RobN

@BeerIsAwesome Not sure that's possible with the free game redemptions, though it is when you're paying.

Never finished it on the PS3, but enjoyed it. I guess I could fire it up again there, since I have the middle level of Plus and this isn't included....

I enjoyed it for a while, but burned out on it and deleted it. While the tracks are interesting, the challenge is 90% about the boost, so the best car is the one with the most boost. No matter how may fun cars you have, the one with the most boost is the one you need to drive. It stripped a lot of the fun out of it, for me.

Never finished the SP campaign - maybe half the map uncovered.

@Vacuumator Yes, this reminds me of the PS TV - and I bet it will be just as poorly marketed and end the same way.

If they make a bunch and they bomb, I may buy a couple on clearance. A dedicated device with the full DualSense enhancements would be great. I've used Remote Play from my PS4 to my PS5, from my phone to my PS4 and PS5, and it's pretty solid with my setup (PS5 hard-wired to router, solid wifi, PS4 hard-wired to a mesh hub, phone just on wifi but has network priority).

But it's not for everybody, won't work outside the home nearly as well for most people as Sony will probably imply...and if they plan on making it cellular to work outside the home, expect it to be a worse experience AND pricey AND come from the phone company with a new line contract. Blech. No way.

If they keep it wifi only and the whole thing comes in under $100, I'm buying one day one. I don't think that's what will happen, and even if it does it likely won't sell like crazy.

@wiiware "The problem is 'Monster' is a generic term, they can't just sue every product that have Monster in their name."

Of course they can - THEY ARE. You can sue anybody for any reason. You might lose, but you can still sue - I can sue you for your post, even if it would be a waste of my own time and money.

And "Monster" is not a generic term when it's applied to beverages - it's a trademarked term when applied to beverages. That's what trademarks do - they take even generic words and let someone "own" them within a specific context. "Apple" protects their trademark, too - just try making something computer-related and call it Apple. Look at the history of what they did when they started iTunes, and went after Apple Music - what inspired their own name!

The fact that Monster sponsors a (bad) Motocross video game - one of them was free on Plus a couple years ago - gives them reason to argue that other games with Monster in the title might confuse people that the drink is sponsoring them, too.

I'm not saying it's a good argument, or that they'll win in court if someone stands up to them - but it's an argument.

Trademark and Copyright are different, but frequently confused. The idea that if you don't defend your property you lose the right to it - that's from Trademark law, not Copyright law.

There's actually a legal incentive for Monster to go after other uses of Monster, even if they lose, because they can demonstrate they are actively protecting their Trademark. That could be relevant some day if some other company releases a "Monster Killer" sports drink and tries to claim that Monster is a generic term - you see similar aggression from "Band-Aid" and "Kleenex," who want to protect their Trademarks.

I think it's absurd, but the absurdity isn't fully with the company, some of it's with the law.

So much depends on the price. If this is under $200, I'd buy it. That's not impossible - think a DualSense with a screen built in and not a lot else - but it's unlikely.

The more brains it has, the more expensive it will be. At $500, I'd buy a Steam Deck, live without the haptics and fancy triggers, and play a lot more than just Remote Play. It's got to stay well under that bar. If it's as much as $400, it's a dud.

Let's assume it's happening - that there is a Pro, and it is targeted for 4Q 2024.

The earliest Sony would admit it exists is next summer. There is no way they would want to risk cannibalizing sales for the 2023 holiday season, so there is 0 chance they would admit it exists in 2023. Don't expect any confirmation on this front any time this year. Period.

I don't think that's more or less true if there's a modular slim in the pipeline or not - whatever the existing hardware is, they would expect sales to take a hit once they announce a Pro is coming, so they'll make the announcement relatively close to release..

Throw in what appears to be lower-than-expected sales for PSVR2, and Sony has to be concerned about how much they can charge for premium hardware when people are price-sensitive. Unless the Pro drops at $500 with a corresponding price drop for the "standard" PS5, I don't know what price point they could come up with that would drive sales.

So I'm skeptical of the rumors - but even if they're true, they won't be confirmed for at least a year.

EDIT: I'm going to repeat my prediction, though - any hardware refresh will eliminate (or at least vastly reduce) internal storage, in favor of coming with the m2 slot already filled. Dual m2 slots are possible, but less likely. Just like the PS4 came with a drive you could swap preinstalled, so will the next major revision to the PS5.

@JayJ That's twisting the facts a bit. New game not supporting content for the old game is not the same as dropping support for the old game.

You can still play FX3 on the newest console (PS5), and it still runs great (some say better than the new game), and you can still download - and even purchase - tables for that version. So long as they still support the old game (FX3) and don't pull it from the store, I'm cool with it.

Yes, I'd prefer content I previously purchased is unlocked in the new game - or at least offered as a discount. But so long as my access to the old game isn't removed, it's not a big deal. I still have what I paid for.

I don't have a serious problem with them keeping the old game playable and charging for the new one, even for the tables you already own on the old game. If (when?) they drop support for the old one, though, then they deserve criticism.

I'm not so sure it's a good-faith effort to not even try to offer a discount if you've already purchased those tables before, though. Just as they deserve money for new work to provide new features, don't their customers deserve a discount for supporting them before those new features were available? A reasonable upgrade discount would go a long way towards silencing the criticisms.

They HAD one delay for the PC version, and still had issues with the release. Looks like they needed more delays, even if that meant they missed the HBO window. I'm sure that had a lot to do with pushing it out the door before it was ready - but while the attention was still on the miniseries.

Looks like the developers (and perhaps more importantly, their marketing teams and bosses) still haven't learned that the bad press from a delay is probably better than the bad press from a buggy launch.

@sanderson72 ModNation Racers on the PS5 would be incredible. I spent a ton of time on that game - I bought it twice, as my day-1 disk developed a crack and wouldn't play any more. The artwork some people could put together using those tools were stunning.

No need to try to make it all hyper-realistic, just devote all that extra HP into allowing a bigger build budget.

And a Motorstorm compendium with a remaster of all the Motorstorm games would be stunning.

As for Kung Fu Rider...I remember trying it for a day and deleting it. It was pretty bad. But I enjoyed the Move controllers a lot for about a year - the content just failed to really roll out. I do remember playing one of the Resident Evil games (no idea which one) with the rifle adapter for the Move controller and the little navigation stick that could go with it, and that was one of the best experiences with Move I ever had.

@get2sammyb "Also, Microsoft has made a bug hullabaloo publicly about how they're not taking anything away. They could renege on that, but they won't."

Like they won't take Bethesda games off Playstation? Yes, I know they didn't make any promises about that for the Bethesda purchase - but the same executives also said it was obvious that was the plan. Why is it somehow less obvious now? "You took me serious?" - Inigo Montoya

You can dislike Sony and think they're handling this badly, and you may be right - but I don't see MS keeping anything coming to Sony platforms unless they're convinced the money left on the table is more than the money they could make by converting players to their ecosystem.

They could seriously hurt Sony while still bringing games to their consoles - just require in-game purchases to go through MS rather than Sony's store, and make Sony de-list the games and look like the bad guy. Imagine what Sony would think of Fortnite if they didn't get a dime from in-game purchases?!?!

Who knows what the landscape will look like 5-10 years from now. Today MS seems to be all-in on GP - down the road it could take over everything, be stripped down to a smaller library, turn into pay-as-you-play, or just quadruple in price. People forget how quickly some things can change.

@Mince I disagree.

They were doing right by their customers to have the base game come out on PS4. You got what you paid for. We're now in the phase of the PS4 life cycle where it's starting to be left behind. That's inevitable, not anti-consumer.

At some point, they need to start utilizing the power of the current console and not hold it back for backwards-compatibility with the old hardware. DLC seems a fine place to do that, especially after the base game got added to a tier of Plus.

Is that a pain point for PS4 owners? Sure. But it was going to be a pain point for somebody, and providing the best experience they can come up with on the current-gen hardware seems more friendly than having some customers miss out on DLC.

Sackboy is a pretty solid game, with a few amazing levels featuring pop music that really deserve to be played and not just watched on YouTube. Thinking about it makes me want to go back and replay those levels (easy enough to do once you've got to them).

And it made solid use of the DualSense on the PS5, if not breathtaking use. Pay attention to how your controller feels as you walk on different surfaces.

Unless you just hate platformers, you should play Sackboy. And it's better with a friend (on the couch).

@Snake_V5 The icons are only on the screen if you're using the screen as your controller. If you connect an actual controller (DualShock, DualSense, or even some other controllers, especially if you use the third-party Android app) via Bluetooth or USB, then the on-screen indicators go away.

Downloaded. Started. Saw the 5+ hour queue.

Deleted. Played something else.

@Beerheadgamer82 I'm old enough to remember when GPS was a new thing only available to the military - and even then, the military taught you how to look at the map and then look at your surroundings and figure out where you were. It's called "orienteering," and it's a real skill that can be very valuable, even with a GPS and Google Maps in my pocket.

Don't think of it as a game lacking a feature - think of it as a game helping you learn a real-world skill!

I installed it, fired it up, saw there was a 4+ hour queue, deleted it, and played something else - because there was no way I was tying up my console to sit in a lobby waiting.

But then, I never played Diablo. I was into other things back when it had its heyday, so I never got into any of the series. But if it's always online AND you're forced to interact with others, that's enough to tell me I'll be skipping this one, too.

Not sure how much Sylens will be in the DLC, but I hope the third Horizon game has Sylens more as an absent voice in Aloy's head, with her asking herself what he'd do or how many steps ahead he'd be if he were still there - perhaps cursing him for being too secretive and assuming he'd always be there to dole out just enough information but never as much as she wanted. Include enough comments to honor the actor and character, without dominating the game...but let them go on without him, however they can.

Maybe with Sylens' death, his notes are unlocked and Aloy and Beta can go through them - Beta can take over the role of hacker that Sylens held, if not the role of master strategist.

While you COULD use tech to help copy his voice, it feels more respectful to me not to do so, unless he explicitly said he wanted that at some point before his death.

@KundaliniRising333 Oh, I see. I missed that first line (and the longer runtime of the demo) and misunderstood.

@KundaliniRising333 "lack of weighted impact in combat" - What did you watch? I'm not sure I saw any actual combat. There was the guy swinging his sword and leaping forward that was paused to show the detail on his armor, but there was no impact in that combat, weighty or otherwise.

"case by case" is a joke. Nothing in this deal will come out for Playstation unless it was previously contracted to do so.

And people can look at that deal, then look at the Activision deal, and still wonder why Sony expects Microsoft to do...what Microsoft does.

@Americansamurai1 "Hopefully they don't wait until August to show gameplay"

What difference does it make? If they don't show gameplay because they're trying to hide how bad it is, then yeah, that's bad. If they embargo reviews until release day (after preorders can't be cancelled), then that's a big warning sign. I don't think that's likely from Insomniac, but we'll see.

But if they don't want to pump the hype months before it's going to be released, and instead wait until it's close and you can preorder, I can respect that.

@Uncharted2007 That's not the only reason to remove them, not for games that have a component that requires them to maintain a server for it. Being able to shut down the server can save them money. If that server runs old software that may have unpatched vulnerabilities (or depend on old libraries with vulnerabilities), it can save them some risk and maintenance expenses, too.

And if the MP is shut down, selling the old version that advertises MP might lead to a risk of lawsuits from people claiming false advertising. I mean, if they can sue Buffalo Wild Wings for selling "boneless wings" made with breast meat instead of wing meat (which is not only incredibly obvious, but stated in small print on their menus), they can sue EA for selling an old multiplayer game with multiplayer disabled. Even if the lawsuits are frivolous, they have to pay lawyers to deal with them.

@TheMightyImp2 That's a good point. That would work.

Then again, I have two kids with a PS5, one who has moved out already, and that little "cheat" shouldn't work in three directions...if I share it, the two kids might be more likely to do that with each other's account. And it would prevent me from using Remote Play against "my" PS5, it would have to be against "her" PS5, because I think it will only work against your primary.

But it's an interesting way to game the system! Thanks, I hadn't thought of that, though in truth I stumbled into it through the back door - my kid bought a PSVR2, and redeemed the Horizon code on her alternate PSN account (she has two, one for Genshin Impact, not relevant). That secondary PSN account happens to be primary on my PS5 rather than hers, so we can move the PSVR2 between systems and I can play the Horizon VR2 game on my own account, while she plays it on her GI-linked secondary PSN account. Works great!

It makes sense to want to avoid being left out if NFTs ever do take off, though I'm not fond of patents that are overly vague, like "do this thing you do normally, but ON THE INTERNET!" or "let that NFT work cross-platform!"

I do hope that this isn't about any specific product, but just future-proofing their portfolio - hopefully for a future that never comes to pass.

Honestly, the two most next-gen things about the PS5 are the fast storage and the controller. Yes, it can do ray-tracing (at a cost) and yes, it can do 40-60-120 fps, and those are great - but those are incremental improvements.

I don't know when a PS5 "Pro" may come, but I do have a prediction. I suspect a PS5 "Pro" (or maybe even the upcoming "Slim") will include essentially no internal storage - just one (or MAYBE two) slots for m2 storage, with a 1TB or 2TB stick preinstalled. It will make sense for them to drop the storage off the motherboard as the external storage prices continue to drop, and still makes their system easily upgradable.

If Epic is allowing sellers to sell resource packs for bundling in games, and not vetting those, they need large clear copyright warnings in the buying process - and whoever sold the resource pack ought to be liable for damages from the original copyright holder AND their customers.

Realistically, that middle-man is probably long gone with whatever profits they were able to realize, and another half-dozen fake identities trying to sell the same stolen stuff to another mark. When a developer tries to buy a resource pack, it could be a long time before they discover it's not legit (invalid copyright), which makes it hard for everyone - they likely can't get their money back from the seller or the marketplace, the content is probably hard to replace, and the original creator could be out potential sales and/or creative control of their own creation.

Theft sucks, and scammers preying on game developers are no better than scammers trying to part grandma from her life savings.

Used PS Play for years. Works with cheap third-party controllers (the kind that will hold your phone between the left and right controller parts, via a spring-loaded connector), works as Sony issues upgrades, it's been solid. I've also used it with PS controllers, and connected my phone to an USB-to-HDMI hub adapter to run on another TV or portable (dumb) screen. It all works.

I've found I prefer using a PS4 as my Remote Play device, so I can play my PS5 on a big screen in another room, but playing on the phone can work surprisingly well depending on the game.

For Genshin Impact, which doesn't have native controller support for its own Android App, playing it over Remote Play is frequently a better experience than playing it on the phone with adapter software to simulate tapping the screen when you use a controller.

EDIT: Sony's own app isn't bad, but its support for third-party controllers is basically nonexistent. I've played with both, and both an work well, but the paid app will virtually ALWAYS work no matter what you throw at it, while Sony's own app doesn't always do as well.

I think the previous version of Monster Energy Supercross was once free on the old Plus, and I tried it, and it was one of the worst racing games I've ever suffered through. Unless the next iteration really fixed all that was broken, I can't imagine it's a loss anyone will care about...but I'm not about to give it a try to find out.

I tried, but I can't understand the point of view of people who see that as a spoiler. I know how many pages are in a book before I start, and my Kindle shows percentage complete while I read - if anything, it can heighten the experience when you realize that all this has happened and you're not even halfway done, yet.

But I'm a big fan of giving people configuration choices. Let the people who are bothered turn it off. I won't, and I may even scoff a little at those who do, but give them an option.

Now, I'd rather Sony spend limited development time making their "Game LIsts" (aka folders) actually USABLE, instead of the worthless pile of **** they are now, but that's just me.

@MattBoothDev "Isn't it already the case that you can play a game that's installed on the PS5 if you're logged onto it?"

Depends.

If you didn't buy the game, then what matters is which console is the primary console of the person who bought it. If your console is the primary (several family members sharing a console, each with their own PSN account), then yes, anyone can play any game installed.

But my kid bought her own PS5 for her own room, so we have two in the house. My PS5 is my primary and her PS5 is her primary. I can't play games she owns on my account on my PS5, only on her account on my console, unless I buy them again. And she can't play "my" games on "her" PS5 except under my account.

The exception disk-based games, in which case we can share the disk, and whoever has the disk can play it.

I redeemed DOZENS of PSVR titles for Plus (despite not owning a PSVR), and this was the only one that had a free upgrade to PSVR2.

And then it's not free after all. Oh well - thanks to @Jaz007 for pointing out you can upgrade to the Tourist edition for $3, instead of $10. Yay!

Yay, I can finally save "Biscuit" from the poachers.

I wouldn't mind an option to disable/reduce some of the repeating dialog, though I'm less bothered about Hogsmeade than about what travel was like before some *itch invented floo powder.

Otherwise, a fun game. I'm not sure if it will hold up to multiple play-throughs, though you have to play a bit as four different characters to experience all four houses and get four house-related trophies, so....we'll see how it holds up. Ravenclaw first (I'm a nerd), Slytherin next, with all the dark spells I can manage, let's see how that feels.

@Beerheadgamer82 I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think you get a choice. Essentially they've stopped seeing the disk and digital versions as separate versions - they're just tracking whether your license is disk or digital (or both), instead.

So if the game's not installed, when you insert the disk it will install it. I don't know if it will copy from disk and then update, or just download from the store to install. Either way, if you own it digitally as well, then the next time you play it will just work whether or not the disk is in the drive.

@huyi It shouldn't mess with license issues, it should simplify them when you own both.

@Beerheadgamer82 No, it does NOT mean you don't need to put your disk in the drive any more. If the only copy you own is the disk version, then you still have to put the disk in the drive every time. If some day you purchase the digital version of the same game, you can just use it without putting the disk in or making any other changes. Prior to this firmware patch, for most games if you owned the disk version and later purchased the digital version, you would have to uninstall the disk version and then download/install the digital version - the whole game, just because it's not the same as the disk-based version. Now, you don't need to do that.

The other side - if you own a game digitally and then lose access to it (presumably Plus and your account expired or the game left one of the top tier libraries), if you have a disk you can insert the disk and just play. Before this update you'd have to uninstall the digital version of the game, reinstall from disk, and then apply all the updates.

tldr; If you own the digital version it now doesn't matter if it was installed from disk or not. If you don't own the digital version, you need the disk whether it was the disk or digital version you initially installed. You don't have to uninstall/reinstall to switch versions, now.

For me this is likely to apply to games I bought on disk, that later show up in one of the Plus catalogs. The ability to instantly switch to the digital edition without uninstalling and re-downloading will be nice. I doubt I'll go the other way often, but maybe if a game leaves and I still have the disk or go get the disk....

How often do you own the disk version AND buy the digital?

I was on the beta and never really had a chance to test this despite having several disk-based titles, so I just hope/assume it works.

One thing people don't understand - when Microsoft promises to release CoD on these platforms for 10 years, what happens if in 2 or 3 years they break that promise? What punishment will there be?

None.

There is no reason to believe Microsoft will keep their word.

Personally, I don't play CoD so I don't care. But I do think it's amazing how may people are mollified by Microsoft's PR push. They didn't say they'd build the wall and make Sony pay for it, but their promises sound just as obviously hollow.

@banacheck There's a difference between a four-hour movie that keeps you engaged and on the edge of your seat for four hours straight, and a four-hour movie that has you checking your watch dozens of times and wondering why it wasn't 90 minutes.

The same can be true for video games, whether they're open world or linear. If you're constantly engaged and interested in what's next, then it's entertainment - but if you feel like you're working through a shopping list or a list of weekend chores and you wish you could just get to the next thing, it's not fun.

There are good and bad examples of both.

I've seen linear games that tried to pretend to be more open world by sending you back to a prior level to play it again with some new nuance (a new skill or tool that lets you open paths that were closed the first time through). Those can be a lot of fun, or just lame.

I've seen amazing, engaging open world games, as well as those where you're frustrated as you roam around looking for some useless collectible because you need it for some reward, and it feels more like a chore than a game.

It's all about the implementation. It makes sense it's easier to pull off a rewarding campaign when you have more control over where the player can go and what order they will encounter things.

Let's see how long it takes them to start offering sales - I picked up many of the tables in the older versions of the game from sales, I expect I may do so again for new tables I don't own elsewhere.

Buying the tables I already own again is a bit of a stretch, when the last version runs just fine in backwards compatibility on my PS5 - why bother? I don't care one bit about decorating the room around the table - I just want to play the pinball game, not dress-up.

At least until my kid gets bored with her new PSVR2 headset and I get to try it...maybe they'll have support for VR in this version by then (I've heard rumors it's coming, but not available at release - can anyone confirm?). But again, I'd likely buy a couple tables I don't have already, first.

@Bricktop33 Well, I do like trophies, but I don't really play for the trophies. I'm more looking forward to the "second-person" gameplay sequence, which I haven't gotten to, yet.

EDIT: Ooooh, Motorstorm. I still have disks for several of them. I could fire up Motorstorm!!!

Still have a PS3 connected to my TV. Don't run it hardly ever, but I still want to go back and finish Driver: San Fransisco, so perhaps this is the nudge I need to fire it up again.

So my decision not to pick up Ghostwire: Tokyo pays off next month. Nice.

I'll kick the tires on Tchia and see if it's worth my time. Nice to see another day 1 indie, I guess, but for whatever reason I'm not nearly as excited as I was for Stray. I guess we'll see.

Interesting - I don't own any of those, which may make some sense because I never had a PSVR, but I did "buy" all the PSVR content that was free on PS Plus over the years, and have quite a few titles.

The closest I come is The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Tourist Edition, where I have the game without the "Tourist Edition" add-on. Anybody have any clue if that will be an upgrade? I guess I can buy the Tourist Edition upgrade cheap this month on Sony's sale.

My kid bought the PSVR2 so I ought to get a chance to try it out - I was hoping more of the titles I'd picked up but never tried would be possible. Oh well.

@THEH4MM That's the thing - I don't understand the cry for cross-play. With everyone on the same console, you're playing against people on similar hardware as you - not only is it harder to implement cheats, they're not benefiting from a $1k video card giving them faster refresh at higher resolution to help them get an edge.

I don't play a lot of multiplayer, though the original Destiny was one I played a lot. But I really don't see the push for cross-play, and generally appreciate when developers have a "console only" option implemented, so you don't HAVE to participate in cross-play when you don't want to.

I actually loved Syndicate - it was a blast.

But I'm done with it and don't expect to go back. Too many other things to play. Nice that they fix it so other people can give it a shot, though - about time!

@OrtadragoonX "Basically the software isn’t keeping up with the hardware."

There's some truth in that, but it's also a bit unfair. There were amazing-looking games back on the PS3, that were good enough that the extra horsepower of the PS5 today make impressive improvements - but not revolutionary improvements. The Last of Us seems to be the prime example - pull out the PS3 version and compare it to the newest remake, and you'll definitely see improvements, but I suspect most people won't consider them as revolutionary as that leap from PS1 to PS2 that you're talking about. We may never see a leap quite that huge ever again, unless quantum computing becomes a reality and can do something surprising/amazing.

And that's just the reality of the law of diminishing returns. It absolutely doesn't help that nobody is developing games only for that RTX 4090 you mentioned - not when they have to make sure their cross-platform title runs on the Series S, as well as on whatever PC looks more like a PS4 than an RTX 4090-powered beast. But they can't survive if they can only sell games to people who own an RTX 4090 - heck, at this date, they're only starting to drop support for the PS4 generation.

I surprised myself and really enjoyed Destiny. I bought it just as the very last DLC came out, and played the snot out of it. Had a blast working my way through a ton of story that had rolled out by that point - even played some team things, which is normally not my thing at all.

But I never got into Destiny 2. I might give it a go now that all the DLC except what's being advertised here is "free" on Plus Plus (whatever the middle tier of Plus is called), but one thing I don't love about Bungie is they want you to spend near full-game prices for every big story add-on. It's almost like buying the game over and over again. It may not be a monthly fee, but it's awful close if you start at the beginning and want to keep up through all the expensive expansions.

Who am I kidding? I'll skip it, unless a friend tries to drag me into it. Too many other games to play.