Comments 2,277

Re: Bloober Team Wants You to Pester Konami for Silent Hill 2 PS5 Updates

Porco

haha is anyone surprised that this game is destined to fail? even if bloobers intentions are good, i doubt they will be given adequate time, budget and creative liberites to do this remake justice. we are talking about a publisher that can't even release a proper hd remaster... what was the last good game konami published without kojima at the company?

Re: Despite Crap Reviews, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Boasts of Engagement Records

Porco

@Northern_munkey the problem lies in the fact that no matter how egregious or wicked publishers are with their business models or quality of their output, some gamers (or many in the case of COD) continue to ignore all the red flags and support them anyways. doesn't that tell us something? publishers have been given the green light to do as they please and they can get away with it (most of the time). it makes me sick to be honest. don't people have the willpower and sense to vote with their wallets when something is justified? this is why the industry is in its current state and there are no signs of slowing down. it is about time that gamers took some responsibility with all this.

Re: PlayStation's Mobile Games Studio Rebrands Following Multiple Departures

Porco

@Callmegil yes, i did say "bulk" of revenue of pokemon go goes elsewhere, not all. nintendo only owns 30% of pokemon company. so if pokemon company itself is only getting a potion of the revenue due to niantic and mobile platform(s) split, nintendo retains a very small piece of the pie. besides, that game already had its fun in the sun.

what i am saying is, if all their mobile efforts were deemed successful according to their projections, we would have heard more news on that front. but we haven't. i am fairly certain nintendo expected more return on their investment. there likely would have been a big upfront infrastructure cost to develop their games and let's not overlook their partner DeNA which retains a lot of their mobile revenue as well.

is there potential in the mobile space? yes. but outside of a few cases, it is not a sure thing as many would believe it to be. definitely more misses than hits.

Re: PlayStation's Mobile Games Studio Rebrands Following Multiple Departures

Porco

@Callmegil pokemon go had nothing to do with nintendo. they did not develop or publish it. bulk of revenue for the game goes to niantic, pokemon company and the apple/android storefront. everyone knows that was lightning in a bottle and/or a unique IP that will sell regardless of quality anyways. what metric are you using to define success? outside of fire emblem heroes, the rest of their mobile games have not hit strongly relative to the competition.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/05/nintendo-close-to-hitting-usd1-8-billion-in-revenue-from-mobile-games

for example, mario kart world tour generated $270m over the span of 3 years on mobile. that would be the equivalent of selling roughly 3.5m retail copies on the switch — a grave underperformance if i have ever seen one for such an IP. when you factor in the massive install base on mobile, you soon realize just how abysmal their mobile offerings actually are next to big performers like genshin impact. an IP like mario kart should be generating hundreds of millions in revenue annually rather than total lifetime for it to be a success.

there is a reason why there have been no new mobile games in quite some time even though they once comitted to multiple mobile releases every year. plenty of criticism exists online about their mobile efforts so not sure where you are getting your optimism from.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/06/nintendo_to_cut_back_on_mobile_games_after_animal_crossing_success_says_report

the point is, if nintendo of all companies is struggling to this extent on mobile, just imagine sony.

Re: Court Rules £5 Billion Lawsuit Against Sony Can Go Ahead, Following Years of 'Excessive' PS Store Prices

Porco

first of all, the price of games is always set by the publisher, not sony (unless we are talking about 1st party titles). so to put the blame on sony for what other publishers are charging on the psn store makes no sense. sure, it would be nice if older games got a permanent msrp drop sooner — in some case they never drop — look no further than sekiro etc. but compared to nintendo there is no comparison.

the best price you are going to get on various nintendo titles is something like 35% off (on sale), even for 7 year old games. keep in mind that the msrp of most nintendo games never drops for the lifetime of the title. that is quite outrageous but nintendo is entitled to set its own prices. sony on the other hand usually drops the cost of its games by 50% (on sale) after 12-18 months and a permanent msrp drop usually occurs by the end of this cycle as well, eventually reaching the $20 msrp.

so yea, i find this lawsuit confusing. the market will decide what is and what isn't appropriate. if people stopped purchasing games due to their high costs, the prices would come down. clearly, most people have no problem with the current business model.

Re: Rumour: Marvel's Wolverine PS5 Release Date Reportedly 2025, Not Next Year

Porco

@MrMagic yes. although, it feels like the AAA industry is desperately trying to find its footing. they need to develop projects more efficiently, with smaller teams and budgets. perhaps we are in a place where they need to actually scale down the scope a bit in exchange for more releases and higher profit margins. the current model doesn't seem to be sustainable and everyone is suffering for it, including gamers who expect more variety in the AAA space. it is kind of wild that a single calendar year may only have a dozen or so games of interest for the average gamer, as opposed to the 2000s through the 2010s where there was a lot more options. the difference is, games were shorter in length back then and have since ballooned in the time investment required in many cases.

Re: PlayStation's Mobile Games Studio Rebrands Following Multiple Departures

Porco

@Callmegil hasn't worked out for most of nintendo's mobile efforts and those are among the most popular IPs in the world. getting a mobile hit is like finding a needle in a haystack... it is possible but unlikely, especially with sony's IPs as they are not as univerally recognizable. sony would be better off pursuing its strengths.

Re: Rumour: Marvel's Wolverine PS5 Release Date Reportedly 2025, Not Next Year

Porco

@twitchtvpat yes, they are working on projects but whether any of them are released in 2024 was my main concern. otherwise, we would have had an official announcement by now. it is far less likely that they announce and release a game in the same calendar year. sucker punch is likely working on tsushima 2 and naughty dog on last of us 3 — no real surprises there. bluepoint is a wildcard (i believe it to be a new IP). santa monica is likely working on a new IP as well. the way things are going, though, we are likely to get just 1 or 2 single player games from sony per year (if that). 2024 looks barren from 1st party at the moment but we'll see if anything gets announced at the game awards.

Re: Rumour: Marvel's Wolverine PS5 Release Date Reportedly 2025, Not Next Year

Porco

@MrMagic for me, 1st party was the big selling point during the ps3/ps4 era. things have been slowing down due to wasted resources on service games, so we should expect less single player 1st party releases from sony going forward.

there are some promising games on your list, but i feel like a few of them will be duds and fail to deliver (such as silent hill 2). stellar blade and lost soul aside could go either way. i see style over substance with those but if they are even remotely in the same league as bayonetta, that would be great.

all that said, i have taken a look at the releases for 2024 (of which we know so far) and it doesn't look very strong on the whole. i have a feeling gta 6 will release fall 2024, though, so that could be something special and offset everything else. my most anticipated game of 2024 is metaphor but it is also coming to ps4 so there is no pressure to get a ps5 just yet.

Re: Video: Why Sony Will Never Make the PS Vita 2

Porco

disagree with the thoughts in the article.

technology has advanced far enough along where a handheld (such as steamdeck) can run most AAA pc releases without requiring an official port. there is no reason to believe a playstation deck of sorts would be unable to do the same with some compromises to performancance, resolution and fidelity (most of which is mitigated by the smaller screen anyways). that means sony would not have to develop games for the "vita 2" specifically and instead can focus on ps5 development. literally nothing would need to change with ps studios and its structure. make the games for ps5 first and foremost and then patch the games to run on the vita 2 with said compromises as we see with with the steamdeck.

for those saying that it is pointless to do so... why is that? not everyone has a deep library on steam or nintendo platforms and would prefer to use their psn purchases instead (including ps classics). also, sony is usually good with its hardware design and could possibly come up with something that is better than the switch and steamdeck, egonomically and stylistically. the only thing stopping this from happening is sony's lack of will and foresight.

Re: Konami Is Creating a New Silent Hill Production Team

Porco

the og team silent was a time and place thing. you cannot manufacture lightning in a bottle or sheer passion, inspiration or talent in the same way twice. not to mention, i don't think many talented people are lining up to work at konami these days. wishful thinking. let it die. move on.

p.s. have we not already seen enough with how konami is handling silent hill: ascension? it is in the running for one of the worst gaming experiences of the year. i don't think they are respecting the IP one bit.

Re: Sony Delays Six Live Service PS5 Games, But Company Remains Committed to Model

Porco

sounds like sony intends to rest primarily on 3rd party software for the next several years as most of their internal studios will be tied up with service games. outside of wolverine, tsushima 2 and last of us 3 (to be released over the next several years) what other single player games is sony currently working on? at most, we may only get one or two single player games from sony in 2024, with a similar output in 2025 and beyond. if anyone thought 2023 was a drought for playstation studios (all we got from sony is spiderman 2 and let's try to forget that call of the mountain ever happened), get used to it.

based on sony's track record for anything that is NOT a narrative driven, single player experience, their gaas output will bomb hard and negatively impact their financials for the next 5 years or so. this is going to get ugly. they should cut their losses now by either cancelling the remaining 6 service games or transitioning them into single player experiences where possible. good times ahead? i don't know anymore. relying on 3rd party software which primarily consists of remakes and predictable, subpar sequels isn't going to cut it. most playstation fans expect more from their internal studios and gaas just isn't it.

Re: Poll: Do You Think GTA 6 Will Release on PS4?

Porco

i don't even own a ps5 and yet i absolutely do not want this released on ps4. gta games usually push the hardware and set benchmarks for other games to aspire to — that cannot happen if they were hamstrung with the old ps4. hell, even if conversations were had between rockstar and sony with regards to ps4 support, i won't be surprised if sony shut them down and encouraged rockstar to go the ps5 exclusive route. that isn't to say it is impossible but it would be quite pathetic for the gaming industry at large to see innovation yet again thrown out the window for greed.

Re: Are There More Silent Hill Remakes Coming to PS5?

Porco

@PixelDragon hard to say. i think people would appreciate starting with the first game since it is arguably in greater need of a remake considering its original platform and graphics. silent hill 2 still looks good on a CRT or while using an upscaler — better than silent hill 1 does anyways.

but my greatest concern is that if sh2 remake bombs and is crucified to the moon and back (the possibility of that happening is higher than i'd like), konami may cancel its future plans. they are not off to a good start.

Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Alan Wake 2?

Porco

playing alan wake 1 at the moment... good story (for those who like twin peaks etc.) but very tedious and frustrating combat brings the entire experience down. i hope they improved this aspect in the sequel. remedy doesn't exactly know how to make a polished game. they are close but not quite there.

Re: PS Plus Essential Games for November 2023 Announced

Porco

@Reptilio i hear ya. but you can add the games to your account from the psn website in which case there is no need to download them. that way, they will always be tied to your account and you can download them in the future if you change your mind (and not take up valuable storage space in the process).

Re: Biggest Gran Turismo 7 Update Ever Adds Cars, Tracks, Modes, Challenges

Porco

i have no qualms if they support gt7 for the next 5 years. this is how it should be done with the gaas model. what exactly would a gt sequel provide that isn't already there anyways? another botched launch with missing content and features? developing sequels in the racing genre has lost all meaning, unless there is a major jump in fidelity (like there will be with the ps6).

Re: Bungie CEO Laments 'Sad Day' for Sony Studio Following Layoffs

Porco

these people are being let go because jim mismanaged all of sony's interneal studios with gaas schlock that (mostly) nobody wants to touch. inefficient game development like this results in people losing their jobs. playstation is/was heading towards a cliff but thankfully some people at the top recognized this and removed jim relatively early in his reign. the brand may yet be saved with smart decisions, hard work and a major coarse correction. might have to endure a few bad years until then, though.

Re: PS5 Live-Service Game Marathon Has Reportedly Been Delayed to 2025

Porco

out of the 10 service games supposedly in development at sony, i have a feeling only 5 will see the light of day... and all but 1 of those will actually be good. hopefully sony learned a lesson in all this. what remains to be seen is whether or not the other 5 service games can pivot to become single player-only games or if sony has to outright cancel them and take major financial losses. the next 3-5 years of ps5 is going to be interesting, but not necessarily in a good way.

Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Marvel's Spider-Man 2?

Porco

clearly, people are getting fatigued from by-the-numbers sequels, as grand and polished as they may be. spiderman 2 is evidence of this. sony and other AAA publishers need to push the envelope more going forward or sales and interest will truly slump in the years ahead. we need the equivalent of the ps1/ps2 golden age, but in the modern era. if that means taking more risks, fostering new ideas and concepts and applying smaller budgets as a consequence, then so be it. this grind cannot continue forever.

Re: Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection (PS5) - Three Classics in One Messy Bundle

Porco

this is more like a 6/10. the review itself was very poorly constructed and focused more on the presentation of the games in the menu than the games themselves! it's not really up for debate, either. these are simply lazy as can be ports and an embarassment to the franchise. but, what did anyone expect anyways? read the steam reviews if you want an accurate picture of how this collection performs. also, since we are evaluating this collection in 2023 and 12 years have gone by since the original mgs hd collection on ps3, people have the right to be more critical of this package.

for mgs 1, you can get a FAR better experience simply running the game in an emulator — widscreen, better framerate and resolution included. heck, the mgs 1 pc port on GOG is even better than the one included in the master collection.

mgs2 and mgs3 are merely upscaled from 720p to 1080p and are NOT native 1080p. the picture is soft and you will not see much of a difference playing the ps3 hd collection on a modern tv since your tv will do the upscaling to 1080p anyways. a modder has already patched the collection so that it runs the games at 1080p and even 4k (with old textures of course) but that is a steep improvement over what konami released! konami does not deserve another dollar for the fans. stay away!

Re: You'll Need an Internet Connection to Pair PS5 Slim's Optional Blu-ray Drive

Porco

this could set a very bad precedent going forward, and not just from sony. this is not just about needing an internet connection for a second, either.

i am surprised that other people have not made note of this but it is possible that sony could hardware lock out 3rd party (non licensed) accessories going forward as well. why wouldn't they if that means more people are forced to buy official sony or 3rd party (sony licensed) accessories, right? how long before sony locks out various 3rd party controllers, external hard drives, etc? this console gen can't seem to get any worse and yet it does.