Comments 2,916

Re: PC Users Furious Over Lost Soul Aside Being Blocked from Sale in 130 Countries

Paranoimia

I seem to recall that even PlayStation owners have had to create accounts for other territories in order to get some games or content. I have a few UK friends who created US accounts during the PS3 era for exactly that reason.

Yes, it's a bit silly on Sony's part, but is it really that big of a deal? You only need to do it once.

I've had to create several accounts that I didn't particularly want in order to play some games on both PlayStation and PC, the most recent being PayDay 3, which required me to create an account with Starbreeze before I could even get past the title screen.

Just take 5 minutes and create the account. 🤷🏻‍♂️

And just for the record, I'm sick of both PlayStation and PC gamers at the moment, despite gaming on both platforms myself. Elements of both sides exude arrogance, snobbery, elitism, and some of the worst fanboy traits; there's barely a week that goes by without one or the other petulantly whining about something that is ultimately insignificant, and sometimes I'm embarrassed to think that I'm associated with either.

Re: The Order: 1886 Dev Pitched a Sequel to Sony, But Was Denied

Paranoimia

I loved it, and would have bought a sequel, no question.

It was short, but thoroughly enjoyable, and it looked - and still looks - stunning. I remember taking my time with it and taking (I think) about 8 to 10 hours to complete it; I think I needed to replay parts for a few missed trophies. I remember fighting through the airship, and a few fairly intense firefights on the ground.

I sold it on eBay after about a week, and got back basically what I'd paid for it, which was nice. Then a few years later, I re-bought it digitally in a PSN sale when it was really cheap, so that I could play it again.

Yes, I'd definitely have appreciated a sequel.

Re: Report Investigates Why PS5's Store Is Still Drowning in 'Eslop'

Paranoimia

The problem is, this is "our" fault. They keep churning these out, and the platform holders keep allowing it, because it's profitable. It's profitable because people keep buying this crap for easy trophies.

It's quite sad, I think, that people are so addicted to collecting trophies that they will quite literally buy any old crap to bump their numbers.

Re: The State of the UK's Physical Games Market Might Explain PS5 Pro's Lack of Disc Drive

Paranoimia

@Toot1st Yes, I buy all my movies on Blu-ray, and all my music on CD. Though music isn't so much of a problem, as you can easily burn a CD from digital purchases.

For movies and games, though... physical whenever possible, unless something is dirt cheap in a sale. The way things are going with digital generally, with games being delisted and movies and TV shows disappearing from catalogues over rights issues etc., there's no way I'd willingly switch to all digital. Sales discounts aside, physical is also cheaper for new games.

People will regret it if and when digital is the only option, whether it's pricing or random removal of 'purchased' or 'licenced' items. I might be persuaded if the law was changed to offer consumers some protection against this stuff. I mean, you pay for your licence in good faith; if Sony or anyone else then lose rights to something, that's not your fault, and they shouldn't be able to remove it from your library unless they give you a full refund... in my opinion.

Re: Talking Point: PS5 Saves Video Clips When You Earn Trophies - Do You Leave That Feature On?

Paranoimia

Platinums only for me. Though it has to be said, it could really use some thought from developers as to exactly when the trophies are triggered and what is on the screen, especially with regard to the screenshot it saves. Quite often I've had a screenshot of just a black screen with the trophy notification, because it was going into a cut scene or similar, and that pretty much renders it useless.

Re: Poll: What Are Your Most Anticipated PS5 Games of 2025?

Paranoimia

Ghost of Yotei, and that's about it for me.

Of course it's only my personal opinion/tastes, but there's been a dearth of games worth buying for a few years now. I've mostly been replaying older favourites, and some of the backlog of freebies I got with Plus.

My most played game of this year is BF2042, and in recent weeks I've been replaying Breakpoint, The Division 2, and Day Z in co-op with some friends. As well as some solo Deep Rock Galactic... that really is an endlessly replayable game.

Sony has really dropped the ball on PS5 with their first-party output, and the third-party stuff just isn't picking up the slack. As I said, purely in my personal opinion.

I'll always have a PlayStation, but loading times aside, PS5 for me so far has been mostly a waste of money in terms of "I need one to play the latest games".

Re: Naughty Dog Turns Off Intergalactic PS5 Trailer's Comments As Discourse Turns Nasty

Paranoimia

I'm all for free speech, but it's times like this I really wish we could Thanos-snap social media out of existence.

I remember when I first joined Twitter and it was quite a nice, friendly place to be. These days, and for years now (and well before Elon, it must be said) it's just a cesspit of the permanently outraged. Pronouns, elections/politics, games, movies, music... there's always some bubble - from any and all political sides - that's outraged about something and completely closed off to any contradictory thought. It's really f'kin tiresome now.

Re: Intergalactic PS5 Is Naughty Dog's Wildest, Most Creative Story Yet

Paranoimia

I'm a huge ND fan, loving everything since Jak & Daxter, but I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed if I'm honest, just due to the lack of anything meaningful in the trailer.

Yeah, it looks gorgeous, but you expect that from them. Still, it was basically just a cinematic cut scene, which didn't show us any of the gameplay, and I thought they (Sony, and the industry in general) were trying to move away from that? I'm sure I read somewhere that they were looking to announce games closer to release, and with some actual gameplay rather than just cinematics. 🤔🤷🏻‍♂️

I don't have any real issues with the product placement in general, but it did seem a bit 'in your face' and unnatural. Though I guess with everyone complaining about the cost of making triple-A games, this kind of thing is going to increase from this point on; they no doubt got a healthy contribution for featuring those brands so prominently.

As for the gameplay, I'm hoping it's not just a mêlée/hack-n-slash. I have no problem with that style (I loved Ghost of Tsushima), but the setting would seem to warrant firearms as well. The blog post says that it has the deepest gameplay in ND history, so hopefully there'll be a mix of weapon styles... dare I say combining blasters with the funky lightsabres.

We'll see, I guess. It's Naughty Dog, so of course I'm hopeful, but I suspect they'll 'go dark' now and it'll be another year or two before we see or hear anything more.

Re: PS5 Pro Has a Remarkable Impact on Unpatched Games

Paranoimia

Yeah... I still ain't paying £800 for it (I'd need the disc drive). Yes, I'm the so-called "enthusiast" gamer it's supposedly aimed at, yes I can afford it - I just don't see the value. People can try to justify it all they like, I just see it as a major urine extraction. It's the sort of price where, if I wanted an upgrade, I'd rather add £200 and upgrade my gaming PC. And (you'll have to trust me here) coming from me, that's really saying something.

Re: Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 Wins Over PlayStation Fans

Paranoimia

Still won't bother. I loved the game and played it through twice, including the hardest setting. But I just don't have the time or willpower to go through it all again.

Maybe somewhere waaaaayyy down the line if I ever get inspired enough to do it again, but for now... nope.

Re: PS5 Pro Reveal Is Already Sony's Most Disliked Console Announcement

Paranoimia

Biggest joke for me was Ybarra (I think?) saying that it would effectively only cost enthusiasts $350 because of the value they'd get trading in their base PS5, and then seemingly assuming that you'd get somewhere near the original cost on a trade-in.

Currys would give me £170. Music Magpie £270. Nobody will give you anywhere near the original RRP.

Re: PS5 Pro Can Run PS4 Games Better Via Improved Backwards Compatibility

Paranoimia

Meh. Sorry, they can stick this one.

I've bought every system since PS1, but I'll be skipping this. I don't feel it's at all necessary anyway, and many of my games are on disc. Plus, PS4 Pro made PS5 feel quite average, loading speed aside.

I'll wait for PS6, but if nothing else, this PS5 Pro has me very concerned about the price of the true next gen hardware.

Re: Reaction: PlayStation Needs to Take a Long, Hard Look at Itself

Paranoimia

A classic example of "stick to what you know".

Perhaps they shouldn't have listened to Bungie and instead gone ahead with TLOU Factions as their first major "live service" title. It's ideally suited, and at least there's a lot of fan interest/demand for it... a ready-made audience of (probably) at least a million.

They also need to realise that not every single player game they make needs to be a AAA cinematic blockbuster. They could get smaller studios to make cheaper alternative games tied to their bigger franchises... for example, what about a Broken Sword style adventure featuring Nathan Drake's daughter Cassie, sold for £20?

They have a captive audience for some of their bigger franchises who will buy almost anything. Use that. Stop trying to force yourself into an already saturated market where you have no experience. If you are going to try that, use an existing franchise that people are already interested in... perhaps Concord would have fared better if, for example, it had been a game set in the Killzone universe.

Re: People Are Already Freaking Out Over Monster Hunter Wilds' PS5 Frame Rate

Paranoimia

Never had a problem with 30fps on anything. Would rather have a steady 30 than have it jumping between 40 and 60. Consistency is the main thing for me, especially if any part of the gameplay relies on timing, which is the case in most games.

As I've mentioned in a previous comment elsewhere, I'd even argue that any competitive game should be locked at a frame rate that's easily achievable, to keep things skill-based and prevent one player gaining an advantage over others simply because they can afford better hardware. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Re: No Man's Sky: Worlds Part I Revamps the Universe in Biggest Update of 2024

Paranoimia

I want to get back into this as I loved the exploration and discovery side, even the space flight.

The downer for me is the insane resource collection required to build the various components needed to move between planets. I haven't played for years now, but as I recall you needed maybe 3 components to fuel the jump engines, and each of those needed several other components, and each of those needed several other components, and so on. I just started to find it too tedious after the first half dozen jumps and gave up.

I think they added a mode that simplified things, but I seem to recall it made other stuff easier as well, which I wasn't keen on... I just wanted the travel to be streamlined.

Re: Doubt Cast Over PS5 Pro Actually Releasing This Year

Paranoimia

@sanderson72 Similar here. My Pro had a 1TB internal drive and an 8TB external. That 8TB is now on my PS5 holding all my PS4 titles, along with an internal 2TB nvme drive.

I've found that with a few exceptions, the PS5 games themselves have been largely underwhelming - certainly nothing to make feel that a PS5 Pro is warranted.

Re: Doubt Cast Over PS5 Pro Actually Releasing This Year

Paranoimia

Skip it, it's not needed. As I found when moving from the PS4 Pro to the PS5, a Pro model greatly dilutes the impact of the true next generation system. The biggest plus I've had from the PS5 is the drive and loading speed... the rest is just 'meh', and no great leap over the PS4 Pro.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that in terms of moving from one PlayStation to another, PS5 has been the most disappointed I've been... I was more impressed when I moved from base PS4 to Pro than from PS4 Pro to PS5.

Re: Sony Is Allegedly Pulling PSVR2 Funding, Report Claims

Paranoimia

About time they knocked this fad on the head. It's been tried before and failed to gain a foothold, just like 3D.

Given that the original sold worse than Vita during the same timeframe after launch, I was surprised they even bothered with a second.

I tried the original and I did like it, but it's just too niche and I knew I would never use one enough to justify the cost. Most people, I believe, just don't want to sit there for hours with something that size hanging off their head when they're trying to relax and enjoy themselves, no matter how immersive it may be. My trial of the original was at a friend's, and as far as I know it's been back in it's box and gathering dust since about a month after launch.

The biggest issue is that it's only truly suitable for a handful of genres and just doesn't work with the rest unless they are specifically designed for it, and then you alienate 95% of your potential audience, which is no doubt why Team Asobi ignored it for the upcoming AstroBot game.

Re: New PS5 Firmware Update Adds Full Discord Calls and More

Paranoimia

I was using Discord via the app when 2 friends and I were playing Battlefield, as one of them was on PC. But he got a PS5 last week, so now it's irrelevant.

Good to know for possible future use, but it's functionality that really should have been there from the start. But that's been a common trait with a lot of PS5 firmware features, hasn't it? A half-arsed initial implementation, followed by an upgrade months or years later; what was it, 3 years before we could check for software updates from the Game Library screen?

Re: Concord PS5, PC Will Reportedly Require a PSN Account to Play

Paranoimia

Not interested in the game, but I don't get the apparent revulsion to having to create a PSN account. Are they perhaps the die-hard Xbots/Microsoft/PCMR fans who really dislike Sony?

I've had to create multiple accounts I didn't really want with various companies over the years, either to be able to play a game at all or simply to get the best out of it. EA, Rockstar, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Krafton, others I can't recall off the top of my head, and no doubt still more I've completely forgotten about. It's nothing more than a minor irritation, yet from the reactions of some, you'd think they were having to agree to the sacrifice of their first born child.

One of the more frequent reasons I see is security, referring to the PSN hack. Okay, and...? Pretty much every gaming company has been hacked in recent years, yet there's never been such resistance or outrage at needing to create accounts on those.

Take a deep breath, give your head a wobble, and get tf over it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Re: Poll: What Did You Think of Sony's State of Play for May 2024?

Paranoimia

I voted poor.

I didn't bother watching live, but caught up with it this morning. Pretty "meh" for me, except for the one game I'm interested in... AstroBot.

Despite a few corkers, PS5 has been the most disappointing PlayStation generation for me in terms of games. I feel that if I was still on my PS4 Pro, I wouldn't really be missing out on much except the loading speed.

Honestly, Sony... skip the PS5 Pro, focus on pushing some first party games out quickly, and save the hardware goodies for PS6 so that we can actually feel the improvement... because from PS4 Pro to PS5, the experience is... lacking.

Yes, I am aware that this is just my opinion and that others may feel differently.

Re: A Lot of PS4 Owners Have Yet to Upgrade to PS5

Paranoimia

I was a year late getting my PS5 as I couldn't get one at launch. I wasn't overly fussed. Now I've had one for a while and, to be honest, I wouldn't be disappointed if I hadn't got one.

Lack of new first-party titles has certainly been a factor as far as I'm concerned, along with too much focus on remastering titles that really didn't need it.

But also, in my personal opinion, the PS4 Pro has been a huge factor, in a negative way. Loading times aside, PS5 doesn't feel like that big a leap from the PS4 Pro. I also don't feel that PS5 has been pushed far enough or consistently enough to warrant a PS5 Pro (something I read recently that many devs also feel), and I'd much rather Sony scrapped it and focused on a powerhouse PS6 in a few more years... something with enough of a leap to make it feel absolutely unmissable. I fear a PS5 Pro will similarly eat into the wow-factor of PS6, leaving many feeling underwhelmed, as it seems many do with PS5.

Re: Sony Increasingly Focused on PS5 Playtime Alongside Hardware Sales

Paranoimia

My gameplay hours have fallen off a cliff. 910 hours in 2022, 149 in 2023, hardly any so far this year.

There are reasons for that... my mum has been quite ill, and I'm her full-time carer... but even before that, my gameplay was dwindling. Apart from co-op, I'm not interested in online games, and Sony have been woefully deficient in their single-player offerings so far on PS5.

Re: Review Bombers Were Even Attacking Other Games Made by Helldivers 2 Dev

Paranoimia

Welcome to the PCMR... the PC Moron Race. (And yes, before anyone objects... I also game on PC.)

Imagine being that petty over creating an account... something which shouldn't have been any surprise, because the game's Steam page told you it would be necessary. If you didn't read or didn't see it, that's on you, and maybe Steam for not making it more obvious.

Now, I get that some people won't be able to do so easily because PSN isn't available in their region, but let's not forget the fact that lots of people have been creating PSN accounts for regions other than their actual location for many years, sometimes for things as trivial as a free avatar image; it is possible to work around it. Many people have accounts for Europe, the US, and Japan.

The rest of the people are just being petty and idiotic. I've had to create numerous accounts over the years on services I don't otherwise use, whether it's been a requirement or just optional to get the most out of games. I have accounts with EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Rockstar, Krafton... probably more I can't even remember... none of which I use regularly, and none of which serve any significant purpose beyond the one game they were created for.

Grow a pair, get over it, move on.

Re: $70 Games Are Just a Phase, Believes Saber Interactive CEO

Paranoimia

"Funnily enough, Saber Interactive itself is planning on launching Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 at $70, but Karch says this is being done to avoid concerns of a lower price point indicating it's a worse game."

Uh-huh. Riiiiigggghhhttt. Heard it all now. Of course, you could price it at $50 and - if it's any good - it might sell twice as many, giving you more profit. But no, take the short-sighted view and charge as much as you feel you can get away with.

Re: Despite Flagging Physical Software Sales, PS5's Retail Presence Is Still Strong in Japan

Paranoimia

I am astounded that people are still shifting towards digital, given recent events with games disappearing from digital storefronts, and people losing access to TV shows etc. due to "licensing issues".

I continue to buy everything (games, music, movies) on physical media whenever possible. Not only do you actually have a product which can't be taken away, but when it comes to games, it's usually notably cheaper.

It's also been asked in the past why digital versions cost the same (or more) than physical versions when there's no physical media, case, distribution costs etc., and an explanation I've often read is that they don't want to undercut their bricks and mortar retail partners. That always gave an impression that costs would come down if they didn't need to worry about that.

However, as @MattBoothDev said above, we should all hope that the physical market remains strong, because if it disappears, digital prices won't go down, they'll go up... because when digital is the only source, they'll have us all over a barrel, and will charge whatever they like. If you buy everything digital, you're shooting everyone in the foot, including yourself.

Re: Poll: How Much Do You Care About 60fps on PS5?

Paranoimia

Don't care at all. As long as it's smooth and consistent, it doesn't spoil my enjoyment of a game in the slightest.

I'd rather have a locked 30fps than something that varies between 40 and 60 when it gets busy. I game on both console and PC, and I just don't get the snobbery around something so trivial.

In fact, when it comes to PC, I think online competitive games should have locked frame rates, so that nobody gets an advantage based on better hardware. 🤷🏻‍♂️