Happy they did even if I didn't get MK1 or SF6. MK1 I was waiting on a price drop and a few passes released so I get the complete game. SF6..... SF5 left a bad taste in my mouth. I hear its better, but I'm not only sick of SF, but I'm sick of their BS transactions, passes, incomplete game, etc. Tekken 8 still has character passes, but I feel like they've never let me down in light of that. No aftermath pack, no "let's release a story and arcade years later", I feel like its a complete game, and I get to buy a box of chocolates to liven things up. Excited to get Tekken 8.
@GamingFan4Lyf Ya if you ever get a chance to peek at Wal-mart's sales distribution of physical games. Its shifted to their online store front. No point in keeping games on the floor at walmart aside from a small selection.
It's just big box stores evolving to meet the needs of the consumer. Right now, those needs don't include walking into the store for a game when you can have it shipped to you. I haven't been in a walmart in about 23+ years. i think the last time was to pick up my N64 a month or so after release when they had some inventory in. I imagine they have a pick up counter just like Target and BestBuy. If there is any merch, its in the back on a palette out of the way. I will not be surprised if the hardware starts disapearing too. I haven't purchased a console in the store since PSP. As I said if you look at the data, most hardware purchases happen online now. It's not that physical media is disapearing, its that the relevance of these stores is disapearing. Now having a large floor with lots of product doesn't really matter in an age where everything is tracked and optimized to show up when you need it. I imagine if a small mom and pop store or a small chain utilized such a strategy they could compete.
More bad reporting: "As we’re all gradually coming to terms with, physical media is on the way out."
First of all you need to look at why Best Buy and Target etc are not selling physical media on store shelves right now. That product used to bring consumers in to buy other things. Get legs on the show room floor. I'm not sure when the last time you've walked into a best buy or a target and measured how empty the places are. It's dead. Seriously there was a time in the 2000s where I had to stand in line to get to a register. Getting to the games section was a chore, not because the games section was full, but because people were there with their families buying all sorts of merchandise. Kids would then flock to these sections and bug their parents to buy them games. Teens would pick something up while they were there etc.
Things have changed since 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015. The recent stay at home policies of most countries have lead to this rapid change in trends. No one is going to best buy for really anything. Their gaming hardware section in general and even their PC selection has shrunk. No one buys these things from best buy anymore. Why should I go to best buy for a 70 dollar game in 2023? When Amazon and even Best Buy.com have the game at my door step the day of release.
Digital does not mean Online Market Place btw. It's not Digial sales that are ultimately winning here. Physical is doing fine, something Disney had a nice clean wake up call over in the past year. Now that all of their content is finding its way to bluray and 4k bluray.
I don't blame best buy for dropping any of this from the show room floor. I think the future is going to look like this: you go online, put in an order, you choose to pick it up or get it sent to you. No more will you be going onto the floor, picking up the game, walking to a register. Those days are done. You'll see that happen with the hardware too. No more will you be picking up a PS5 at the store. If they ever stop selling the games. You will no longer be able to buy a PS5 at best buy. I will be surprised if this all digital xbox future will be welcomed.
This isn't the only products with issues. Many things are disapearing from best buy, things that you can't download are now just going away because its cheaper to buy online and have it show up tomorrow or later in the week. Online games journalists have no idea what is going on.
@Powerplay94 you want to hear something funny? When I worked at studio sf they had a board with all the possible names for this game. It was close to the bathrooms on the second floor. No one understood why this name was picked. So I can only assume the pretentious dh who wrote the name on the wall was also the one with the final word.
Given the history of the project I am not at all surprised that it ended up with the most generic name ever to reflect its wannabe generic call of duty game play. This title was intended to just replicate what rainbow six seige had done.
If you knew what games were cancelled in favor this lame attempt at money grabbing mediocrity, you'd be pissed.
@RainbowGazelle I suspect this is to help clear out the existing digital models after these machines are released. People who by the disc model will be basically buying the same thing and won't even consider the drive being replaceable. Those buying digital will think twice about buying it, now that th enew models have a safety net, even if it basically has an "I'm stupid" tax tacked on. Once the old models are cleared out they'll drop the price of the digital to meet the price difference. Then 6 mos after that drop the price of both by 50 to 100 dollars when the PS5 Pro/Edge releases either at 499 or 549. I have a feeling it'll be a 50 dollar price drop with the Pro Edge at 549. Keep a 100 dollar price difference between the 3. We could even see a Pro without a drive for the price of the base system.
@trev666 It's not built in obscellescence. It's just no one considered upgrading something that has been used in controller with little issue for almost 30 years now. I seriously have controllers that get about 10 hours of use a day being passed around the studio. This launch dual sense at my desk has yet to have drift or any other issue. So I'd say its expected failure rate being within a ratio just getting way more visibility that it use to.
@theSpectre I think what they will ultimately do is shelve the project, shift the teams focus towards TLoU3 to build buzz again, then refocus back to the multiplayer.
Release TLoU MP now would be a waste without marketing behind it. half the audience from the TLoU is pissed about TLoU2 still. That relationship needs to be repaired, assuming sony even cares to do so (current attitudes from the California based studio and sony themselves -now hq in CA- would see to indicate they don't), but if they do they may want to see audience response to TLoU3 first.
If I was sony I'd release the MP, 3 to 6 months before the 3rd game. Generate the hype, get fans together, make it part of the TLoU3 hype train, plan TLoU3 assets and preorder bonus', maybe unlock TloU1-2 characters. Then when TLoU3 comes out dependng on how well its recieved, they can soft land into the multiplayer and continue supporting it. At leas then there will be some good will to bring people back for TLoU3. Especially if its mean to be F2P and everyone plays it as a live service.
I think releasing now or saying anything now would just be a cold death. It's been 3 years since launch, probably 4 when the game sees the light of day. So they may just us TLoU3 to relaunch "Factions 2" as its own thing.
Of course I don't care they already lost me with TLoU2, but I'd imagine there are people who are hoping it'll return to form. They should also drop the "part" from the name. TLoU2 isn't a part of anything. First game was meant to be standalone. Not like hte first game ended with Joel showing up in a delorian warning Ellie about her kids.
Chasing live service titles is just not a good idea. I'd go as far as to say that they are an even eviler younger brother of Episodic content. No one really wants it, except the share holders who think its some kind of cash cow.
Problem is having a reason to do a live service game doesn't make much sense. Live Service doesn't imply multiplayer either, though it tends to be the sort of game most associated with it.
That being said multiplayer has kind of plateaued as everyone predicted 20 years ago. There isn't a whole lot of innovative or uniquely new things happening in that space like back when it was new and exciting. Not that there isn't any room for growth, but that growth isn't happening. Live services was a solution to help fix that problem.
I honestly would prefer we go back to the days of expansions like what Guild Wars 2 is still doing.
Sony has no issue making good Multiplayer games. Even if a few gamers thumb their noses at sony for no good reason either becuase it isn't single player or because it isn't the multiplayer they invested 900 hours into already. Uncharted 2&3, Killzone 2&3, Socom, MAG, Drive Club, GT, most of their best multiplayer was on PS3 imo. Ironically when Online was still free lol.
What has hurt destiny over the years is its live service model, its crappy engine (in a content pipeline and updating capacity), and its lack of growth that was promised. The game just isn't a compelling experience beyond grinding some gear and getting to do raids. That experience just kept getting agonizing and less of a pay off the further you got into it and there just wasn't enough of it to justify the long hours they wanted from players. So I find it ironic that Sony bought Bungie. I still think Bungie was a bad investment.
It's fine if these studios has a great idea or even wants to bolt on an MP mode because they themselves think the single player gameplay would make sense in that space. I'm even open to creating an MMO for these games, if there is a valid reason to do so. These companies (not just sony) needs to understand is not everyone is willing to dedicate so much time on the companies terms just to fullfill their live service needs. You need people to play your game to justify charging for items in your game, as well as having a reason to buy in the first place. Something Aliens Elite Fireteam knows all to well. Evne OVerwatch is slowly learning this lesson. Using myself as an example. I love multi player games. Sunk a lot of time into them. The more convoluted they became the less interested i was in playing them. Granted I'm older now, I have responsibilities. But it isn't the responsibilities I'm struggling with. It's the fact that I've found more hobbies. The mind share has become intense. There are a lot of games. Long Games. That I want to play. I could spend another hundred on Overwatch, but I could put that into Immortals of Aveum instead. Ok what about the next 100 hours? Oh look Tactics Ogre Reborn. surely the 100 hours after that? Nope, A Plague Tale Requim. Come on the next hundred? Gotta platinum Spiderman 2. Just isn't enough time. these big live service games are an albatross of expenses to keep up and maintain.
@Gaia093 ya its sold very well outside the Xbox eco system given the delayed release. If they were disappointed by the numbers, it's because they shot themselves in the foot. Longer you delay a release on a platform for another the more interest fades. Rise of the Tomb Raider is a great example of this. Square lost money on that deal even after Microsoft paid for exclusivity. Sure they reached 11m, but only after heavily cutting the price in half. Wasn't long before we were pay 15 to 20 dollars for it a year after the Xbox launch on playstation. Prices were slashed after 2mo. The game quickly ended up as a freebie to boot. That isn't even getting into all the collectors editions of rise that were also discounted and inventory dumped because no one was buying for those platforms. Which was a real shame, it's the best statue of that trilogy. I personally got that CE for half the price for pc so I could have it. Wasn't likely we'd see a ps4 run. So now I have it for ps4 and pc. Never touched the pc version, at least I have my statue and other items. Liquidation was just brutal, square should have just recalled and sold with the playstation edition, there was so much hype around the ce. Its a win win if your game moves units and first party pays to subsidize the other platform. When the purchasing is something 60 30 in favor of playstation and you go Xbox with the remaining 10 being on pc. You're kind of shooting yourself in the foot. As much as Ms maybe able to pay they aren't willing to pay for 2 times that of what their audience will buy. In otherwords the worst your console is doing the more you have to pay. A real catch 22. Maybe if it was a launch title or earlier in the generation that have been fine, but for established franchises, no dice, you delay until the numbers are right.
@Mythologue We're on the same page believe me. I don't think this is anything more than some of sony's documents being pulled if any at all. This isn't even being reported as PlayStation being impacted. Most of those systems are pretty isolated to begin with.
Even if they did the encryption on a lot of what is there, credit card numbers, etc still need the users password to be able to do anything with it. Even the password isn't a striaght string.
If you really want to be blind to what someone else is doing with your data, then 2FA and unique passwords are the way to go. Also being very caustious with your security questions. I don't even answer with the right birthdate when setting a lot of that stuff up.
But I'm paranoid. At least I can rest peacefully knowing someone won't just use the last 4 digits of my social to get into my accounts lol.
@Beerheadgamer82 I'd say you'd need to play more games if you adored it for something that has been done many times before. Including in Killzone 2 where the main character of Killzone 1 is killed. It was an unearned emotional manipulation and wasn't very good. I had no issue with joel dying, but the context in which he was killed was so rushed and forced. It was cheaply done. When you have 40 hours to work with and you choose the laziest way to create tention possible by starting the game off like the last almost beat for beat. Well you done messed up. That isn't even getting into how they handled Abby, another source of unearned emotional conflict for the player. I think new players had no issue getting past this and players who really didn't have a strong bond with the story of the first could get past it. Ultimately you had a game that took an audience already split in 2 at the end of the first game with lots of unanswered questions, then killed off the one character who could have started the journey to understanding all of that out of the picture.
Now granted the subject and memory of joel doesn't die so long as Ellie lives, but instead starting that journey with Ellie, we're asked to take on the source of her pain. So not only was this a one trick move to manipulate the player replicating the first game, but it went against not the expectations, but rather the desire of the player base to get some more resolution or explination for what changed in the relationship and see these two interact more. It was poorly handled.
Many weren't expecting untouchable super heroes out of this. You need to understand that for many TLoU2 was like watching yourself get murdered, not watching your father figure die.
That isn't even getting into the other dissapointing aspects of the game. For the most part I felt the start of the game was cheaply done and forced. It just didn't make for an interesting game. It's cast of new characters did not help matters much.
Keep in mind that the original TLoU started development on the Uncharted 2 engine. It had the added benefit of 3 games worth of technology. That the company was better coordinated and lead at the time. We didn't have to wait an entire console generation in a void for TLoU1. I expect TLoU3 if they do it to sell less than TLoU2, which is struggling to reach the 20m the PS3 version of TLoU1 managed on its own.
Taking futile steps you mean. Its like installing air bags after the collision occurred in your car. Locking your front door after you've been robbed. Closing your bank account after the bank has been cleaned out.
Damage is done. Showing there is no shortage of stupid people in the world.
If it's that much of an issue, get an identity theft kit from one of the many providers and talk to your credit card company about a reissue as the card number is now compromised. That's it. Nothing else you can do. Deleting your psn account does nothing to protect you at this point.
@NotSoCryptic @Beerheadgamer82 This isn't hate, its realism. If it was hate, I'd ask for the studio to burn down and every person working there to never see another day in the industry. Good to understand what hate is.
Between remakes, Neil's narcissim, the problems with ND last generation just getting 2 games out the door. I'm just not expecting them to release anything before PS6. PS4 ND was dissappointing. Thankfully the other studios picked up the slack. I loved Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy, but they were missing things that Uncharted 1-3 and even golden abyss posses that Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy lacked. We're talking about a company that released 4 games on th emost difficult playstation system to develop on. For some reason on their easiest console to develope on, they couldn't muster anything more than Uncharted 4, a DLC expansion turned into a stand alone product, and game that honestly didn't need a sequel, but got one. Now we stand here 3 years into PS5's life and we're looking at what they've done and its a development hell multiplayer mode for TLoU2 one of the most devicive games in playstation history that half the audience hated and a remake to a PS3 game that some people aren't sure even needed it.
Ultimately I don't expect to see a Naughty Dog game, because I half expect it to be a PS6 game the way they've been run lately. I'm expecting Sucker Punch, Bend, and the other studios to start picking up the slack.
@GamingFan4Lyf Good god I forgot all about that.... guess we'll see what happens there. Probably fall through like the Platinum Games title they had on XB1.
@MidnightDragonDX Harrison or Spencer... problem with first names. He is a close second to Don matrick. We should count ourselves lucky he didn't make the psvr2 a mandatory pack in or a camera to be comparatively correct for reference lol. Tv tv tv.
@Beerheadgamer82 I'm not expecting anything from Naughty Dog this console generation. They've lost their way after Uncharted 4 and a lot of major staff left the studio.
I feel like this will be a Mid November Showcase. We'll get Spiderman2, they'll ride the hype, start the showcase. Then blow our minds.
Other possibility is in 2 to 3 weeks. They'll start the show off with a hype video for Spiderman 2, something that completely blows everyones mind to remind them why they should be hyped for this game. Then end the show on their next expected exclusive project to release. Probably Death Stranding 2. Part of me hopes we'll see more than that. Some strong announcements. Because DS2 isn't going to move a lot of people to get excited for PS5. I loved the first game, but the idea of going through that experience again, just makes me ask if I could be doing something else. Its a strange place to be. I got to experience something new with DS and I loved that. I just don't know that I'd be excited to do it again. I'll give Kojima a shot because he surprised me with MGS3, then blew my mind with MGS4, and while I hate MGS5 still managed to evolve the experience into something fresh from something old.
@BrockSmith not likely. AI just can't fake emotion. They can't fake context, and they can't fake the originality of the delivery of those emotions. I guess a good example of this would be benedicta in ff16 after a major scene where she's faced with one of the games major plot elements. Or even Clive soon after that fight. The last of us at the start with Troy bakers performance. Each of those have extreme moments of pain, all presenting the same emotion of internal conflict, confusion, and sadness. Each displays them in a different way.
Ultimately an AI could be given everything it needs from a director that an actor would need and just fail at it. If you get a performance, it'll be a generic one, or worse a replicant that doesn't understand what it's copying.
That being said, I can't say I agree with their need to strike. If they aren't careful, it won't be ai they are competing with, but new talent.
Nope. Star ratings with no context given. How do I know those one star people aren't purists that want tank controls. Worse your one star is some 9yr old who is mad that it isn't their favorite game they are rating. Does the ps5 check if they've played the game? Time spent? Weight their I put by the kinds of games they play as it relates to the person viewing the rating?
This just sounds like the mob deciding the value of something. Hard pass.
@SJR and you would be correct. It was removed in one of the format change some time ago. No reason given. Not that it was to terribly useful back then. Likely won't be to terribly useful now either.
@ArmoredMore This is no where near the level of the 2011 hack. Otherwise PSN would be down right now. Yes, saddly what is being described in the article is in fact and every day occurence. It's even possible this is a bluff.
Ultimately it sounds like Sony's internal documents are what is compromised, not consumer data. I don't think any where cares of the PS5 Pro and PS6 gets leaked at this point. Let alone the new MX series Sony Wireless headphones with a slight revision to last years noise cancelling is really going to bother anyone.
Yes, these are the figures I expected. When they get these games they are basically paying for a bulk of licenses 4 to 10m of them. In the case of jedi survivor your look at maybe 5m licenses. The expectation is the number of subs will balance that out. 40m even at 60 a year is 2.4b dollars. So if they can get one winner a year and maybe some dated titles that don't really sell anymore for less than a few million like say saints row. They can usually pocket a billion and some change. Maybe use the change for network infrastructure and slowly build a coffer for network overhauls at the last possible minute after accumulating 3 to 5 years of profit.
Which is why they should cut these free games loose and return to a free model for online play. It's also why Microsoft should reconsider its game pass strategy. Profitability numbers just aren't there. Especially when you can pay for a month and then ditch the service to play first party titles at a fraction of the cost.
In microsofts case they've gone back to abandoning backward compatibility. Only 50% of the x360 library is support on xb1 and series. Less than 10% of Xbox classic. These ftc documents showed them switching architectures which basically undoes all the progress with that platform if they decide to go with arm64. So this money which should be going towards that initiative isn't.
Gamers blew it by doubling down on these subs. Now we're conditioned.
Gonna go with terrible. It start off on the worst leg imaginable and who ever that woman was at the start. I hope they never bring her back. I felt like I was listening to an HR person telling me how great DE&I is. HR people suck. Anyway, the event starting with the Goat Simulator or Human Dipshit Simulator almost had me turn the damned thing off to come back later when all the trailers were up. Sony should never start a State of Play like that again.
That being said once we got over that hump we were greated with basically trailers for games we knew about. Helldivers 2 looks awesome, it also looked awesome when they first showed it off. Spiderman 2 looks good, but I can't say I'm super excited about the game and its kind of just been floating there as we wait for the game to finally release. Even if i was excited, I'm interested in what I get to play after Spider Man 2. The same goes for FF7 Rebirth. Don't get me wrong my head exploded with that trailer and had me spamming squares webiste hoping the CE would pop up for preorder. Again i came away with this sense of "yes we know". I can't really give Sony credit for something I've been waiting for since 2019. Honestly do not care about Avatar 2, I'd be happy if I never play another Ubisoft game ever again.
So what did this need? New games. What the hell is Sony working on after Spider Man 2? Sony is in silent running as we wait to hear what they have planned for 2024. Where is my FF17 announcement? Would have been a nice surprise if Tales of Arise was getting more than 20 hour DLC content. Kind of over DLC, I just ignore it now. Is this where Infamous Second Son 2 is announced? Ghost of Tsushima 2 or what ever its called? Ghost of Some Other Island? Hell I'd have been happy with another Astrobot game, been dying for a sequel to our favorite pack in freebie that builds on that same concept.
It was ho hum. I'd have to say its execution was bad. A lot of it steers back to how it started. I feel sorry for that poor woman being sent out like a lamb to slaughter.
This is an absolutely absurd use of the viewer numbers.
FF7 Rebirth is also on Square Enix's two other channels for this trailer. Just the Final Fantasy Channel ALONE has 552k views. Between the reaction videos, Square's other channels, the duplication channels. etc It really makes no sense to metric the official sony page for interest.
Don't get me wrong I have no doubt that Spider Man 2 has huge hype going for it, but this article and its title is acting like FF7 Rebirth doesn't have millions of fans just as rabbid for it as there are people rabbid for Spider Man 2. I can't honestly say I'm super excited for Spider Man 2. After the last two titles I'm still feeling a bit burned out by it and would have preferred another Resistance game or a new Insomniac IP before jumping into this game. Mean while I've waited 4 years for the next chapter of FF7 R Trilogy.
@LiamCroft It actually does. He outlines how they are working towards a waiver needing a day one patch. If the game is unstable you will get flagged by Sony and Microsoft. Huge 3rd party publishers can get waivers and release the game with the promise of a patch. Even get a waiver for having the game on the disc. It's pretty obnoxious.
I'm going to say this once, never trust the head of a projects word at face value. Especially when Ubisoft is involved. They will lie to your face about a problem with their game, about knowing about a problem, and more. I know this because i've been through this with them on the otherside.
@RIGGOR_MORTIS the answer is waivers. A lot of this stuff (yes even the frame rate, unlike claimed above) are part of the certification process. Big enough publishers can get past it and promise to patch the issue. Then you end up with Cyberpunk 2077. I guaranty you that this dumpster fire of a game, just as bad.
Well that's a straight up lie. If the game doesn't pass cert then its failing on the other end of the quality spectrum. The kind of think that drops the starfield user score on metacrtic to a 6.8. That isn't even getting into the fact tha game has been complete garbage since day one.
@Constable_What let's hope it doesn't become elden ring. They are two different styles of open world, I absolutely hated elden ring, yes I did finish it. I'm not defending forbidden west either. It lost something zero dawn had that separated it from everything I hated about open world. Forbidden west introduced other problems. The biggest glaring issue is that she's in race against the clock story wise. Every 5s she has "hold up a moment" interruption. The director or actor had no idea how to preserve the tension and frustration of alloy behind her sighing constantly. The fetch me quests become intrusive. The whole "let's do a perspective puzzle " didn't fit this games atmosphere. Not too mention to many of them. Weapon up grading and armor upgrading as well as stats had not only become convoluted, but gave no easy path to start experimenting from the start to help the player understand why they should even focus on it. Another starfield like example of 'we expect you to spend time with this in the end game and not at the very start', this is bad game design and it's also what got ff13 in a lot of hot water with its fan base.
I did eventually end up enjoying forbidden west, but it was missing that spark and introduced some plot threads that felt forced. Wouldn't say it jumped the shark, but it got dangerously close. Carry Ann Mosses character being one of the least interesting and most forced aspects of the game. Half the time I don't even think she knew wtf was going on. They were trying to be clever with a twist that was so heavy handed that it never really arrived when it did. I also don't think she should have been cast in this part. She wasn't convincing in the matrix as trinity and she wasn't convincing here either. If they had to go with a actress to nod, I'd have chosen Lucy lawless since she has managed to make that sort of character work in shows outside of xena.
Something was off with this game and I have a few thoughts, but I wonder how much of it was change in leadership and corporate de&I influence.
@Boucho11 same, the dlc is equally as disappointing compared to frozen wilds. Though I loved the first one almost immediately. I don't know what changed, but everything just seems less, over burdened, not well thought out, and way over extended.
@TabulaRasa it isn't and I'd say you've short circuited your own fun if you think it's been weak. Middling maybe, but with ff16, returnal, God of war, and many other great games in the last 2.5 years. I'm hesitant to call it weak.
Horizon 2 wasn't as good as the first I'll give you that. It's DLC didn't win it any points even without the pandering controversy that didn't serve the game or its story in any meaningful way.
So something is slipping at sony. But we've gotten some real tigers from 3rd parties and lesser known sony studios. As well as new sony acquisition insomniac games.
I'm still trying to understand what made it Excellent. Frozen Wilds did a better job of extending aloys journey. Burning Shores felt half hearted attempt to do that and give a love interest no one asked for.
While I enjoy exploring the many tribes of Horizon, this latest entry got us involved with a people in the framework of the game that I had no love for at the very start. Unlike the tribes of horizon zero dawn, where the people could be separated from their leaders, these guys were straight up tyrants. Except the guy leading the lost part of that expedition. We spent very little time with him. Leader of the sundom got more time then this dude got to show a different side of his people. Story wise it was just weak, especially since this entire game seemed to imply we'd see more of them. Kind of hoping we're at war with them in horizon 3 and they are as mindless about following nemesis as their own rules.
Gameplay didn't do much for me. I expected something more on the scale of the casino in Vegas. We never got that. Also gonna go out on a limb and say the Hollywood sign would be gone by this point in the story. Stage layout was more obnoxious than clever. What's his name showing up in a side quest was nice, but it would have better to have teamed up with him than what's her name to give the player something to latch on to. Again reflecting back to Vegas. A real zarthras of horizon imo.
Burning shores was a burning waste of time.
As far as traveling companions, I felt she was an annoying rubber stamp of aloy. Putting aside how the dlc ended. People put hype into her, but she just felt out of place 90% of the time. Like a character introduced in Naruto filler episodes, which would end a "you're just like me" moment. Honestly feel like they could have made a better enemy character out of her and foiled out her people a bit more. Everything else about her felt forced and one dimensional. They could have modeled her more after the woman from the hunting lodge, would have been more interesting. As I said that is putting aside the ending. Horizon 2 and now this dlc has me wondering if I should take a pause before buying horizon 3 at launch during another crowded release season. Seems the quality has gone down. That isn't even getting into the mess horizon 2 was in at launch.
There has been a slow decline in quality with Sony first party releases that has me concerned.
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Re: Tekken 8 Was Originally Due Out Day and Date with Street Fighter 6
Happy they did even if I didn't get MK1 or SF6. MK1 I was waiting on a price drop and a few passes released so I get the complete game. SF6..... SF5 left a bad taste in my mouth. I hear its better, but I'm not only sick of SF, but I'm sick of their BS transactions, passes, incomplete game, etc. Tekken 8 still has character passes, but I feel like they've never let me down in light of that. No aftermath pack, no "let's release a story and arcade years later", I feel like its a complete game, and I get to buy a box of chocolates to liven things up. Excited to get Tekken 8.
Re: Tekken 8 Was Originally Due Out Day and Date with Street Fighter 6
@LordAinsley Agreed. Release Tekken Tag Tournament 3!
Re: US Retail Giant Best Buy Allegedly Binning Physical Media
@GamingFan4Lyf Ya if you ever get a chance to peek at Wal-mart's sales distribution of physical games. Its shifted to their online store front. No point in keeping games on the floor at walmart aside from a small selection.
It's just big box stores evolving to meet the needs of the consumer. Right now, those needs don't include walking into the store for a game when you can have it shipped to you. I haven't been in a walmart in about 23+ years. i think the last time was to pick up my N64 a month or so after release when they had some inventory in. I imagine they have a pick up counter just like Target and BestBuy. If there is any merch, its in the back on a palette out of the way. I will not be surprised if the hardware starts disapearing too. I haven't purchased a console in the store since PSP. As I said if you look at the data, most hardware purchases happen online now. It's not that physical media is disapearing, its that the relevance of these stores is disapearing. Now having a large floor with lots of product doesn't really matter in an age where everything is tracked and optimized to show up when you need it. I imagine if a small mom and pop store or a small chain utilized such a strategy they could compete.
Re: US Retail Giant Best Buy Allegedly Binning Physical Media
More bad reporting: "As we’re all gradually coming to terms with, physical media is on the way out."
First of all you need to look at why Best Buy and Target etc are not selling physical media on store shelves right now. That product used to bring consumers in to buy other things. Get legs on the show room floor. I'm not sure when the last time you've walked into a best buy or a target and measured how empty the places are. It's dead. Seriously there was a time in the 2000s where I had to stand in line to get to a register. Getting to the games section was a chore, not because the games section was full, but because people were there with their families buying all sorts of merchandise. Kids would then flock to these sections and bug their parents to buy them games. Teens would pick something up while they were there etc.
Things have changed since 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015. The recent stay at home policies of most countries have lead to this rapid change in trends. No one is going to best buy for really anything. Their gaming hardware section in general and even their PC selection has shrunk. No one buys these things from best buy anymore. Why should I go to best buy for a 70 dollar game in 2023? When Amazon and even Best Buy.com have the game at my door step the day of release.
Digital does not mean Online Market Place btw. It's not Digial sales that are ultimately winning here. Physical is doing fine, something Disney had a nice clean wake up call over in the past year. Now that all of their content is finding its way to bluray and 4k bluray.
I don't blame best buy for dropping any of this from the show room floor. I think the future is going to look like this: you go online, put in an order, you choose to pick it up or get it sent to you. No more will you be going onto the floor, picking up the game, walking to a register. Those days are done. You'll see that happen with the hardware too. No more will you be picking up a PS5 at the store. If they ever stop selling the games. You will no longer be able to buy a PS5 at best buy. I will be surprised if this all digital xbox future will be welcomed.
This isn't the only products with issues. Many things are disapearing from best buy, things that you can't download are now just going away because its cheaper to buy online and have it show up tomorrow or later in the week. Online games journalists have no idea what is going on.
Re: Ubisoft Shooter XDefiant Delayed Once Again to Address 'Inconsistencies'
@Powerplay94 you want to hear something funny? When I worked at studio sf they had a board with all the possible names for this game. It was close to the bathrooms on the second floor. No one understood why this name was picked. So I can only assume the pretentious dh who wrote the name on the wall was also the one with the final word.
Given the history of the project I am not at all surprised that it ended up with the most generic name ever to reflect its wannabe generic call of duty game play. This title was intended to just replicate what rainbow six seige had done.
If you knew what games were cancelled in favor this lame attempt at money grabbing mediocrity, you'd be pissed.
It got the name it deserves.
Re: Activision Boss Hints a Guitar Hero Revival Could Be on the Cards
"It's sort of good, because it means we don't have guitar-shaped controllers taking up space anymore" Says you.
Re: PS5 Slim's Digital Edition Gets a Stealth Price Increase in USA
@__jamiie it's no wonder people cheered for Jim Ryan's retirement.
Re: PS5 Slim's Digital Edition Gets a Stealth Price Increase in USA
@RainbowGazelle I suspect this is to help clear out the existing digital models after these machines are released. People who by the disc model will be basically buying the same thing and won't even consider the drive being replaceable. Those buying digital will think twice about buying it, now that th enew models have a safety net, even if it basically has an "I'm stupid" tax tacked on. Once the old models are cleared out they'll drop the price of the digital to meet the price difference. Then 6 mos after that drop the price of both by 50 to 100 dollars when the PS5 Pro/Edge releases either at 499 or 549. I have a feeling it'll be a 50 dollar price drop with the Pro Edge at 549. Keep a 100 dollar price difference between the 3. We could even see a Pro without a drive for the price of the base system.
Guess we'll see by this time next year.
Re: PS5's Pro Controller DualSense Edge Will Get Strong Competition
@trev666 It's not built in obscellescence. It's just no one considered upgrading something that has been used in controller with little issue for almost 30 years now. I seriously have controllers that get about 10 hours of use a day being passed around the studio. This launch dual sense at my desk has yet to have drift or any other issue. So I'd say its expected failure rate being within a ratio just getting way more visibility that it use to.
Re: PS5's Pro Controller DualSense Edge Will Get Strong Competition
@Powerplay94 I play cod and shooters a lot. This controller doesn't do it for me. The layout is the biggest issue. I'll still to my Dual Sense Edge.
Re: Turns Out EA Sports May Never Have Needed FIFA After All
@Topov81 Unpopular with who? lol
Re: Square Enix Answers Age-Old Question of How to Say Cait Sith in Final Fantasy 7
@GamingFan4Lyf Please don't spoil Dirge of Cerberus, we're about to find out!
Re: Square Enix Answers Age-Old Question of How to Say Cait Sith in Final Fantasy 7
So nothing to see here becuase we've all been saying it that way since 1997?
Re: The Last of Us Multiplayer Game Is 'Basically on Ice' Right Now
@theSpectre I think what they will ultimately do is shelve the project, shift the teams focus towards TLoU3 to build buzz again, then refocus back to the multiplayer.
Release TLoU MP now would be a waste without marketing behind it. half the audience from the TLoU is pissed about TLoU2 still. That relationship needs to be repaired, assuming sony even cares to do so (current attitudes from the California based studio and sony themselves -now hq in CA- would see to indicate they don't), but if they do they may want to see audience response to TLoU3 first.
If I was sony I'd release the MP, 3 to 6 months before the 3rd game. Generate the hype, get fans together, make it part of the TLoU3 hype train, plan TLoU3 assets and preorder bonus', maybe unlock TloU1-2 characters. Then when TLoU3 comes out dependng on how well its recieved, they can soft land into the multiplayer and continue supporting it. At leas then there will be some good will to bring people back for TLoU3. Especially if its mean to be F2P and everyone plays it as a live service.
I think releasing now or saying anything now would just be a cold death. It's been 3 years since launch, probably 4 when the game sees the light of day. So they may just us TLoU3 to relaunch "Factions 2" as its own thing.
Of course I don't care they already lost me with TLoU2, but I'd imagine there are people who are hoping it'll return to form. They should also drop the "part" from the name. TLoU2 isn't a part of anything. First game was meant to be standalone. Not like hte first game ended with Joel showing up in a delorian warning Ellie about her kids.
Re: PlayStation's Push for Live Service Games Hasn't Been Going Smoothly
Chasing live service titles is just not a good idea. I'd go as far as to say that they are an even eviler younger brother of Episodic content. No one really wants it, except the share holders who think its some kind of cash cow.
Problem is having a reason to do a live service game doesn't make much sense. Live Service doesn't imply multiplayer either, though it tends to be the sort of game most associated with it.
That being said multiplayer has kind of plateaued as everyone predicted 20 years ago. There isn't a whole lot of innovative or uniquely new things happening in that space like back when it was new and exciting. Not that there isn't any room for growth, but that growth isn't happening. Live services was a solution to help fix that problem.
I honestly would prefer we go back to the days of expansions like what Guild Wars 2 is still doing.
Sony has no issue making good Multiplayer games. Even if a few gamers thumb their noses at sony for no good reason either becuase it isn't single player or because it isn't the multiplayer they invested 900 hours into already. Uncharted 2&3, Killzone 2&3, Socom, MAG, Drive Club, GT, most of their best multiplayer was on PS3 imo. Ironically when Online was still free lol.
What has hurt destiny over the years is its live service model, its crappy engine (in a content pipeline and updating capacity), and its lack of growth that was promised. The game just isn't a compelling experience beyond grinding some gear and getting to do raids. That experience just kept getting agonizing and less of a pay off the further you got into it and there just wasn't enough of it to justify the long hours they wanted from players. So I find it ironic that Sony bought Bungie. I still think Bungie was a bad investment.
It's fine if these studios has a great idea or even wants to bolt on an MP mode because they themselves think the single player gameplay would make sense in that space. I'm even open to creating an MMO for these games, if there is a valid reason to do so. These companies (not just sony) needs to understand is not everyone is willing to dedicate so much time on the companies terms just to fullfill their live service needs. You need people to play your game to justify charging for items in your game, as well as having a reason to buy in the first place. Something Aliens Elite Fireteam knows all to well. Evne OVerwatch is slowly learning this lesson. Using myself as an example. I love multi player games. Sunk a lot of time into them. The more convoluted they became the less interested i was in playing them. Granted I'm older now, I have responsibilities. But it isn't the responsibilities I'm struggling with. It's the fact that I've found more hobbies. The mind share has become intense. There are a lot of games. Long Games. That I want to play. I could spend another hundred on Overwatch, but I could put that into Immortals of Aveum instead. Ok what about the next 100 hours? Oh look Tactics Ogre Reborn. surely the 100 hours after that? Nope, A Plague Tale Requim. Come on the next hundred? Gotta platinum Spiderman 2. Just isn't enough time. these big live service games are an albatross of expenses to keep up and maintain.
Re: Reaction: PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan May Have Been Disliked, But Leaves Big Boots to Fill
He certainly will...... Jack Trenton and Shuhei Yoshida sized big boots that he never quite filled.
No doubt he's done much behind the scenes, but he should have never been CEO.
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man 2's PS5 Trophies Will Require You to Do Everything
So long as I don't have to do anymore of those stupid obstacle courses and training sessions where you fight a bunch of NPCs a non-mission.
Re: New Cuphead Update Skips PS4, Will Be Exclusive to Xbox, PC
@Gaia093 ya its sold very well outside the Xbox eco system given the delayed release. If they were disappointed by the numbers, it's because they shot themselves in the foot. Longer you delay a release on a platform for another the more interest fades. Rise of the Tomb Raider is a great example of this. Square lost money on that deal even after Microsoft paid for exclusivity. Sure they reached 11m, but only after heavily cutting the price in half. Wasn't long before we were pay 15 to 20 dollars for it a year after the Xbox launch on playstation. Prices were slashed after 2mo. The game quickly ended up as a freebie to boot. That isn't even getting into all the collectors editions of rise that were also discounted and inventory dumped because no one was buying for those platforms. Which was a real shame, it's the best statue of that trilogy. I personally got that CE for half the price for pc so I could have it. Wasn't likely we'd see a ps4 run. So now I have it for ps4 and pc. Never touched the pc version, at least I have my statue and other items. Liquidation was just brutal, square should have just recalled and sold with the playstation edition, there was so much hype around the ce. Its a win win if your game moves units and first party pays to subsidize the other platform. When the purchasing is something 60 30 in favor of playstation and you go Xbox with the remaining 10 being on pc. You're kind of shooting yourself in the foot. As much as Ms maybe able to pay they aren't willing to pay for 2 times that of what their audience will buy. In otherwords the worst your console is doing the more you have to pay. A real catch 22. Maybe if it was a launch title or earlier in the generation that have been fine, but for established franchises, no dice, you delay until the numbers are right.
Re: New Cuphead Update Skips PS4, Will Be Exclusive to Xbox, PC
So we just have to wait 3 years for it to be on Nintendo Switch and PS4? That's fine.
Re: Delete PlayStation Account Search Traffic Rockets Following Alleged Security Breach
@Mythologue We're on the same page believe me. I don't think this is anything more than some of sony's documents being pulled if any at all. This isn't even being reported as PlayStation being impacted. Most of those systems are pretty isolated to begin with.
Even if they did the encryption on a lot of what is there, credit card numbers, etc still need the users password to be able to do anything with it. Even the password isn't a striaght string.
If you really want to be blind to what someone else is doing with your data, then 2FA and unique passwords are the way to go. Also being very caustious with your security questions. I don't even answer with the right birthdate when setting a lot of that stuff up.
But I'm paranoid. At least I can rest peacefully knowing someone won't just use the last 4 digits of my social to get into my accounts lol.
Re: Rumour: State of Play Incoming? Death Stranding 2 Dev Photo Seems to Suggest Showcase
@Beerheadgamer82 I'd say you'd need to play more games if you adored it for something that has been done many times before. Including in Killzone 2 where the main character of Killzone 1 is killed. It was an unearned emotional manipulation and wasn't very good. I had no issue with joel dying, but the context in which he was killed was so rushed and forced. It was cheaply done. When you have 40 hours to work with and you choose the laziest way to create tention possible by starting the game off like the last almost beat for beat. Well you done messed up. That isn't even getting into how they handled Abby, another source of unearned emotional conflict for the player. I think new players had no issue getting past this and players who really didn't have a strong bond with the story of the first could get past it. Ultimately you had a game that took an audience already split in 2 at the end of the first game with lots of unanswered questions, then killed off the one character who could have started the journey to understanding all of that out of the picture.
Now granted the subject and memory of joel doesn't die so long as Ellie lives, but instead starting that journey with Ellie, we're asked to take on the source of her pain. So not only was this a one trick move to manipulate the player replicating the first game, but it went against not the expectations, but rather the desire of the player base to get some more resolution or explination for what changed in the relationship and see these two interact more. It was poorly handled.
Many weren't expecting untouchable super heroes out of this. You need to understand that for many TLoU2 was like watching yourself get murdered, not watching your father figure die.
That isn't even getting into the other dissapointing aspects of the game. For the most part I felt the start of the game was cheaply done and forced. It just didn't make for an interesting game. It's cast of new characters did not help matters much.
Keep in mind that the original TLoU started development on the Uncharted 2 engine. It had the added benefit of 3 games worth of technology. That the company was better coordinated and lead at the time. We didn't have to wait an entire console generation in a void for TLoU1. I expect TLoU3 if they do it to sell less than TLoU2, which is struggling to reach the 20m the PS3 version of TLoU1 managed on its own.
Re: Delete PlayStation Account Search Traffic Rockets Following Alleged Security Breach
@theMEGAniggle or you know, always use two factor identification and keep unique passwords for anything without it.
I wonder how many of these people have used the same data on smaller company sites that don't get reported because they are small.
Re: Delete PlayStation Account Search Traffic Rockets Following Alleged Security Breach
Taking futile steps you mean. Its like installing air bags after the collision occurred in your car. Locking your front door after you've been robbed. Closing your bank account after the bank has been cleaned out.
Damage is done. Showing there is no shortage of stupid people in the world.
If it's that much of an issue, get an identity theft kit from one of the many providers and talk to your credit card company about a reissue as the card number is now compromised. That's it. Nothing else you can do. Deleting your psn account does nothing to protect you at this point.
Re: Rumour: State of Play Incoming? Death Stranding 2 Dev Photo Seems to Suggest Showcase
@NotSoCryptic @Beerheadgamer82 This isn't hate, its realism. If it was hate, I'd ask for the studio to burn down and every person working there to never see another day in the industry. Good to understand what hate is.
Between remakes, Neil's narcissim, the problems with ND last generation just getting 2 games out the door. I'm just not expecting them to release anything before PS6. PS4 ND was dissappointing. Thankfully the other studios picked up the slack. I loved Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy, but they were missing things that Uncharted 1-3 and even golden abyss posses that Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy lacked. We're talking about a company that released 4 games on th emost difficult playstation system to develop on. For some reason on their easiest console to develope on, they couldn't muster anything more than Uncharted 4, a DLC expansion turned into a stand alone product, and game that honestly didn't need a sequel, but got one. Now we stand here 3 years into PS5's life and we're looking at what they've done and its a development hell multiplayer mode for TLoU2 one of the most devicive games in playstation history that half the audience hated and a remake to a PS3 game that some people aren't sure even needed it.
Ultimately I don't expect to see a Naughty Dog game, because I half expect it to be a PS6 game the way they've been run lately. I'm expecting Sucker Punch, Bend, and the other studios to start picking up the slack.
Re: Rumour: State of Play Incoming? Death Stranding 2 Dev Photo Seems to Suggest Showcase
@GamingFan4Lyf Good god I forgot all about that.... guess we'll see what happens there. Probably fall through like the Platinum Games title they had on XB1.
Re: Jim Ryan Retires as PlayStation Boss in March 2024
@MasterVGuides okami didn't sell well, gets 3 remakes lol. I mean seriously, did we need it on every playstation after the original ps2 release lol.
Re: Jim Ryan Retires as PlayStation Boss in March 2024
@MidnightDragonDX Harrison or Spencer... problem with first names. He is a close second to Don matrick. We should count ourselves lucky he didn't make the psvr2 a mandatory pack in or a camera to be comparatively correct for reference lol. Tv tv tv.
Re: Microsoft Documents Show How PlayStation Now Saved Fallout 76
@AdamNovice yes. If you read phils email you'd understand why.
Re: Rumour: State of Play Incoming? Death Stranding 2 Dev Photo Seems to Suggest Showcase
@Beerheadgamer82 I'm not expecting anything from Naughty Dog this console generation. They've lost their way after Uncharted 4 and a lot of major staff left the studio.
Re: Rumour: State of Play Incoming? Death Stranding 2 Dev Photo Seems to Suggest Showcase
@GamingFan4Lyf Is that game even confirmed? Last I heard it was a discussion with Microsoft that never got anywhere.
Re: Rumour: State of Play Incoming? Death Stranding 2 Dev Photo Seems to Suggest Showcase
I feel like this will be a Mid November Showcase. We'll get Spiderman2, they'll ride the hype, start the showcase. Then blow our minds.
Other possibility is in 2 to 3 weeks. They'll start the show off with a hype video for Spiderman 2, something that completely blows everyones mind to remind them why they should be hyped for this game. Then end the show on their next expected exclusive project to release. Probably Death Stranding 2. Part of me hopes we'll see more than that. Some strong announcements. Because DS2 isn't going to move a lot of people to get excited for PS5. I loved the first game, but the idea of going through that experience again, just makes me ask if I could be doing something else. Its a strange place to be. I got to experience something new with DS and I loved that. I just don't know that I'd be excited to do it again. I'll give Kojima a shot because he surprised me with MGS3, then blew my mind with MGS4, and while I hate MGS5 still managed to evolve the experience into something fresh from something old.
Re: Assassin's Creed Mirage Trophy List Demands a Lot of Busywork for the Platinum
It's an ubisoft game.... 90% of the game is busy work.
Re: A Video Game Actors Strike Could Happen Following Union Vote for Action
@BrockSmith not likely. AI just can't fake emotion. They can't fake context, and they can't fake the originality of the delivery of those emotions. I guess a good example of this would be benedicta in ff16 after a major scene where she's faced with one of the games major plot elements. Or even Clive soon after that fight. The last of us at the start with Troy bakers performance. Each of those have extreme moments of pain, all presenting the same emotion of internal conflict, confusion, and sadness. Each displays them in a different way.
Ultimately an AI could be given everything it needs from a director that an actor would need and just fail at it. If you get a performance, it'll be a generic one, or worse a replicant that doesn't understand what it's copying.
That being said, I can't say I agree with their need to strike. If they aren't careful, it won't be ai they are competing with, but new talent.
Re: PS Store Adds a New Five-Star Rating System to Score Your PS5, PS4 Games
Nope. Star ratings with no context given. How do I know those one star people aren't purists that want tank controls. Worse your one star is some 9yr old who is mad that it isn't their favorite game they are rating. Does the ps5 check if they've played the game? Time spent? Weight their I put by the kinds of games they play as it relates to the person viewing the rating?
This just sounds like the mob deciding the value of something. Hard pass.
Re: PS Store Adds a New Five-Star Rating System to Score Your PS5, PS4 Games
@SJR and you would be correct. It was removed in one of the format change some time ago. No reason given. Not that it was to terribly useful back then. Likely won't be to terribly useful now either.
Re: Sony Has Allegedly Suffered a Huge Hack by Ransomware Group
@ArmoredMore This is no where near the level of the 2011 hack. Otherwise PSN would be down right now. Yes, saddly what is being described in the article is in fact and every day occurence. It's even possible this is a bluff.
Ultimately it sounds like Sony's internal documents are what is compromised, not consumer data. I don't think any where cares of the PS5 Pro and PS6 gets leaked at this point. Let alone the new MX series Sony Wireless headphones with a slight revision to last years noise cancelling is really going to bother anyone.
Re: Xbox Documents Reveal Staggering Cost of Bringing Games to Game Pass, PS Plus
Yes, these are the figures I expected. When they get these games they are basically paying for a bulk of licenses 4 to 10m of them. In the case of jedi survivor your look at maybe 5m licenses. The expectation is the number of subs will balance that out. 40m even at 60 a year is 2.4b dollars. So if they can get one winner a year and maybe some dated titles that don't really sell anymore for less than a few million like say saints row. They can usually pocket a billion and some change. Maybe use the change for network infrastructure and slowly build a coffer for network overhauls at the last possible minute after accumulating 3 to 5 years of profit.
Which is why they should cut these free games loose and return to a free model for online play. It's also why Microsoft should reconsider its game pass strategy. Profitability numbers just aren't there. Especially when you can pay for a month and then ditch the service to play first party titles at a fraction of the cost.
In microsofts case they've gone back to abandoning backward compatibility. Only 50% of the x360 library is support on xb1 and series. Less than 10% of Xbox classic. These ftc documents showed them switching architectures which basically undoes all the progress with that platform if they decide to go with arm64. So this money which should be going towards that initiative isn't.
Gamers blew it by doubling down on these subs. Now we're conditioned.
Re: Xbox Almost Flashed Its Cash At Warner Bros, Sees Nintendo As the Holy Grail
Wow after all the flack about how Xbox is bad for the industry and all it took was phil to sober some people up.
Re: If It Wasn't Obvious, The Elder Scrolls 6 Will Skip PlayStation
I think we're all moving on from bethesda at this point.
Re: Mortal Kombat 1 (PS5) - Good But Not a Flawless Victory
This score seems arbitrary based on the pros and cons.
Re: Poll: Was Sony's Latest State of Play Worth the Wait?
Gonna go with terrible. It start off on the worst leg imaginable and who ever that woman was at the start. I hope they never bring her back. I felt like I was listening to an HR person telling me how great DE&I is. HR people suck. Anyway, the event starting with the Goat Simulator or Human Dipshit Simulator almost had me turn the damned thing off to come back later when all the trailers were up. Sony should never start a State of Play like that again.
That being said once we got over that hump we were greated with basically trailers for games we knew about. Helldivers 2 looks awesome, it also looked awesome when they first showed it off. Spiderman 2 looks good, but I can't say I'm super excited about the game and its kind of just been floating there as we wait for the game to finally release. Even if i was excited, I'm interested in what I get to play after Spider Man 2. The same goes for FF7 Rebirth. Don't get me wrong my head exploded with that trailer and had me spamming squares webiste hoping the CE would pop up for preorder. Again i came away with this sense of "yes we know". I can't really give Sony credit for something I've been waiting for since 2019. Honestly do not care about Avatar 2, I'd be happy if I never play another Ubisoft game ever again.
So what did this need? New games. What the hell is Sony working on after Spider Man 2? Sony is in silent running as we wait to hear what they have planned for 2024. Where is my FF17 announcement? Would have been a nice surprise if Tales of Arise was getting more than 20 hour DLC content. Kind of over DLC, I just ignore it now. Is this where Infamous Second Son 2 is announced? Ghost of Tsushima 2 or what ever its called? Ghost of Some Other Island? Hell I'd have been happy with another Astrobot game, been dying for a sequel to our favorite pack in freebie that builds on that same concept.
It was ho hum. I'd have to say its execution was bad. A lot of it steers back to how it started. I feel sorry for that poor woman being sent out like a lamb to slaughter.
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 the Big Winner from State of Play
This is an absolutely absurd use of the viewer numbers.
FF7 Rebirth is also on Square Enix's two other channels for this trailer. Just the Final Fantasy Channel ALONE has 552k views. Between the reaction videos, Square's other channels, the duplication channels. etc It really makes no sense to metric the official sony page for interest.
Don't get me wrong I have no doubt that Spider Man 2 has huge hype going for it, but this article and its title is acting like FF7 Rebirth doesn't have millions of fans just as rabbid for it as there are people rabbid for Spider Man 2. I can't honestly say I'm super excited for Spider Man 2. After the last two titles I'm still feeling a bit burned out by it and would have preferred another Resistance game or a new Insomniac IP before jumping into this game. Mean while I've waited 4 years for the next chapter of FF7 R Trilogy.
Re: Ubisoft's XDefiant Fails PlayStation, Xbox Certification
@LiamCroft It actually does. He outlines how they are working towards a waiver needing a day one patch. If the game is unstable you will get flagged by Sony and Microsoft. Huge 3rd party publishers can get waivers and release the game with the promise of a patch. Even get a waiver for having the game on the disc. It's pretty obnoxious.
I'm going to say this once, never trust the head of a projects word at face value. Especially when Ubisoft is involved. They will lie to your face about a problem with their game, about knowing about a problem, and more. I know this because i've been through this with them on the otherside.
Re: Ubisoft's XDefiant Fails PlayStation, Xbox Certification
Removed; user is banned
Re: Ubisoft's XDefiant Fails PlayStation, Xbox Certification
@RIGGOR_MORTIS the answer is waivers. A lot of this stuff (yes even the frame rate, unlike claimed above) are part of the certification process. Big enough publishers can get past it and promise to patch the issue. Then you end up with Cyberpunk 2077. I guaranty you that this dumpster fire of a game, just as bad.
Re: Ubisoft's XDefiant Fails PlayStation, Xbox Certification
"Not reflective of game's quality"
Well that's a straight up lie. If the game doesn't pass cert then its failing on the other end of the quality spectrum. The kind of think that drops the starfield user score on metacrtic to a 6.8. That isn't even getting into the fact tha game has been complete garbage since day one.
Re: Looks Like One of PS5's Best Games Is Getting a Complete Edition
@Constable_What let's hope it doesn't become elden ring. They are two different styles of open world, I absolutely hated elden ring, yes I did finish it. I'm not defending forbidden west either. It lost something zero dawn had that separated it from everything I hated about open world. Forbidden west introduced other problems. The biggest glaring issue is that she's in race against the clock story wise. Every 5s she has "hold up a moment" interruption. The director or actor had no idea how to preserve the tension and frustration of alloy behind her sighing constantly. The fetch me quests become intrusive. The whole "let's do a perspective puzzle " didn't fit this games atmosphere. Not too mention to many of them. Weapon up grading and armor upgrading as well as stats had not only become convoluted, but gave no easy path to start experimenting from the start to help the player understand why they should even focus on it. Another starfield like example of 'we expect you to spend time with this in the end game and not at the very start', this is bad game design and it's also what got ff13 in a lot of hot water with its fan base.
I did eventually end up enjoying forbidden west, but it was missing that spark and introduced some plot threads that felt forced. Wouldn't say it jumped the shark, but it got dangerously close. Carry Ann Mosses character being one of the least interesting and most forced aspects of the game. Half the time I don't even think she knew wtf was going on. They were trying to be clever with a twist that was so heavy handed that it never really arrived when it did. I also don't think she should have been cast in this part. She wasn't convincing in the matrix as trinity and she wasn't convincing here either. If they had to go with a actress to nod, I'd have chosen Lucy lawless since she has managed to make that sort of character work in shows outside of xena.
Something was off with this game and I have a few thoughts, but I wonder how much of it was change in leadership and corporate de&I influence.
Re: Looks Like One of PS5's Best Games Is Getting a Complete Edition
@Boucho11 same, the dlc is equally as disappointing compared to frozen wilds. Though I loved the first one almost immediately. I don't know what changed, but everything just seems less, over burdened, not well thought out, and way over extended.
Re: Looks Like One of PS5's Best Games Is Getting a Complete Edition
@TabulaRasa it isn't and I'd say you've short circuited your own fun if you think it's been weak. Middling maybe, but with ff16, returnal, God of war, and many other great games in the last 2.5 years. I'm hesitant to call it weak.
Horizon 2 wasn't as good as the first I'll give you that. It's DLC didn't win it any points even without the pandering controversy that didn't serve the game or its story in any meaningful way.
So something is slipping at sony. But we've gotten some real tigers from 3rd parties and lesser known sony studios. As well as new sony acquisition insomniac games.
Re: Looks Like One of PS5's Best Games Is Getting a Complete Edition
"Excellent Burning Shores"
I'm still trying to understand what made it Excellent. Frozen Wilds did a better job of extending aloys journey. Burning Shores felt half hearted attempt to do that and give a love interest no one asked for.
While I enjoy exploring the many tribes of Horizon, this latest entry got us involved with a people in the framework of the game that I had no love for at the very start. Unlike the tribes of horizon zero dawn, where the people could be separated from their leaders, these guys were straight up tyrants. Except the guy leading the lost part of that expedition. We spent very little time with him. Leader of the sundom got more time then this dude got to show a different side of his people. Story wise it was just weak, especially since this entire game seemed to imply we'd see more of them. Kind of hoping we're at war with them in horizon 3 and they are as mindless about following nemesis as their own rules.
Gameplay didn't do much for me. I expected something more on the scale of the casino in Vegas. We never got that. Also gonna go out on a limb and say the Hollywood sign would be gone by this point in the story. Stage layout was more obnoxious than clever. What's his name showing up in a side quest was nice, but it would have better to have teamed up with him than what's her name to give the player something to latch on to. Again reflecting back to Vegas. A real zarthras of horizon imo.
Burning shores was a burning waste of time.
As far as traveling companions, I felt she was an annoying rubber stamp of aloy. Putting aside how the dlc ended. People put hype into her, but she just felt out of place 90% of the time. Like a character introduced in Naruto filler episodes, which would end a "you're just like me" moment. Honestly feel like they could have made a better enemy character out of her and foiled out her people a bit more. Everything else about her felt forced and one dimensional. They could have modeled her more after the woman from the hunting lodge, would have been more interesting. As I said that is putting aside the ending. Horizon 2 and now this dlc has me wondering if I should take a pause before buying horizon 3 at launch during another crowded release season. Seems the quality has gone down. That isn't even getting into the mess horizon 2 was in at launch.
There has been a slow decline in quality with Sony first party releases that has me concerned.