots themselves that are policing when people on other platforms mention how Microsoft basically bankrolled this entire generation for their users.

Re: Atlus JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio Tags on 1 Million Sales Since Launch

EfYI

My new crusade (adding to a longer list) is to wait with games that are free on GamePass.

If you want to piss away your game for free, don't expect me to pick up the bill.

Putting it on GamePass shows me that it is just a matter of time until it shows up on PS Plus.

So far, none of the games I have "boycotted" have actually shown up on PS Plus, suggesting that the studios do prefer to actually get paid by gamers. So... maybe stop putting them on GamePass and actually value your games, fam.

Re: Talking Point: Is It Officially Game Over for PSVR2?

EfYI

First I want to comment on the future. After that, I need to address how the first couple of years with PSVR2 has been.

A little sidenote: I get angry reading you guys on Pushsquare again and again trying to bury VR. Your support of VR has been halfhearted, and mostly can be boiled down to pick-me articles that surf on negativity.

It is nice, though, to see small reviews here and there, but apparently the demand for reading them isn't enough to keep you engaged in delivering better content.

So, PSVR2 isn't dead, it is chugging along. And so far has delivered a bunch of great games. That's the one-paragraph story of PSVR2.

The second paragraph story includes mentioning how Sony fumbled everything from games to managing Studios during the PS5-era. It seems impossible that they get their rotten act together if not for it being Japanese bosses now.

The key to PSVR2 is to keep it compatible with newer PlayStations and allow games on future platforms to come to both psvr2 and psvr3 (or a pro version) - keep it going and build an audience and library. Also, invest in games like Resident Evil and GOT7 that are playable with and without the VR headset. Keep making smaller VR exclusives and try and make VR games that gets heads turning.

If not, at some point in time, I need to finish my VR backlog and buy and play whatever, so that I have a chance to sell my headset and cash out on my investment. If Sony actually signals retreat, I have some time to sell. But I could also see myself simply keeping the headset and getting the connection with my PC to experience other games available not on PS.

Like I said, if Playstation doubles down on keeping VR as one mode of experience available, I could also keep VR as it is very, very good and fun. The screen can be used to just play normally without having to look anywhere but the natural, resting position of your head.

Re: Another Upcoming PS Plus Premium Game Appears to Leak

EfYI

I don't get the too-little too-late mentality of critics. There are a huge classics library and it will be taken from and added to organically.

People are not even playing the games, I think. I know I am not too interested in the older games as their age truly shows and I have premium mostly for trials and streaming from my portal. That and the upgrade from Extra was so little that it was like 8 dollars more for 12 months!