Oz_Who_Dat_Dare

So I would be very interested to know... how do publishers get approval to apply a "PS5 Pro" tag to their products? AFAIK, there's a pretty strict process to get onto the PS Store - so do they just hand out PS5 Pro enhanced qualification to anyone that puts in the paperwork... or do they test it? I can't recall - but I'm assuming they had similar issues with PS4 Pro.

@Cakefish Stellar Blade was likely always going to go multi-plat... most (if not all) 2nd party deals are timed-exclusives only. Edit - DS was an exception because Sony apparently did own the IP... now whether there was a timed option to buy it out, is another thing.

Please don't tell me this is Hermen clawing back some Concord money... please don't tell me it it's true.....

@get2sammyb so apparently it's been announced in Japan that Kojima actually bought the IP rights from Sony. It's a strange world we live in - post November 5.

@truerbluer I doubt that Sony ever owned the IP... I can't see them selling off this to Kojima (and as you said, does that mean DS2 will be multi-plat from the get-go?). Edit - I mean fully owned the IP. There had to have been some catch.

Also - perhaps this is also why DS2 has been a bit slow to get more coverage... ? It will definitely take the shine off the DS2 for Sony fans....

@voltum3l and unfortunately for Sony, none of the income from sales will be coming to them (unlike all the XBox ports coming to PS)... It's an interesting twist however... but perhaps very Kojima.

I do think the aspect of it bringing over Decima makes for some interesting analysis.

So I guess they're going to have to take DS off the PS Exclusive line-up board.... it's likely a positive thing for gaming, but I also can't help but feel this isn't a good look for PlayStation

You asked why shutter the studios prior to sale... I think the answer is pretty obvious. They were already in negotiation, and the sale was conditional on NOT having those studios. That would be my guess.

This doesn't say much for the Borderlands franchise then...

@DennisReynolds Just looking through the DF review now... was quite surprised it was only hitting 30-35% improvement on raw-horse-power in boost mode. That's likely not enough to push quality modes up to performance mode speeds (on unlocked games) across the board. Quite interesting - and it will be really interesting to see whether Pro patches optimize it significantly more (they should).

So for those that went out and bought one - I am sure you're still very excited. And I'm also sure the mid- reviews (to be honest, 7/10's ain't looking that great) are largely based on non-optimised games; and it can be expected to be peforming better later.

However - sitting back here now, I'm kinda relieved that FOMO (and the ridiculous decision to not sell it with a drive - or at least have enough drives in stock) didn't get the better of me. The Pro may be a useful baby step to a future direction; but I think it was always a bit of a stretch with the way it was being sold (and the silly level of pixel-peeping, and the un-realised promise of no more fidelity/performance modes).

Edit - I do suspect however, there's more than one person on this forum that bought it just to flex... and I kinda sense a little bit of the wind escaping. Don't panic if you bought it, I'm sure it will still feel good (and lets face it, it looks much sweeter than the OG PS5) - and I hope the patches make a big difference when they fully roll out.

It is worth remembering that even after all the hubbub... gamers tend to buy the games they want. I got it on a deep sale, but sadly for it... I picked up Elden Ring at the same time. It was a no-brainer. HL was 'ok' ... well put together (so big thumbs up to the devs)... but I think I found the gameplay stilted and just not that interesting (I dropped off after only about 10 hours)... still installed, so I might try eventually (one day).

@LikelySatan - and it's possible that they did... we'll see when it comes out.

@Korgon and I agree... it's tiresome. Which is why - I really don't understand why UbiSoft would be (apparently) going out of their way to re-ignite a debate and flame-war that had disappeared.... by going on about the historical accuracy of diversity. They were clearly wanting to increase the noise...

I actually don't get that hung up on games - and especially historical accuracy - however, as I've some skin in the game, I do take it more personally. I was (honestly) wanting to play this game... I just don't want to be gas-lit by UbiSoft... which, let's face it... we were.

@Northern_munkey it''s ok...they just shouldn't post links to things they haven't read, or don't even know why they're posting it.

I honestly don't think the "Yasuke was not a samurai" is that interesting an argument, because he's such a small historical figure (in the records). I also don't appreciate people using the "arm-chair warrior" code words when they are literally just that.

To be honest, I'd have no objection to a standalone Yasuke game - and I'd think it'd make a great story line in AC (even a DLC)... Still, none of us will know until the game comes out, what story line they went down; and how well done it was. I actually hope it's a good game. I wanted to play it very much.

@AzamisRightEye As purely entertainment... we've had Ubisoft initially tout this has historically-based, then disgard that for historical fiction, and now they're back to "well diversity is a core historical fact". The annoying thing is (and I'm sure everyone is tired about this debate), is you can't say the game is historical and have your commercial cake to eat as well. Otherwise it's likely to stick in the craw.

Edit - it's meant to be a game... but as a "historical fiction" set in a very specific history of Japan, it's naive to think that people won't question... why did you choose an African co-lead... when there are literally thousands of other more historical or interesting characters. Yes - having an African samurai is "headline worthy", but it's a creative choice...and as such, people can argue why that creative choice was made.

Look - to be honest - the game may be entirely good (and I might enjoy it)... I just get annoyed with the cross-over between people saying this is pro-diversity and then saying "well it's good enough you can play as one Japanese in a Japanese-focussed game"... that's literally the same tokenism that most under-representative people struggle against.

@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare shall I continue...
"so this seems to be a case of thinking he could get away with a lot more in English than in Japanese (in the service of selling more copies, I assume?)"

And I continue "Lockley’s Yasuke: The True Story of the Legendary African Samurai was released in 2019, and I admit that as a historian of medieval Japan I gave it only a cursory look and found it to be more historical fiction-oriented than aimed at a scholarly audience. But aside from several people asking me about it, it did not make that big of an impact in scholarly circles to my knowledge""

So I read the ENTIRE blogpost (interesting that you think a random google blogpost is something important)... By and large, no one cares about Lockley or his representation of Yasuke in your linked post; but most of the post is a counter-reaction to a perceived anti-black sentiment (which I honestly don't think is the core complaint).

So I'm wondering... given that you so bravely tendered this link as some form of historical evidence... what were you wanting to say?

@AzamisRightEye [edit: the original post I was replying to has since been deleted; and the ensuing drawn out debate]... the original post that was put up was here in case you're interested. I've left the replies up... even though it seemed like I was have a one way discussion. Have you actually read that post - rather than just posted it. Have you read who (and what background they have). It starts off with the OP "I have never met Thomas Lockley, nor have I read his work, and so I have no criticism to offer". The second bemoaning people complaining about the accuracy of Ubisoft games writes "On the other hand, I have not read Lockley's book, but when I learned about it, I was so surprised, because we have so few sources about Yasuke... but I don't think there's enough to write a good history book on it".
Then the third author on your thread " the key problem with African Samurai is much more simple and fundamental than whether Yasuke can properly be called a ‘samurai’ or not. The problem is that the book contains a number of sections that could reasonably be classed as historical fiction"

So before you start posting things (clearly either not reading, or expecting no-one-else to read/or know) ... perhaps stop commenting on history that you clearly ACTUALLY know nothing about.

@Korgon you understand - it's not whether you can play as a token Japanese protagonist... it's the fact that a half the game is from a non-Japanese perspective (and I suspect, that their characterisation of Yasuke will likely have no reflection on his actual background either).

I'm sorry, but has someone who is married to a Japanese person (and lived in Japan for years), i actually find the cultural condescension (oh... you can 'play as a Japanese' just a little on the nose at best; and patronising at worst.

But that's fine... because DEI means.. you can insert token representation at the expense of Japanese people in Japanese stories, because no one really thinks they need representation. Whereas Africans reeeeeally need more representation in Japanese historical stories.

I have not heard one serious reason why they chose Yasuke as the first historical protagonist... not one.

@nessisonett Sorry - my sarcasm meter is off now, so apologies if this comment was meant to be in jest. If not, I'm sorry... that is complete and absolute hogswash... yes, you can say he's the most historically accurate protagonist... because he's literally the only historical (as compared to fictional) protagonist. AC almost exclusively (at least in modern times) has relegated the protagonist as a plausible ficticious character... who interacts with historically representative side-characters.

However... in terms of history, you can literally write his historical reference on a napkin. And I don't care for the "was he a samurai or a retainer" argument... it's more the question of why now, why him... He was (historically) in Japan a very short time; and left shortly after his patron(?) died. He has a unique perspective, but not one that I would say actually tells us a lot about "Japan"... because he spent very little time there.

The argument that Yasuke has been an often portrayed historical figure is all well and good. I think people should perhaps look towards how the Japanese portray Yasuke. He is not the famous Japanese character that people would like to imagine... he's largely unknown (until the 2000's) when it became 'popular' as a character... prior to that he was very much the hen side-character in a story from the 1970s. However, nowadays the story of Yasuke has been taken up by pop-culture to mean something else. And a lot of that is driven by American-financed entertainment (for reasons of finding historical truth, perhaps?)

So yes - he was an historical character, but he was also someone whose life momentarily crossed with Japanese history. He has no reference in Japan after Nobunaga's death, and left with the Jesuits (to whom he was a slave). For me, this is the sort of romanticisation that actually detracts from the real things that people did...over the hopes of finding a represtation of people that we want to find. Sorry - this is a bit of a soap-box thing for me... and it's unfair to expect anyone to listen or care.

Edit - and to be clear.... if you are an advocate of DEI... but you think "western-washing" history is fine becuase.... then I don't think you actually understand either diversity or inclusion. Once again - sorry for the rant. But it bugs me when people get on their soap-box about things they often don't have any idea about.

@RaiLiOn So I was like you with BG3... I really didn't want to buy a digital version (even though it was only hinted there was a physical version on the way)... and then when they announced the physical version I had pre-ordered it within maybe 6-12 hours (which is not to bad coming from the other side of the world)... and then had to wait about 6 months due to constant messing around and mis-information (or no information). So while I think Remedy should have put a physical release out on console, I think they at least have gone the right way (through retailers, rather than the Larian-direct path).

@Absymbel the physical release is basically the complete edition (including the DLC)... so yes, it's a one year old game, but you're also getting the 2 expansions, and a few "knock-up" add-ons.

Whether it's worth the price-tag. If I hadn't bought it digitally I'd say hell-yes... but I actually don't (or physically can't) buy a physical game that wasn't available at launch. Whether it's Epic's fault or not... it just leaves a bad taste.

@EchoRange I actually think that's a reality (being someone that buys mostly physical), I think it's a bit much to say that the proportion of people NOT buying it because it was digital only would have made a huge difference.

I bought it digitally (because they didn't offer a physical release)...if anything, I'm more annoyed at Remedy now that they've released a physical version so long after. I would have been happier to buy physically... I don't think THAT many people didn't buy it just because it wasn't physical.

Isn't this an old story?... I mean literally... AW2 has been struggling financially as an investment. But from what I understood, Remedy tend to bet on the long tail. I have to say, from a stock-holder perspective, that must be infuriating... but perhaps from a quality gaming perspective, this is the way it should be (ie make a game that lasts more than the release/marketing window).

I enjoyed the game - but if I'm being honest - there were a lot of things that actually annoyed me about the design that I felt detracted from the gameplay. It's very creative, but I also think it's not actually the most innovative game. I would prefer Remedy put a little more effort into their gameplay, rather than taking all the stuff they apparently (I assume) are taking to make these games.

Then again... Sam Lake's dance moves are pretty intoxicating.

@LikelySatan It's ok if you're not about writing/narrative (it's funny, in my list of things gamers want, I didn't even spell that out... because I just assumed it). Look at the end of the day, Ubisoft is a huge company, made up of many different people - and that's cool. Many stories can be told, from diverse characters... I think most people just want to experience genuine stories/games - not manufactured ones. AC has been a grab-bag of quality (and crap)... they make good open worlds in general (even though people hate them for it... and they aren't innovators anymore). They also try to wear the garb of "respect for all" when they are clearly a company that doesn't actually respect much of the customer or developer base. I suspect it's the hypocrisy of Ubi that is most inciting of reaction.

Anyway - glad that we could calm the discussion down... we all have different perspectives, and I'm happy to support other gamers getting good games that they enjoy.

I do wonder.... what is the best stealth game that you've played?

@LikelySatan the last statement I bolded was a general appraisal of the industry - that games should be driven by good writing and narrative (regardless of character types)... not driven by the good intentions to make us better people. Gamers don't play games to be better humans - they play games that are fun, inspiring, exciting, challenging (edit: or just escapism). People rarely play games to be made to feel like they are children.

No matter the intentions (which I assume are good) of the people trying inject lessons into games.

@LikelySatan to be very honest, you're right... a lot of the "anti-woke/DEI" is entirely performative. That's why it's devolved into a pointless and endless culture war. There is so much twaddle coming from those - but at the same time - an equal amount of just tripe from the pro-DEI camp. If people just worked out what they were complaining about, and listening, that would be good.

My complaint about the Ubisoft comments are (1) it is dismissive of their company's dire state (I personally don't want Ubisoft to die, as I liked a lot of their games); (2) it is creating a strawman argument that all of this is people living in denial that diverse peoples haven't existed before... no sane person thought that; (3) that the writers are not "instrumentalising" their own characters to promote political positions (Ubisoft do this often); and finally (4) that this is somehow required for them to represent history faithfully (and I can pretty well guarantee there's been little in AC games that is that historically accurate other than set-dressing - namely - how absolutely ridiculous some of their depiction of Japan is currently).

I also think Valhalla and Odyssey and Origins were also likely pretty "loose with historical representation"... but given that I've nearly 25 years involvement in Japan, that's the one I've related to at a personal level.

@LikelySatan that gamers inherently need to be taught, like children, about how the world works... and that apparently gamers don't know, work alongside, are friends with, or indeed ARE diverse in nature. They need to be taught...

Diversity is part of life... but you know what, I don't go around thinking about people as "diverse", I actually just think of people as people (whatever their background or identity... including political persuasion). We now live in a world where value is based on performative demonstration that you are "better". That's my biggest problem - diversity in games now is entirely performative and it often comes across as written by teenagers for teenagers. As such, often doesn't feel natural, and hence the characters they portray feel like set-dressing rather than real characters.

Once again - some of my favourite games are very diverse - with stories from all sorts of perspectives. There should be more of that... grounded by good writing and good creative direction, rather than good intentions.

@jesse_dylan so this is also part of the problem - that the people that are railing against the trolls tend to paint everyone with the same brush. There are genuinely racist / sexist / homophobic people out there that will automatically hate on anything that upsets their world view... but I'd suggest that most people that are not fans of DEI is because they just don't like being talked down to... or being treated like children... or overly moralised...

So I think we should all be critical of those that actually hold hate in their hearts (that spew it on the internet); but at the same time, don't think that people that don't like poor writing, or political messaging, are all bigots.

Ok internet - let's all just take a deep breath.... and now.... 3... 2... 1....

Seriously, I think this is perhaps one of the most tone-deaf (head-in-the-sand) responses I've seen from someone that should not only know better, but should also be appreciative that their company is about to sh*t-the-bed.

Diversity in games is fine - it's been there for a long time (and yes, it could be increased organically), and I genuinely think that if it's included in a adult way (without treating adults like children) then I really don't think people, other than the die-hard trolls, would care. However, the issue isn't diversity, but forced (and ham-fisted) messaging.

Also - the complete lack of self-awareness of claiming historical accuracy is an all-time-new-level-of-denial.

So don't have a go at games because there's diverse stories/characters... but at the same time, don't defend amateurish (and often political) positions in gaming as upholding historical accuracy. This is literally just going to fan the flames, and it's like watching Rome burn while Ubisoft twiddles (I mean fiddles) itself.

@tameshiyaku it's an amazing game, but it is reasonably solid. I think it will just come down to whether you gel with the 'Tokyo' theme or not... and whether you get annoyed with grindy collection mechanics.

@GamingFan4Lyf I think to be fair (if we're all being fair); people can't have it both ways... they can't say studios should be allowed to make the game they want (without corporate parental control); but at the same time complain that the company didn't step in to make the studio change direction. I think all the evidence is that Firewalk literally made the game they wanted... Sony expecting $40 was a definite poor (and arrogant) corporate decision... that and the marketing.

I don't think the price was the problem... it bombed even during the free beta phase; and I don't think it was possible to have marketted the game well (though I agree the whole CGI-weekly drops was a bad mistake - especially leading the game reveal by a 10 minute short film that really didn't have anything to do with the game they were revealing).

@The_Wailing_Doom because ... self-serving much? (edit - I'm replying about the unions... just in case the context is lost in the comment stream)

@LowDefAl welcome to the internet... where the point is to generate content that keeps people busy commenting (complaing and/or congratulating) for clicks/ad revenue. The reality is I think, there's not a lot of PS news (at least good playstation news) - and you'd have thought that Sony would be swamping us with PS5 Pro news, but their strategy is to basically let fan-sites like PushSquare do all the heavy lifting for news. Which... is a very hit-and-miss strategy IMHO.

@Judal27 So every PS5 also has a game-boost mode (same as PS4 Pro) for older games. What has been horribly lacking in the discussion of PS5 Pro, is whether or not their boost mode is any different. If it's one of those "if the frame-rate is uncapped" sorts of modes, I doubt that it will be that impressive.

The focus "appears" to be on up-scaling the older game resolutions (possibly by PSSR). This won't change frame-rates (other than allowing some games that didn't hit caps). Is it better than a kick in the head,... sure... but I think we'd all prefer to play ALL of those older 30 FPS games at a solid 60...

@Decimateh-xblz Nope... playstation you definitely need the disc to play... unless it's on PS+ Extra/Deluxe/Premium.

So being a fan of the first HZD, but very mid on HFW, I thought I'd splash out on the remaster. My first impression... it's ok - but I wouldn't say it made a night and day difference. Honestly, after playing a few hours agian (I'd started the PS4 NG+ version again recently and just continued from that point), I can't say I thought it was a game-changer. It may be nicer in many ways, but it also demonstrated to me that I thought the PS4 version (admittedly with the PS5 update to framerate) was perfectly fine.

I will note however, that I had a hard crash when trying to copy across my latest save (just prior to the final boss) to bring that save-point over. The NG+ one worked fine; and the late game one seemingly is a lost cause.

At AUD15, it's good for the price - but I'd also say, there's not enough new that makes me think it's essential. The faster load times are great - but one thing that does annoy me, my fast internal SSD's are hard pushed already for space... it was good to be able to play HZD off the external PS4 SSD - and save a crap-tonne of GB.

@tameshiyaku Ghost-wire definitely isn't horror... it is a pretty straight action adventure game (very light RPG elements). The positives are the rainy Tokyo nights vibes along with some Japanese folk-lore visual elements (they're more just mood-pieces than really lore related)... and some of the "set-piece levels" are pretty good. You can definitely button smash you're way through (or just stealth around most of the "enemies").

So I actually enjoyed most of my time in GhostWire Tokyo (through to completion) - but that's largely because it felt like returning to my second home. The game's reasonably repetitive, but it has a decent rhythm; so not the best, but not the worst (I'd give it a 7.5/10). I know a lot of people dropped it fast though because it's pretty simplistic game-play, and lack of variety in enemy.

The platinum is just a lot of pretty grindy collections - so passed on that.

I would have been interested in Death Note... if it wasn't a multiplayer focused game. Likewise for HotWheels. Overall, I would say this was a quite missable month.

@Old-Red the point that this conversation misses is - even if sales favour digital now, think about all the games in people's libraries. Most gamers will have a physical libraries, even if they now prefer digital purchases. This implies that people need to just re-buy, or there is a belief that people don't re-play games.

@dschons so this is a huge issue... what is going on in Sony... they choose to make a digital only console, saying you can buy a detachable drive (if you're one of those dinosaurs that are tied to the past) - but don't have the sense to (i) have a pack-in bundle dea; or (ii) have enough stock to meet demand. Given that between 60-80% as a minimum of PS5Pro buyers are likely to want a drive... why would you not have enough drives manufactured? It's like Sony is being run by work-experience people these days.

Edit - you literally can't buy a drive in Australia... so I'm a no buy.

@Jay767 you raise a good point. What were those successes? I'm just curious.

So I was waiting for there to be something interesting in the article... got to the end.. and was still scratching my head. I get that Sony feels the need to put something in the news cycle to distract or diffuse investors; but this was a nothingburger without even the buns.

I am not sure if PS feels the need to report on all the news beats (including non-existant ones) that Sony put out, but some news stories are best let go through to the keeper.

@Orochilocka I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying the way you are talking to people is the same... with intolerance. You can't expect people to be inclusive if you use exclusive language (just because you think you are right). You can disagree with people, but what you wrote was in the same tone of the people you are disagreeing with. Even if they are wrong (in your view), it doesn't help any discussion to be nasty to individuals.

@ApostateMage so I saw the same review... and it also made me really question the game's combat cred... but then I also reflected on how I played Elden Ring (I cheesed so much, and just grinded until I didn't need to worry about anything...and the game was perfectly happy with me doing that). My point is - I get what Ralph was saying, but I also think it depends on who you are, and how you play. I got platinum on ER, and I'm not going to say I am so great... but I had a great time, and loved the game. But I'm no "no-summons" shill.

@Neptunes this is a totally inappropriate comment - it's the sort of hate-filled rubbish that just gives fuel to the fire. People need be able to have discussions without resorting to this sort of fake argument. You are also literally part of the problem... we can't talk about the quality of gaming, and what gaming should aim to do - without people getting angry on the extremes. This is LITERALLY just hate.

@gipsojo most games are limited by their GPU... Baldur's Gate was limited primarily (even on high end PC systems) by it's CPU. It is definitely possible that they can transfer some load to the GPU... but GPU's are actually quite different processors, so there's a limit on what can. Simulation-based calculations are generally NOT the sort of things that can be transferred. However - let's just see what the reality is, before we all speculate too much. I hope they are able to pull off a miracle, because it suggests options to load-share that haven't been typically used yet.

@ButterySmooth30FPS that's possible, but it depends a lot on what is being used for what already. It will be interesting to see how it translates to performance.