Comments 699

Re: Shocking: Sony Doesn't Want Game Pass on PlayStation, Microsoft Has a Pop at PS Plus

Old-Red

I think a lot of people like to bleat on about how great gamepass is, but I wonder how many games they actually play in full on it. I've got over a hundred games from ps plus and I've probably only played about ten of them to the end over the past 10 years. There simply isn't enough time to play all these games properly.

With hundreds of PS4 games to choose from for so cheap secondhand I don't see the appeal. I suppose kids with no disposable income might get the most out of it.

Re: Horizon Zero Dawn Remaster for PS5 Reportedly in Development

Old-Red

Sony seem to have reached a worrying state of stagnation. My PS5 is fast becoming an unsightly paperweight. 14 months and counting since I bought a new Sony game on release for my new console. I might get God of War, but that's only cause I have store credit that'll being the price down to £45.

If it wasn't for the switch I'd have completely given up on current releases. Surely the heads at the company are asking why there aren't any new games being made anymore. Maybe they're the problem, looking at numbers only, without realising the damage being done to their reputation.

Re: Rumour: Massive GTA 6 Leak Posts 90 Videos Online

Old-Red

Huh, so it looks to like the story will be 2 player co-op. Nice.

It certainly doesn't look like a drastic leap forward in any way. I'm sure it'll be good though.

On reflection I don't think this is as big a deal as everyone is making out. It just looks like an unfinished GTA game. It's not like anything is actually given away and and there isn't really much of a surprise about anything in the footage.

If the source code was leaked that's pretty bad, but I'm sure some changes could be made and probably have been since this footage was made.

However, it is a shame that one person goes to such a length to wreck a lot of people's hard work and spoil something for so many others. It's also a shame the news sites can't be rewarded with the same number of clicks and traffic for not reporting stories like this, as all it does is encourage more of the same.

Re: Rumour: Lower Your Expectations for Tonight's State of Play

Old-Red

Honestly, this has to be the worst generation for Sony by a long way. Where are the games? Two years in and we've had three games and two remakes.

I suppose it's mostly a fallout from the pandemic, but the lack of originality or creatively is depressing.

Closing the Japan studios was the worst decision ever. They really helped to fill the gaps and offer something a bit different. Even if they didn't sell that well, the overall contribution was worth it and helped to raise their reputation in the long run. I hope these Japanese partners will offer something similar, but I'm not holding my breath.

Re: Talking Point: What Do You Make of Microsoft and Sony's Call of Duty Quarrel?

Old-Red

@jamescrowx yes, Spider-Man was multiplatform, but Sony still made games from the ground up that were never intended for other platforms.

If MS were buying a license to something like, say, Batman, and then making the game from scratch to be an exclusive, it wouldn't be such a big issue. Instead they're paying through the nose to control huge chunks of the market and take away big titles, that would still be made either way, from a large demographic, and in the process adding nothing to the industry. It's quite a big difference that benefits nobody but MS, yet negatively affects many.

As someone who would actually be glad to see the back of Call of Duty, I still see this as a hugely negative development for gamers on the whole. It brings nothing to the table, yet potentially encourages stagnation and complacency if MS end up with no competition and no reason to try and make anything new or exciting. They'll simply focus on producing cash cow money-spinners and nothing else eventually.

Re: Talking Point: What Do You Make of Microsoft and Sony's Call of Duty Quarrel?

Old-Red

Let's face it, Microsoft is spending huge amounts to control IPs and make a vast number of titles exclusive even though their platform was going to receive these titles anyway. They're essentially using their deep pockets to smother and kill PlayStation.

It's pretty ruthless when you stand back and look at it objectively.

I'm still waiting for anyone to put forward a case that MS have actually added anything to the industry since they began this full on assault. All they've done is spend an eye watering amount to corner stuff that would have been made either way. Imagine what they could have added to the industry by funding new studios and projects with all that money.

It's pretty awful when you think about it like that. What a sad waste of funds and resources.

Re: Reaction: PS5 Price Hike a Sobering Sign of the Times

Old-Red

Sony haven't had any money from me directly in over a year now, outside of Elden Ring. I'm not surprised their profits are falling.

I'll probably borrow God of War from a friend and won't buy anything new until Resi 4 remake next year. I can't put my finger on one particular reason why, but all these little things and a weird arrogant attitude have completely turned me off wanting to give them any more money. This is from a fairly big spender in the grand scheme of things. I wonder if others feel the same.

This price hike doesn't directly affect me, as I already have a PS5, but it certainly adds to the mounting bad feelings I have towards Sony.

I also wonder if it was really worth stubbornly chasing that extra £10 for their games when customers like me have gone from spending £40-50 a month to £60 in year.

Re: PS5 Price Increase Confirmed for UK, Europe, Japan, Canada, and More

Old-Red

Having an extensive retro collection and keeping all my games from days gone seems like a wise decision now. With the digital age upon us and the crazy prices of new games, I'm just glad I've got plenty to play for pretty much a lifetime.

I wouldn't be so bad if there were more great games to play, but the first party titles this gen, Returnal aside, have been pretty copy paste, not to mention thin on the ground.

The end is nigh! and all that jazz.

Re: Sony Sounds Shook by Xbox's Activision Buyout, Says Call of Duty Has No Rival

Old-Red

I'd actually be happy to see the back of it. Sony should really be focusing on providing an alternative to what mainstream gaming has become instead of trying to keep up and compete with it.

They need to stop considering themselves as the major player and aim to follow Nintendo's lead by providing more top quality adult based games like Returnal, Last of Us, God of War and the like. They may not make all the money, but they could carve out their own niche and still make a profit. Looking at From Software and following their model on a larger scale could serve them well in the long term.

If the MS x Activision deal does go through Sony might be wise to take a brave step and drop support for COD, and push their own titles instead. Relying on your main competitor as a major hand that feeds you is only going to end badly.

Re: There's 'No Comparison' Between The Last of Us on PS5 vs PS3, Says Dev

Old-Red

Sony is coming across mighty spineless in this whole affair. All this negativity and bad pr is happening because of their bad management and absurd pricing. I think it would be more productive to channel the complaints in their direction instead of Naughty Dog to be honest.

Why on Earth they didn't price this like a mid price game in the vein of Miles Morales is beyond me. The model was there, they've just chosen to ignore it for some reason.

Re: The Last of Us: Part I PS5 Gameplay Is Next to Leak

Old-Red

Cheeky b******

I always thought it was a p*** take at £70, but I never thought on this kind of scale. I thought they would have at least redesigned the combat areas with TLOU2 mechanics, improve physics and controls. I don't usually care to suggest what people spend their money on, but please don't give them full whack for this. It's... well... whack.

Re: Gaming Spend Will Continue to Decline in US as Living Costs Increase, Says NPD Report

Old-Red

In Sony's case they only have themselves to blame. I've gone from buying all their first party games day one, when they were £40-45, to not buying any since Ratchet and Clank. It's not even that I can't afford it, I just feel like a mug paying that much for games, especially in the current economic climate.

I've moved on to some retro games and switch back log for the time being. Haven't even turned the PS5 on since finishing the trophies for elden ring. I might come back when I can find games for a more reasonable price, but I only see Sony pushing on further away from what I want out of the hobby. In two years Returnal is the only Sony exclusive I've been genuinely excited and thrilled by. I expected much more to be honest.

Re: Poll: Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Games for June 2022?

Old-Red

It's very sneaky the way Sony have slowly diminished the quality of offerings on ps+. Now they are including the new more interesting games like stray with the new more expensive plus tiers and the media is giving them a pass, acting even happy or complementary with it, saying that finally Sony are competing with Gamepass with exclusive 3rd party indies when they were already doing this with Bugsnax, Maquette and Oddworld. It's so frustrating seeing these blatant slight of hand tricks working so easily.

I haven't been interested in a ps+ game for over 6 months now. Done with it to be honest. It's time for them to drop what was ps+ and make online play part of the original cost again, especially after raising the prices of games this gen.

Re: Reaction: Why You Shouldn't Worry About Sony's New Strategy

Old-Red

It's unfortunate for me personally that Sony are doubling down on the type of games I don't have time for and no interest in anyway. I can't help but feel it's a waste of time and resources from a personal standpoint. you just need to look at GT7's gross monetisation to see the direction this is heading.

Thinking it will help improve the single player output seems a little naive too. As we've seen, companies will chase the money and double down if it works. I do not for one second believe this new direction will result in more conventional high-quality single player content if they succeed with GaaS. It's already detracted from the pot with Naughty Dog spending considerable time and effort on TLoU GaaS entry coming up.

I recently came back from Japan with a Sega Saturn and a bunch of games. It's been so much fun playing games that are designed to entertain and nothing else. I've barely switched my PS5 on in the past month outside of NG+ on Elden Ring. I simply cannot see the new output from Sony being designed to entertain the player instead of going for addictive tactics and intrusive monetisation first and foremost. I'm sorry, I just can't see it going any other way.

I'll be happy to be proved wrong though.

Re: PS Plus Members Will Have the Option to Upgrade to Extra, Premium

Old-Red

I'm still amazed that this kind of thing actually works on people. It's all so messy and confusing, all this has done is push me further away from buying in to the subscription model. I've got the + sub sorted for the rest of this gen after buying multiple years in a sale, mainly to make the annoyance of paying to play the games I've already paid for online go away. But after that I'm out, with ads creeping in too now, which will probably end up in all games eventually, let's face it, I think it'll be time to move over to retro + pc after PS5.

Re: The Witcher 3 PS5 Version Delayed as CDPR Moves Development In-House

Old-Red

CDPR need to stop announcing games so early. You'd think they'd learn and wait until they know when a game will be ready before announcing it and building unnecessary unwanted expectations. But no, not only have they disappointed with a simple Witcher 3 upgrade twice they've also added Witcher 4 to the mix, so they can waste everyone's time for the next 8 years and probably delay and disappoint with that game too. Talk about not learning from previous mistakes.

Re: PS Plus Deal Devastates Oddworld: Soulstorm Developer

Old-Red

This is the "games lost to piracy are equal to lost sales" on steroids. To be fair, he doesn't actually try to say it would have sold the same amount. However, the unfortunate truth is the game was simply average, bordering dull, and sold badly because of that probably.

Re: Deal: Get Great Discounts on Top PS5 Games at Amazon UK

Old-Red

These prices are exactly why physical releases and a healthy, competitive secondhand market are so important. If the publishers are able to control prices through digital only access it will only get worse.

An agressive secondhand seller to keep Cex in check would be a godsend right about now. Having spent some time in Tokyo recently, they still have a buzzing secondhand and retro market that's such a pleasure to engage with and sift through. It's like it was in the UK 10-15 years ago, where you can go out with £50-60 and come back with a bunch of interesting titles that'll keep you going for while. It's crazy that that won't even get you a new current gen game here.

Re: PS Store Sales Charts: Gran Turismo 7 Laps Elden Ring in Europe as Horizon Falls Off a Cliff

Old-Red

Both games are great, but have different approaches to how they learnt from breath of the wild imo. Horizon Forbidden West decided to take some mechanics like the glider and climbing, while Elden Ring took the exploration and essence of discovery from Breath of the Wild. Personally, I will always support From Software as long as they continue to treat gamers with the respect they do in terms of quality and value.

The real deciding factor here is the price I think. When you can get Elden Ring for £40-45, why would you pay £60-70 for Horizon Forbidden West? Unless you're a super fan it makes sense to buy the cheaper of the two and wait for the more expensive one to drop in price. HFW is already down to £50 at most retailers.