Kienda

@LiamCroft I think ‘Final Fantasy Chronicles’ should be ‘Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles’.

@Boucho11 calm down with the ffsing. Lol

It’s basic human decency to not want to spoil things for others. And most people like surprises in what they’re seeing.

As media is remade, like movies and games, new audiences see them. If those new audiences have the main parts ruined then they won’t get the full experience from them.

And no, it doesn’t matter how old something is. Most media is consumed after the first six months of release. With movies most people see those movies years after release.

So no, there is no time limit on spoilers. Never share them without warning or without first getting consent from the person you are talking to. It’s why movies aren’t described by their plot twists and it’s why most gaming forums have spoiler warnings and so forth.

I don’t know why you have a problem with this.

@LimitedPower don’t post spoilers. It really isn’t cool.

Also, it’s breaking the rules on this website…

People need to learn: Spoilers should never be publicised without warning.

This applies to books, movies, and games.

There will be tons of people who will be new to FF7 because of the remakes. Many will not know this info.

My son is about to start the original FF7. He’s 12, and has no idea what the story entails. And there are countless kids like him. But he has seen me play the remake and knows the characters. (He’s gonna be heartbroken when he gets to that point. Haha)

I was reading an article the other day and had parts of The Godfather ruined for me. The article had nothing to do with The Godfather, it was talking about war and politics. I had added the movies to my watch list just a few days prior. I’m now waiting until I forget what was written. Hehe

A lot of effort has gone into these outfits.

I wish I had that Buster Sword.

@dark_knightmare2 I’m not sure how long Xbox consoles will be around, but the Xbox platform will be around for many years to come.

As a user, I don’t see much difference between PS+ and Game Pass.

I get free games every month and can download from a huge catalog. I’m happy with both services.

But it’s clear they’ve gone for different strategies.

• PlayStation has tied PS+ to the consoles. You need a PS4/PS5 to properly enjoy the games. You won’t get day one first party releases. But you will get decent games and most first parties will eventually get there.
• Xbox is determined to have all their games on Game Pass. Day 1, big hitters. They’ve also opened Game Pass to a much wider audience and turned Xbox from Being a console to being a platform. People play Xbox and Game Pass on PC, console and through cloud. One day they may even play Xbox on other consoles. It’s a longer term and much wider scoped strategy that will likely pay off in the long run.

The difference in the effectiveness of the strategies right now is most gamers prefer to buy and own their games forever. And they want to play specific games rather than have a random selection they may not want to play. So for now, PlayStations strategy is working for console. But I think Xbox will start seeing a wider benefit when they attract new people who don’t own consoles into the platform they are building. And of course, when CoD drops day one on Game Pass.

Hopefully both can be successful.

@Nem thanks for noticing the facts based element of my comment. And hopefully this reply will give you some new insight and help you have a broader perspective.

First off, they didn’t say Xbox isn’t growing. They said “the industry” isn’t growing.

The gaming industry as a whole has slowed in growth in recent years. It only grew by around 2% last year. Far less than anticipated. However, this is one area where I don’t agree with Phil because he was basically using it as an excuse for laying people off. While growth has slowed, it hasn’t stopped, and they are still making profits. It’s a poor excuse in my opinion.

As for Xbox itself, we can look at Microsoft’s report on that. Xbox moved to being Microsoft’s third largest business in 2023, earning more money than Windows. Both of these businesses are profitable for Microsoft and helped it become a $3 trillion company last year.

Also, they revealed yesterday that Game Pass is now at 34 million subscribers. That’s a 36% increase from the 25 million they reported in 2022 (although there is a caveat to that with Game Pass Core skewing the numbers).

Overall though it’s fair to say Xbox is actually growing.

As for their strategy, they explained their desire to get more players, but that their focus for that strategy was only if it had cross play and cross progression. That can only be properly made available if they own the platform the games are on. So through the Game Pass and Xbox models. They don’t see Xbox as being consoles only, but the platform/app that is used. Xbox on PC for example and the mobile apps.

So yes, there might be more games moving over to other consoles and leaving Xbox exclusivity, but they will also achieve this naturally now that Microsoft owns Activision-Blizzard as their 3rd party games will help fulfil the requirement of being available to more people. When Call of Duty is selling on all consoles, they will class that as being Xbox reaching more people. And for sure, Game Pass will get Call of Duty at some point and that alone will draw in new players to the Xbox platform. And this is their main strategy. They said last night that Xbox games on other console will help draw people in to Xbox. They will see Game Pass subscriptions sky rocket when Call of Duty and other heavy hitters come day 1 to the platform. This will be a combination of Xbox console sales, Game Pass subscribers on PC, and people who previously had no access to CoD trying the cloud and mobile options.

There is a lot more to say, but the general thing to remember is that Xbox isn’t going anywhere. Everything points to them growing in strength.

Loads of people are annoyed about the reveals (or lack of them) but let’s be level headed here.

What they told us:

1. Xbox consoles are here to stay
So many were saying Xbox was about to die. That all Xbox exclusives were being ported etc. it was all false. A lot of rumours said Xbox wasn’t making new consoles but we found out they are bringing out new consoles this generation AND next gen. Another myth that was busted.

2. We know the four games
Pentiment, Hi Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded. Okay, they didn’t say it but it’s pretty obvious. I’d eat my hat if it wasn’t them.

3. Xbox will still have exclusives
Most of Xboxes first party games will still be exclusive to Xbox consoles. They aren’t abandoning their core. There will be many more exclusives in the years to come for Xbox consoles. I don’t know why people thought this wouldn’t be the case.

4. Xbox Game Pass is growing in strength
A lot of the anti-Xbox comments on here were saying how “Game Pass is unsustainable” and that Xbox was having to sell on PS/Switch to cover costs. Well they crushed that myth today. All Xbox first party titles are coming to Xbox. And that includes new releases from Activision-Blizzard. Also existing titles are coming starting with Diablo 4 in March. That’s great news for Game Pass users.

5. The gaming community needs to chill
I think the emotional incontinence on display in the last few weeks, the wild speculation and the amount of wrong predictions (and even the fanboy/entitled reactions tonight) shows a lack of professionalism from gaming media and a lack of maturity from the gaming community. I love you guys, but holy moly!

It’s the faint stubble line on her face that is a bizarre design choice.

She looks like a woman, but she also looks like she could be a trans woman.

Jumping back to PlayStation I have noticed that certain games I play are more populated.

Monster Hunter World and Destiny 1, two older games that have more active players on PlayStation.

Rocket League, for example, I’m almost always playing with PlayStation players. Like, both teams are all PlayStation. On Xbox I would rarely see that. Maybe one teammate was Xbox and the rest of the players were not.

The only exception I found to this was Exoprimal. That was 90% Xbox players vs PlayStation because of the release being on Game Pass. Not sure how it is now though.

It definitely feels like a bigger community on PlayStation, which makes sense because it is.

A Lara Love!

Great Cilla Black tagline there @get2sammyb

@Grumblevolcano

Thank you for explaining.

If Xbox goes full out porting games to PS5/Switch then I think you are right. But while that is wild speculation at the moment, I don’t think that will be the case.

I don’t see why Xbox would fight so hard for the right to exclusivity of Activision/Blizzard if they were suddenly going to kill their own console business. The rumours are hyperbolic and show the immaturity of the gaming community and the state gaming journalism is in right now.

With that in mind, I don’t think porting 2 or 3 games will be alienating their user base. It can only be a benefit since those games have been times exclusives on Xbox already.

That’s my take at least. And if we find out tomorrow all the rumours are true, I’d agree that alienation is a thing. 😁

@Shushibda profits are still profits.

The games are already made. They will cost little to port and they will make money. I can imagine Hi Fi Rush selling well on Switch, for example.

I don’t understand what you mean by alienating their user base though?

I hope this happens as it makes good business sense.

All the wild speculation about Xbox shutting down their console business should be crushed tomorrow.

My guess is Xbox will be with us for years to come and maintain its AAA exclusives, but that Microsoft will port select games for profits on other consoles and try draw some in with them.

Well, last year was big for games and whet people’s appetite for PS5 and this year seems just as strong (if not stronger).

It would be mighty impressive to see 25 million sold this year. But I doubt it will kill off Xbox though. They’re gonna be sticking around.

@RubyCarbuncle yep.

The most liked comment on this page is a fanboy-like take on how a rival to PlayStation is “crap” when most who liked it probably haven’t even played Splatoon, but they dislike it because it’s a rival game.

I’m sorry, but it’s a bad take. Not because you yourself are wrong to express your opinion, but because fanboys have pounced on it.

Foamstars isn’t bad. But it is lacking compared to Splatoon, which is not only objectively a better game, but actually is a good game in its own right that is well made and has tons of creative ideas that are unique to it. Foamstars is just like Rocket Arena. Not a bad game, but far inferior to the rivals it tried to copy.

What I’m trying to say in all this is that just because a game isn’t your style, it isn’t “crap”. And even though you may not be a fanboy, many liking your comment surely are.

@RubyCarbuncle some of the Push Square fanboys need to tone down their stupidity.

Just because this is on PlayStation doesn’t mean you have to hate Splatoon.

This game isn’t bad, but it is an inferior wannabe to Splatoon in almost every way. There is no question about it.

@Balosi @WizzNL I think it’s all PR spin.

The PR spin for the public was “it’s just overlapping jobs”. I had someone tell me in Microsoft’s defence that “every company would do that” which I did it buy for a second.

The court defense is these were “pre planned dismissals”.

One part is a lie. It’s just working out which one… or both?

@personauser93 I get that people are mad at Microsoft, but what you are calling for are draconian measures that illegally restrict the rights of individuals.

You can’t just blacklist people. This isn’t China/Russia/Iran etc.

@UltimateOtaku91 I’m not entirely convinced the toxicity around all that came exclusively from Xbox fans…

Minecraft is on all consoles.

This could be a great big nothing burger.

I feel that rumours, leaks and gossip are a cesspool that just stir up irrationality.

Regardless of the direction they go, I hope Microsoft can properly explain the situation and take away all doubts.

So they are angry because they love the game so much they want more of it so they attack the people who made the thing they love?

I don’t understand how under developed their brains must be to be that dumb.

20 hours is a win for me.

Will definitely pick this up in the future.

Japanese games rocking the top spots of the UK chart is always a good to see.

Still feels like a ‘storm in a teacup’ situation.

They may feel like this is a win, but I’m sure some developers will do the bare minimum for accessibility now rather than trying anything different and getting burned.

@DualWielding what game is your profile picture from?

I remember the day my brother came home with a brand new 32X and plugged it into our Sega MegaDrive (Genesis) and our minds were blown by the graphics of Virtua Racing.

This game will get a sale from me just because it reminds me of my childhood. Excellent stuff.

@naruball yeah, I think he’s right.

It seems many fan writers turn into activists for a cause rather than just sharing their ideas and letting others have their own.

Most professional writers understand that people will interpret their work differently and there isn’t really a right or wrong to how an individual takes it. In fact, they often add far more meaning to parts of the story than the writers thought of. And many writers will admit that.

People need to understand that we all have our own imaginations and are allowed to have our own interpretations of the relationships within the game.

The whole point of storytelling is to invite people into the story and feel like they are a part of it.

I add my own imagination and interpretation into lots of books, films and games I enjoy. There is no right or wrong, we are all allowed to feel our own emotions about things.

Car looks cool, but this is just remote play. You could theoretically do this with any screen/device inside any car.

I’d be more impressed if it had an actual PS5 inside the car.

I’m still enjoying Final Fantasy 15 this weekend in between being a Dad taxi for the wife and kids.

@Ray_Ray_Regasis yeah, I know it’s not going away but I’m going to rage against it for as long as I live. Haha

We just had to keep feeding the little monster, didn’t we?

It started with mobile games. Companies learned that people would pay small fees to feed their addiction. “Free” games that would make their hooked junkies pay for more tries.

Then we had F2P games where people paid for content. Then loot boxes for cosmetics. Then buying cosmetics themselves. The human need for the latest item to flex on random strangers online.

Developers played us like crack heads hooked on a drug. And now when we are finally waking up it’s too late. The little monster is now a behemoth.

£200 for all this stuff is £200 too much. I’d argue £2 should be enough to unlock a FF7 battle pass that permanently allows people to unlock these items at their leisure. But the companies would never be so kind.

For that price you might as well buy the limited edition of FF7:Rebirth and have a real life One Winged Angel Sephiroth figurine, much better than some death box made of pixels.

Losing that many staff will surely have a negative impact. Devs seeing this will be thinking that future enhancements to the software will be impacted and customer support etc. It makes Unity even less appealing.

The only winners are the shareholders who literally couldn’t care for this industry or company and are only in it for money.

@UltimateOtaku91 read my above comment.

The Xbox price slash happened in December. It was Sony that slashed prices in November.

But Sony had stock issues.

Of course PlayStation is selling better even with stock shortages (which should now be resolved).

@get2sammyb yes and no.

PlayStation was massively discounted in November.

Sony reduced the price to £380 for a disc model. This coincided with Black Friday, but the main reason was to get rid of old stock of the “fat” model in preparation for the new slim consoles.

This actually resulted in stock issues for PS5 in November. So it might have impacted sales that month.

Xbox on the other hand was massively discounted in December. They timed their major sale close to Christmas (likely to avoid the competition with Sony).

Microsoft planned it for when the PS5 prices were back to their peak and wouldn’t be discounted because it was a new product. This made their console more appealing for parents seeing the price difference when buying Christmas presents.

It will be interesting to see what happened combining both Nov/Dec to see if this had an effect.

Final Fantasy 15

I’m 30 hours in and taking it slow. Doing all side quests and hunts so only on chapter 5 right now. Actually really enjoying it.

@InsaneWade I really hope they will release them over on Xbox.

It’s clear the main audience for these games is on PlayStation (with Switch being second) but I think the more places it’s available the better.

@UltimateOtaku91 the Final Fantasy franchise is one of the main reasons I chose PlayStation over Xbox.

Having said that, I wouldn’t mock Xbox players for their misfortune. This game should be available to all (imho).

Those materia power ups look like a great little feature.

I expected skins, I didn’t expect them to add new game mechanics for it.

I know someone with severe epilepsy. She doesn’t even look at TVs let alone play games.

People in that camp know their limits and adapt themselves rather than expecting the world to pander to them.

The likely only thing this mode will do is give a few people a headache or dizziness and they will simply change the filter because the people that can die from this won’t be stupid enough to do that. Those who benefit from the mode will appreciate the feature and use it.

It’s not a forced feature of the game. It isn’t on by default. So let’s stop trying to tear everyone down with online outrage and just act rationally for a minute.

@GeeEssEff @The_Pixel_King @EvenStephen7

Thanks for the messages, I was going to just write something simple like, “I predicted I’d own a PS5 and now I do.” But I ended up typing a lot more. Obviously had stuff to get off my chest.

Thanks for the encouragement. Despite the struggles, last year was still good for us as a family. These things always draw us closer together and help us see what’s important in life. But I’m quite confident 2024 will be better.

Happy New Year everyone and thanks to the PushSquare staff for another year of top notch content.

Last year I predicted (hoped) I would be able to afford a PS5 in 2023.

We had some family health issues that needed financing, so instead of upgrading having both an Xbox Series X and a PS5 (which was the plan) I ended up selling all of my old consoles and games, including my Series X. Raised a few thousand from old figurines, consoles, games etc to afford the equipment for my son.

Despite all this, remarkably, I managed to get a PS5 in the Black Friday sales after my wife gave me the approval.

I now only have a shiny new PS5 (which is honestly the best gaming experience and all I need in a console) but best of all, a healthy son. I feel I won this year.

@Lorcan Tyria is a nice place to be.

2023 is the year I got my Skyscale. Still a bit behind on the story content though as I’m working through it all in sequence.

I’ll add my voice to the “What? Why is FF16 not on the list?” crowd.

Not only should it be IN the top ten, it should be high up in it.

Final Fantasy 15 in between wrapping presents, seeing family and going to church.

I don’t know why I put FF15 off for so long. I’m 10 hours in and having a blast.