RadioHedgeFund

I'd like to nominate the non-listed PSP.

Easily my favourite console of all time and I would argue the first console that truly ushered in the modern age of gaming. I cannot speak for other regions but in the UK it had the web browser, direct DLC downloading, downloadable demos, a multimedia emphasis and an actual useable OS rather than just a memory management system. The fact it was on a handheld was even better. In 2005 it was a slice of the future.

I don't have the console anymore but I quite happily emulate all my existing discs and PSN purchases on PPSSPP on Android.

Its a great top list missing only IMO Lumines which I consider the best falling block puzzle title ever made. Honourable mentions include Outrun 2006, Test Drive Unlimited (They squashed the whole of Oahu onto a UMD) and Phantasy Star Portable 2, the only good installment* since the Dreamcast original.

The console was also peak Sony, by which I mean that lovely way they release pieces of consumer electronics that look so cool, are way ahead of their time and cost an absolute fortune. By this I mean the Location.Free capability that meant with the right hardware you could (in 2006) watch Live TV from your home anywhere in the world streamed to your PSP. I also had all the dorky addons like the camera, GPS module (which had Sat-Nav software in Europe!) and the buggy-but-clever Talkman game.

@get2sammyb Microsoft will be hoping those Call of Duty players stick around and try something else as it wouldn't be costing them anything extra which then lumps them in for another month.

Personally I don't like what the sub model has done to even Microsoft's first party games. Look at the way Forza Horizon, despite being playable 100% offline has morphed into an ongoing service title with constant updates to drive subscriptions.

If you look at the comments over on PureXbox the majority of People complaining about the AB deal being opposed are just sore they will have to pay for Call of Duty instead of getting it 'for free' in their existing sub.

The gamers on twitter might remember saying the same thing about the original. When Destiny 2 launched it was a breath of fresh air because they stripped out all the bloat; now its buried under its own systems again.

Worse is the new player experience. You can't just play through every story campaign in order from a menu because Bungle vaulted them all. There are no attempts at onboarding, No explanation of terminology or lore. 'Jump into a weekly nightfall playlist' isn't very helpful. Even something which should be simple like transmog is too over the top. Diablo 3 and Horizon get it so right!

Q: can you use the water wing back in FW?

Fair play if Sony don't want to add the actual environments to the PS4 version but the new equipment/outfits would have been fine as a free update, maybe expanding on thr champions medals NG+ feature.

The PSVR2 doesn't need to sell well. Don't know its an expensive hobbyist item but it's mere presence makes the PS5 look more futuristic and capable than the Xbox Series and for Sony, that's all that matters.

Building an ecosystem of potential add ons is classic Sony, from the Eyetoy to the PSP, Buzz to Singstar; it enriches their potential market and customer base.

I quite enjoyed the XV transmedia experiment. Really to get the whole game story you had to:

• Play Episode Ardyn (the last piece of DLC!)
• Watch Kingsglaive (effectively a 2 hour into movie)
• Play the game but complete the DLC packs at certain points and play the online portion before the endgame.
• Watch the YouTube anime skits in your own time
• Buy the hardback 'Dawn of the Future' book that novelises all the cancelled DLC packs to finally rewrite the ending.

That's a lot to take in.

@RadioHedgeFund I have never pirated a game I could buy new that recompenses the original creators, physical or download.

I will continue to download abandonware ROMs of older titles that are no longer on sale for current devices where the only person who loses out is a collector on eBay charging a sky high resell price.

£130 for Vandal Hearts? Er, no.

No offline play. No solo adventurer against the tides of evil. No sale.

Cloud gaming is an important piece of the future conversation whether we like it or not. I cannot speak for PlayStation but Xbox streaming in a browser is brilliant. I often play Fortnite with zero ping over such connection. At home I have 500mb but at my regular hotel it ranges from 120-50mb and that works really well as well.

One thing the SF movie doesn't get enough credit for, despite being delightfully naff is how it manages to crowbar in every character from the game somehow. That alone is pretty impressive.

Day one if true.

I really want to love FFXIV. The gameplay and world is brilliant! But the journey to level 50, even if it can be done entirely via the story is too much of a slog.

I would strongly argue that grinding for hundreds of cars over 8 tracks isn't much fun after a while compared to the massive World Tour found in the brilliant PSP Ridge Racers launch title.

So what you’re saying is I’m actually in a better place having not played the game.

It sounds like they’ve gone in the direction of Xenoblade and I couldn’t be happier!

@Regalia776 I’m hoping for a world map but then wider areas around the locations to explore. Maybe a tighter Xenoblade.

Some Quen armor sets would have been nice….

One question: Do you get the Focus device? Surely being able to physically gaze around with the in-game AR interface is made for VR!

Destiny 2 remains a fine FPS game buried under so many mechanics as to make it impenetrable to new players.

The game needs a full Destiny 3 reboot. This means tidying up the story, having more classes with more granularity in the levelling and making the weapon system a bit more RNG.

Basically what they need to do is make Diablo 3 in space. This game is a classic for a reason with wonderfully streamlined post-game mechanics and plenty of room for experimentation in classes.

Sadly the best Syphon Filter is still a terribly middling 3rd person shooter.

Done! (Just in case its an error)

Genuinely brilliant!

Do Test Drive Unlimited?

@nomither6 Like the cartoony kiddy graphics of Akira?

@SplooshDmg Blood and gore normally scream “Hello teenage audience.”

A unique art style (which is really what it is) makes Fortnite great as it means me (a man in his 40s) can play squad games with his kids and not worry about the content.

The amount of people getting wound up over the graphics looking a little cartoony on a piece of software they have never played or have no interest in playing is downright hilarious.

The world in Crew 2 is too big and devoid of any character. The one thing NFS gets wrong is setting things in a big city.

Forza Horizon is probably the sole reason to buy an Xbox over a PS. The series is that good and all 5 maps have features cities but miles of well constructed open countryside between them.

There is sadly nothing on PS that even comes close.

Given the bewildering amount of stuff in D2 I’m amazed anyone can keep track of anything. I loved it when it first came out but now it’s incomprehensible trying to get back into it. The onboarding is atrocious.

Great news! I really enjoyed Run Sackboy Run. Looks like a fun time waster.

I feel the poll doesn't reflect context: this won't be for the existing model but instead the slimmer (or shorter) one coming later this year. In which case yes I would buy one because I like to have physical ownership of my stuff.

I am genuinely looking forward to the revised PS5 model. I really want one but it’s just too big to sit under my TV and I’m not leaving a gap (and stashing it away) or buying a new unit.

I know people seem to rap on the PS4 for having so many big open world single player titles but honestly it’s these games that keep me on PlayStation and I hope Sony keeps cranking them out (although I’d still appreciate a new WipEout)

I just want one that will fit under my TV without having to replace the whole unit.

If XVI is the tent pole summer release and Spider-Man the winter one then surely VII-2 will be a 2024 game? The release schedule for 23 is already stacked up as well.

If they can reduce the length by 100mm I’ll buy one straight away as it will finally fit under my TV.

@ItsBritneyB_tch Avatar the lame-o blue people or Avatar: The Last Airbender? Because that last one I can get behind!

I can see how they didn’t want to repeat the last end of chapter event but they should have let us play the opening against the Herald at least before going in with some classic POI nostalgia on the fragments.

It’s classic Epic: they put all these teasers into a season about some impending villain or collapse with no backstory or real payoff.

For a game set on an island it has a lot of narrative parallels with Lost, ie it often seems like the writers have no idea where they’re going.

Easily. I was an Xbox gamer for years so I’ve got a huge PlayStation backlog to deal with still.

However I’d like to see Sony roll out phone streaming via a browser. Now Google’s not a competitor in that space they have a software engineer team they could outsource the whole thing too.

I’d be on that like a shot.

The team behind the original dirt left years ago and formed Playground Games and went on to make Forza Horizon, the best racing game of the PS3/360 gen. Bullet dodged.

This contrasts with Atlus comments on Persona 5. What western gamers enjoy is Japanese titles aimed at that market but released over here. Aiming for a global or predominantly western audience tends to make such titles quite dull tbh.

Xbox fans are in for a wake up call. Persons 4 is one of my favourite games is an time but I'm also a man nearly 40 who probably wouldn't dare play such games outside of a handheld.

@Flaming_Kaiser People just assume that because it’s a mobile title it will end up bad. This isn’t true.

@Milktastrophe Don’t get me wrong I can’t wait to play it. It’s just that mobile gaming in China is a hell of a lot more popular than consoles so it Nantes sense the mobile version looks at Chinese history.

They need to be careful though with who they make the bag guys though. I have no idea who the current regime admire from a historical standpoint. Over here in the uk it was a bit distasteful to suggest Alfred the Great was the progenitor of the Templars as he is a revered monarch often thought of as the best King of England who ever lived.

There will be the usual snobbery about mobile games from people who don’t bother to actually play the good ones but the last one, AC Identity was actually pretty good so this could be a good shout.

They’ve however obviously set it in China to crack that market.

It sounds like it would have benefitted from a ‘Mobius’ imagining with the chequerboard blocks and all. They could have done an open world remake of Sonic 1 and it would have been glorious.

Like every other F2P JRPG of the era it starts out promising enough but soon collapses under the weight of its own mechanics forgetting that the best thing about the Dreamcast original was its simplicity

FFXIV at least gradually introduces Game mechanics as to not overwhelm the player; this does not do that.

@Anti-Matter So you dislike the garbage on mobile but happily enjoy playing such games on consoles?