Comments 946

Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art

Kienda

@Korgon I said “Japanese Samurai” for a reason because there are two characters. A Samurai and a Ninja.

You can be a Japanese Ninja in the game, but not a Japanese Samurai. Hopefully that clears up that point.

AC has always straddled the line of fiction/reality. No one is denying that, but they clearly took it further in this game with a culture that does not have a Western mindset.

And again, you couldn’t be a black Viking or an Asian Bayek in other games. They’ve done it at a time where there is massive cultural sensitivity in Japan about protecting their heritage.

It’s unwise to say the least.

Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art

Kienda

@nhSnork

My family is also from a minority background that isn’t represented much in the media. But we don’t feel out of place in the UK as it’s very multicultural.

See my comment above to see why many in Japan are upset (and I’m just scratching the surface really), and why I don’t think it was wise for Ubisoft to do what it did.

The thing is, AC has always straddled the line of fiction and accuracy. And they’re doing that here again. But I think they didn’t take into account the disrespect it would cause to the culture they were trying to honour.

I actually think Western gaming journalism has done a massive disservice to Japan for not covering their feelings in all of this.

It’s being seen through the lens of Western politics and labelling everyone extremists rather than dealing with the sensitivities of Japan.

It’s like Ubisoft is ‘West-washing’ (if I can coin that term) Japanese culture while the Western media are ‘West-washing’ the hurt many Japanese feel about this.

The Japanese voice is not being heard.

Re: Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art

Kienda

@Korgon @PuppetMaster

Maybe you’re looking at this from a Western perspective. I’m sure this game will do well in the West. And yes, you will always find a Japanese person who is fine with it.

But trust me when I say there are many Japanese people who are deeply offended by this.

In Japan right now, there is a big discussion over foreigners going to the country and disrespecting Japan and Japanese culture. There are incidents of people desecrating shrines or breaking the law in Japan. And this is blowing up in the news and people are outraged by it. It goes against the culture of Japan which is very respectful and law abiding.

Ubisoft, instead of honouring Japan by giving them their first ever Japanese Samurai, instead has said, “Hey, lets use the only black guy we can find in history that is loosely associated with being a Samurai and insert our Western politics into Japanese culture. The Japanese will love that.”

Now, I’ve seen people saying “this is fiction, it’s not real” on the other hand they’re defending the game by saying, “this black Samurai is a real historic person.”

It doesn’t matter if it’s a work of fiction or that a black Samurai existed (he likely wasn’t Samurai, by the way, even though he was trained). What matters is that the culture being represented is respected.

Ubisoft didn’t put a Chinese person as the main protagonist for AC:Valhalla and they didn’t put a White person as the main protagonist for AC:Origins. They weren’t historically accurate games either. But they did respect the cultures they represented. And Origins, to this day, is still an extremely accurate representation of Alexandria and used for educational purposes.

AC:Shadows however isn’t even accurate on small things like the kanji mentioned in this article. So it’s not just about race, it goes a lot deeper than that. But again, it’s mainly the Japanese being offended. And the rest of the world doesn’t really care.

Black people seeing a black Samurai are likely going to love the game. Samurai are cool no matter what race you are.

Westerners in general will likely not see much wrong with a black Samurai. It’s not their culture after all and they’re used to seeing merging of cultures and modern politics being inserted into everything.

The Japanese, however, are largely seeing this as a massive disrespect to their culture and proud heritage.

Re: New PS Portal Firmware Update Adds Better Wi-Fi Features and More

Kienda

I’m quite disheartened to see all the comments overly praising the PlayStation Portal and mocking those of us who don’t get on with it. As a huge fan of PlayStation, the Portal has been the biggest let down of any of their devices. And yes, I do own one.

I wanted to love my PlayStation Portal, but I simply can’t.

Despite its nice design, at the end of the day, it’s still only a cloud gaming device and cloud gaming still sucks.

Worse than that. It’s an inferior cloud gaming device to my laptop. Without VRR, the connection, frame rate and image quality are noticeably inferior to what I was getting with Remote Play on my laptop.

If the PlayStation Portal had the ability to have a direct connection from the PS5 to it, kind of like a WiiU Gamepad, even if it was via a dongle plugged into my PS5 so that I could have a flawless 1080p/60fps experience in the same room as my PS5, then I’d be willing to overlook its other flaws (no Bluetooth etc). But the fact it cannot just does not cut it to me.

My laptop giving me a better performance in the same room and on the same network as a dedicated device made by Sony because they chose to limit its features to save money is the type of mediocrity I refuse to accept.

It doesn’t matter what firmware updates they add. This device could and should have been so much better.

Re: PS5 Needs to Do a Better Job of Alerting You to the Things Going on in Your Games

Kienda

@get2sammyb yeah, that’s what I mean.

They know exactly what I’m playing and there are options available to them to create more social/interactive experiences for players based on what they’re playing by incorporating social media/reddit etc and allowing content (based on the users preferences) in order to increase our experiences and enjoyment of the games we are playing at the time. It could even be based on recommendations from other users or something.

I was meaning to express my agreement with your article. But actually I think they could do far, far more and just allow players to turn on or off various notifications and integration to get the best experience for themselves.

Re: PS5 Needs to Do a Better Job of Alerting You to the Things Going on in Your Games

Kienda

I actually think they could do more interaction for single player games also.

I personally don’t play any games that are live service (besides Guild Wars 2 on PC).

The PS5 tries to show me news about games I’m interested in, but most of the time it’s updates on content I’m nowhere near playing or games I only dabbled in.

What I’d like is some user generated content popping up to show the community of the game I’m currently playing.

For me I’m on FF15. About 90hrs in and almost at the Platinum. Yes, I know it’s a PS4 game and old, but if there was a way for the PS5 to recognise that was the game I’m invested in and somehow link to the Reddit page and share a screenshot a day from another player, or give me a tips on grinding AP or whatever, I would feel a lot more like I’m part of the community of that game.

Instead, I’m doing that personally by going onto the Reddit for that game. I may be asking too much, but I’m just saying that I like community. Even in single player games. Even if it’s just knowing others are enjoying the same content as me. So surely there is something Sony can add to cater to that.

Re: Horror Hit Alan Wake 2 Is Getting a Retail PS5 Release Because You Wouldn't Shut Up About It

Kienda

@ChrisDeku yeah, but that’s why I don’t like this practice of all digital.

Second hand gaming, trading, and physical collections are part of the culture of gaming that I enjoy. They will kill that off with corporate greed unless we stand against it (yeah, I sound like a revolutionist. 😅).

The suits at the top might want my money. They will get it if they make a game worth buying first hand (most of my purchases are first hand but discounted btw).

The developers and creatives for the game though, a lot of their motivation is having people play and enjoy their work.

It’s a bit sad if the industry becomes all about squeezing money out of us.

Re: Horror Hit Alan Wake 2 Is Getting a Retail PS5 Release Because You Wouldn't Shut Up About It

Kienda

Some of us only buy physical for financial reasons. I can buy a game cheaper second hand or share my game with my family and sell it on after etc.

Alan Wake 2 screwed over those who like physical. But they screwed themselves over too, the lack of sales proves this. Im unlikely to buy this game even physical, because I don’t like bad business practices. I’m not going to reward them now.

Giving all gamers the option to play and collect games how we like is the best way. And developers/publishers need to learn that.

But yes, let’s moan at the customers.

Re: There's a Damn Good Reason to Buy Astro Bot Physically on PS5

Kienda

@Gremio108

Wally > Waldo

@LaurenIpsum

Waldo was called Wally in the UK.

When I was a kid I was very confused when I had a new American classmate ask if I liked Waldo. When he brought the book to school I was like, “Oh, it’s Wally! Yeah, I love Wally.” And then we argued (in jest) about his name for years.

Edit: Since it was invented in the UK, Wally is his official name, I might add. 😎

Re: There's a Damn Good Reason to Buy Astro Bot Physically on PS5

Kienda

That’s a nice touch from Sony.

One of the reasons I switched over from Xbox to PS5 last year was because of the lack of physical releases on Xbox.

I enjoy my physical collection and it’s part of my gaming experience. It helps bring back memories every time I pick up the cases and look at them.

Re: PC Players Are Fuming Until Dawn, God of War Ragnarok Appear to Require PSN Logins

Kienda

I know we are PlayStation fanboys, but this is a dumb decision from Sony.

People who weren’t in countries where PSN is available, you know most of the countries on earth, they got locked out of a game they paid for or banned by Sony for trying to make accounts in other countries.

Then only countries with the game were allowed meaning only 71 countries out of 191 countries could play the game.

You can’t say you are “For the Players” when you literally disallow most countries to play your games because of a silly corporate decision.

And it’s sad we have the majority on here seemingly call them “PC whiners” and the like, when they are protecting their fellow gamers.

Sony should implement the option of PSN login with the incentive of maybe free in game items. But let people choose whether or not they do it. That way those in countries where PSN isn’t available can still access the game.

The login is only for marketing anyway. They want their email to push future products. It’s a corporate thing.

Why defend corporate greed over allowing others to game? Especially as the countries without PSN are some of the poorer countries.

Re: PS5's Streaming Handheld PS Portal Is Proving a Huge Hit

Kienda

@GymratAmarillo I think you misunderstand.

The Portal has no Bluetooth. This means no Bluetooth headphone compatibility. So it only allows wired headphones or PlayStation headphones which are stupidly expensive.

The other factor is you can’t stream PS Plus games from the internet. Which is not good.

Premium games are streaming only. They can’t be downloaded onto your PS5 so they are inaccessible on the Portal.

Re: Baldur's Gate 3 Required Less Crunch Than Larian Studios' Previous RPGs

Kienda

I think crunch is just kinda human nature.

I work in marketing and work on various publications. Whenever a magazine deadline is coming up, it’s always crunch time.

We work for weeks beforehand doing the lion’s share of the work, but the last bit of final edits, last minute changes in design, all the different people coming together at the final bit adds to the pressure and we always just make it to print.

It’s not because we didn’t work hard beforehand. But we didn’t have the urgency, and as soon as it goes to print. That is it. No more changes. The public will see and that’s always more stressful.

So I can understand it the same with games. They might have a deadline set for a year, but those last few weeks are the most intense.

Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows Reveal Trailer Is Already the Most Disliked in Series History

Kienda

@EchoRange @KeanuReaves you are correct that it’s only guessing.

However, it’s actually the opposite of what you might think. The plugins usually underestimate the dislikes.

I work in online marketing and manage a few YouTube channels for some large corporations with lots of subscribers.

Ubisoft will be able to see the real numbers and will know exactly how many dislikes there are on each video.

We did a test about 6 months ago when one of our clients wanted to be reassured that people weren’t seeing all the negatives, and we could happily report that the real dislike numbers were about 20% higher in reality than what users of the plugins would see (that was worse case, sometimes it was more accurate), but we span it to them that what we could see wasn’t visible to users.

It helped them feel that negativity was hidden from the public, but was a bit of a silly way to look at it. Instead of trying to please their audience they just wanted to ignore reality as long as they could preserve their image and carry on doing what they wanted. Which I think is kind of what is going on here.

Re: Next Week's Huge PS Plus Purge Now Extended to 35 PS5, PS4 Games

Kienda

Personally, I’m gutted.

In November I subscribed to PS+ and paid a year in advance largely because of the Final Fantasy games. Now almost all are being removed.

I’ve just bought a physical version of FF15 Royal Edition as I’m heading for the Platinum trophy and don’t want to be rushed by this.

Re: Poll: Years Later, How Do You Feel About PlayStation's PC Strategy?

Kienda

@TrickyDicky99 I think you’re completely right about Xbox. They have given people little reason to go Xbox exclusively because you can play every Xbox first party title on PC or through streaming (although that’s far less popular).

Personally, I sold my Xbox late last year because I knew I could play all Xbox games on PC if needed.

Now I agree that if Sony starts to release all games on PC it will be a mistake. We agree on this.

But, I think there is more to Sony’s problems than simply releasing old games on PC.

Sony so far have released a handful of first party games on PC. All of them are older games where their sales weren’t making money for them on PlayStation. This is not what is causing Sony’s decline.

The biggest factors are:

  • Cost of living for most families is higher and wages are not increasing. This obviously is out of Sony’s control.
  • Changes in how people game mean that people use personal devices much more now. This is something Sony tried to address with the portal.
  • Most kids are playing Roblox and Minecraft now and these can be played on anything (most of my kids friends play these on tablets) and Roblox especially isn’t just a game, it’s its own platform. Minecraft and Fortnite are moving in that direction also. Sony has all three of these games on its system now, Roblox only arrived late last year.
  • First Party Exclusives: Sony just isn’t releasing enough games like it used to. Look at 2017/2018 and compare it to 2023/2024.
  • Third Party Console Exclusives: Another factor for PC isn’t just Sony’s offerings, but that many third party titles are no longer console exclusive but also on PC day one.
  • Japanese support - there are a lot of Japanese developers focusing on Switch because it’s the bigger system seller. In Japan, handheld reigns supreme. This in turn affects Western sales/appeal.
  • PS+ becoming like Game Pass I think was a mistake. It’s not as profitable as selling individual games.
  • This coupled with Sony upping the price of individual games put people off. (Another factor in players moving towards PC is also because PC games are cheaper. And gaming PCs/laptops are more affordable).

So I would say all of these factors are bigger factors than simply Sony releasing some old exclusives on PC.

Re: Poll: Years Later, How Do You Feel About PlayStation's PC Strategy?

Kienda

@TrickyDicky99

Yes, Sony is a marketplace like Steam and like steam they make most of their money from CoD/FIFA etc. I didn’t say otherwise.

But the biggest difference between them is one is a free piece of software, the other is an expensive piece of hardware. Sony has to pay to make the hardware. Steam doesn’t have to spend anything. People just download it for free.

I’m not sure why you’re changing the goal posts each time.

You compared Sony to Nintendo. And I showed you why Nintendo’s first party model is stronger than Sony’s.

You compared Sony to Steam and I explained why Steam is doing better than Sony.

And yet I’m apparently the one with my head in the sand saying Sony is amazing and doing everything right. I’m literally telling you that Sony needs to improve (which is what you’re trying to tell me - we are actually agreeing on most points when I look back at your previous comments). I’m just not as pessimistic because when a company makes over a billion dollars in profits, that is not a failing business model.

The main contention we have is the PC releases. Whether they are good or bad. For me, they aren’t the big problem Sony needs to fix.

PlayStation is a mix of the business models of Nintendo and Steam. Sony can do Sony and survive. But I think they could learn, especially from Nintendo, and make more first party exclusives.