A couple of curiosities to note out of this: 1) Totoki besides retaining his overall Sony Group role, (& was acting in a "interim" capacity with Playstation),seems to be keeping a closer watch on the books,with the dual CEO's.
2) Insofar as Hulst having an expanded role, time will tell. 🤔 As the public "face" of Playstation Studios,it's been hard to get a read on him. When he did give rare interviews,it was pushing the Ryan era initiatives of live service games,(several which been shuttered),& remasters of several PS4 hits to PS5 alongside PC & Mobile studio acquisitions.
He would touch on PS Studios legacy titles, but apart from the limited PSN streaming regions, most older titles remain unavailable on modern platforms,eg: Ratchet & Clank classics, GOW 1 & 2, Sly Raccoon,LBP 1 & 2,infamous 1 & 2, Resistance just to name a few.
Whether much changes under his watch time will tell. 🤔
3) As for Hideaki Nanshino, presumably that still leaves Playstation alumni like Mark Cerny (& his dev company),still carrying on as he does now we hope into PS5 Pro or PS6 in the future,& presumably Shuhei Yoshida in his current Indies role given he was reporting to Jim Ryan before hand.🤞🙏
Guessing we won't be seeing any "big" acquisitions by Playstation anytime soon, the only hope is the arms race will slow a bit in light of the maas layoffs across the AAA landscape.
More deflection & excuses from one of the bigger Microsoft cheerleading "reporter" in Ryan McCaffrey.
Xbox has ALWAYS been a Microsoft entity,since day one,they're literally the parent company & just why "Gamer" Phil Spencer pushed & convinced them to fork out near $88 billion to buy their way back in dominance & cut Sony out not only from potential timed exclusive deals but shut them out period from some of the biggest 3rd party IP's out there like COD.
But between the deals needed to get the sales over the line,(& legals,& associated costs,& losses of third party games going exclusive & subscription based),little surprise the upper management are suddenly asking where their investment has gone not seeing a Windows like market domination of either Xbox or Gamepass.
The silly thing is there was always going to be a price paid for buying two of the biggest third party AAA Publishers,(& their slew of IP's & studios), & releasing solely onto a subscription service day one release with optional purchase.
Its surprising they were prepared to gamble the obvious costs of so many studios short term vs hits to software sales & didn't consider Phil's sales pitch optimistic!🙄 If Bungie's purchase & cancellation of several Sony live service titles are attributed to Jim Ryan, then its laughable the currently in hiding Phil Spencer isn't responsible for Xbox Studios failings.
Given Herman Hulst's love of remasters,(though mostly PS4 to PS5),it's sad he doesn't have the same love for a LBP 1& 2 remaster/remake. It's got plenty of mtx opportunities,& they literally have a creation tool in Dreams that potentially could be reworked for LBP!
As for Microsoft....well they've always had a sense of humour,they gave the normally staid Nintendo board the giggles when they suggested a takeover buyout!!😋😂
Imagine a bizzarro world where a multi trillion software monopoly spends $88 BILLION to acquire two of the biggest AAA Third party publishers,multiple IP's & dev studios,(nevermind the P.R. spend,legal fees vs the FTC & EU & UK regulators,then the undoubted "donations" to various Congress people to put the political blowtorch on the very body designed to protect consumers from big company monopolies!),& then cry poor "we're spread too thinly,we can't afford all these studios!!🙄🤣 Oh wait...🤔
Saw an unattributed quote that supposedly was spoken by Shawn Layden but sounds like him. "Buying studios is easy,managing them is a whole other problem"....whilst he probably has little interest aspiring to returning to Playstation towers it would be well worth the price to find a role back there for him.
"Gamer" Phil Spencer's legacy at this rate will be succeeding in an entire couple of Xbox console generations of players no longer wanting to buy AAA or AA/Indies because they'll only play them on Gamepass!🙄
The only reason Bobby Kotick backflipped on all things Gamepass & Microsoft was that multi million/billion golden parachute after spending all those millions in no fault legal settlements.
Before that he was deadset against it as far as Day One release on subscription services. Even the pricey third party marketing/dlc timed exclusives would only see older COD games on something like PS Plus long after the hard core fans had bought it.
With less $1 Live Gold deals than there used to be let's see how popular it is.
Unlike the staid,corporate Matt Booty email that thanks them for their time,how sad too bad,& no doubt "Gamer Phil" is undoubtedly practising for his constipated pained face & "it's been a tough day" P.R. damage control tweet/interview video, this shows genuine emotion of a studio boss wearing the consequences of decisions made above his pay grade.😕
Maybe he might be giving zero fudges & waiting for a similar fate/consequences,but if not,then the same "angry gamers",that were blowing up over account linking a few days ago,(despite doing so on multiple other games),will vote with their wallets supporting a monopolistic trillion dollar company buying up all the major AAA publishers perhaps isn't such a "win for gamers",after all?🤔🙄
How many times did we hear Microsoft P.R.,& their media & social influencer bots throughout the proceedings in the U.S.,EU,& U.K. how both Zenimax Bethesda & Activision Blizzard buyouts were "good for gamers",& give back "creative freedom".
About the laughable claims of "Gamer" Phil Spencer insist TIMED 3rd party exclusives were the root of all evil versus using the Corporate credit card to remove the likes of Starfield off a PS5 release altogether was also a "win for gamers"?🙄
I don't pretend Playstation is flawless... With Helldivers 2 surprising even their best hopes & a new acting CEO & Sony Group 2IC wanting to cut costs saw savage cutbacks to the Jim Ryan & Herman Hulst era live service investments.
But given this is the second time Microsoft have slashed jobs & closing previously successful studios,(Prey,Evil Within etc),exposes the hypocrisy of Phil Spencer & the Microsoft P.R. machine.
Will be curious after all the vitriol put towards Playstation by certain PC players if they'll be as savage towards Saint Phil when he'll do another "this has been a real tough day for us" tweets.🙄
One would hope we'll see those affected pop up in smaller AA studios or Indies,but invariably we tend to see the cycle repeat when bought out by the bigger publishers time & again these days.😕
As many others have said, it's pretty hard NOT to avoid any AAA published game &/or storefront or both having multiple accounts!
That Sony is joining a very long list of other AAA publishers hardly feels like a capital offence its being made out by certain PC owners...
Not to make light of data/privacy concerns,but as others have said,be more worried about Google, Facebook,heck even Microsoft's recent Windows 11 update has disabled most of the previously used work arounds to create a local account versus strong arming a Microsoft account during setup!🙄😕 (Not to mention adverts in the start menu)
But a linked PSN account is apparently far worse?! Strange hill to fight to the end on!
Strauss Zelnick will undoubtedly still enjoy his regular bonus pay cheque much like Bobby Kotick on his annual Activision Blizzard purges.🙄
So much for Private Division being the "Indie Arm" of the Take-two business...make a successful game,get bought out allegedly on the pretence of stability & guaranteed finance,next thing find your IP rights gone & lights turned off & locks changed at the office!
But one only has to look at how veterans of Rockstar got churned or burned out,& the older games get contracted out to the likes of Grove Street Games for substandard "remasters" & single player dlc cancelled to see Take-two's priorities these days!😑
Must admit haven't fired up Suikoden in quite a while,(have it sitting on emulation & even ps3 digitally along with my ps1 copy). Do recall sections (esp. during the first walkthroughs of),where you had limited spots to rest/recharge spells but didn't recall inns etc.,being overpriced.🤔
Oh well,sounds like it ticks all the right boxes. Guessing picking up the spin off will help complete the experience. Hopefully might inspire Konami to mention a release date on Suikoden 1 & 2 remasters,& pray they let its devs give them the TLC they deserve!🙏🤞
Why waste good money on new IP,s or a Bully 2, RDR 3, etc when you can push GTA Online V2.0 dlc out & just outsource their older titles for minimal "remasters" to the cheapest bidder.🙄
@itsfoz Can see it now...they'll be called :Ubi Bucks"!! *NB Ubi bucks can't be used in any other Ubisoft game. Ubi Bucks won cannot be redeemed for real world currency!!😂🙄
Even if I can only take Cooking Mama/Overcooked type games in bursts,the diving sections & art style look nice even if I'm sure it'll up the tension quickly enough.
Visually it gives a bit of Forgotton Anne vibes, which I enjoyed for what it was but never quite worked out the "best" ending beyond the basic two but definitely hinted at. One to nab on a sale.
Watched a bit of gameplay when it released a brief demo of the PC version. The visuals look lovely,albeit it sticks to a tried & true point & click classic formula. Probably end up wishlisting it for an eventual sale rather than a day one buy.
Bought the standard South Park Fractured But Whole (which I think was the last Ubisoft title I bothered with before they went all in on open world live service style grinding games),as didn't know what value their season pass would provide. Years later,still not that sure in the occasional dlc discounts if its any value for money over the main game!
May sound overly sceptical here,but will very much dependi on a GTA Online type sales momentum for Ubisoft to pour ongoing resources into an expensive Disney royalties Star Wars game for which we've seen little in the way of actual gameplay so far.
The trailers look the part,but quite a roulette wheel gambling on the pricey higher tier versions let alone preordering any version at this time.🤔
@TechaNinja Don't have an oar in the water so to speak,as intend getting the game later....but it does bring to mind the likes of Limited Run Games (Adding extra tracking insurance & supposedly squash proof casing as extras),or Strictly Limited Games charging exorbitant shipping & taking advantage of their exclusivity shipping from the northern hemisphere to make buying physical a painful exercise.
Firm believer in physical as especially in the console gaming space some pricing competition from bricks & mortar is better than none. Unfortunately becoming a lot harder as publishers seek to limit the distribution channels. 🤔
Whilst we did get an insight into the mystery group doing these releases being the group implicit conversions (thanks to that Time Extension article),its still a mystery whom at Playstation is actually acquiring the game releases!
Missed opportunity not interacting with players on what titles they might like to see. Likewise outside of old Disney games & rarely in-house Sony titles (mostly PSP based),there either hasn't been much will,or possibly $$ to get more third party titles on the service.
On PS1 you get some more obvious titles like Blood Omen Legacy of Kain,(& the subsequent 3d entries by Crystal Dynamics),Alundra, Adventures of Lomax,(heck Sony owned Psygnosis had a 16bit game the Misadventures of Flink too!), Cony Wars series...Capcom's RE 2 & 3 Classic & Dino Crisis games,the OG Gran Turismo 1 & 2, Ridge Racer, Hypersports,Rayman to name a few!
NM,PS2 series like SSX,Splinter Cell, Ratchet & Clank, God of War 1 & 2,Sly Raccoon & the Maximo games & NFS series could fill out the classic libraries nicely!
If memory serves,it's not much different to hackers/modders whom in the past found exploits with the PS4's PS2 emulator as a jailbreak back-door,(& found in theory its so-so emulation could run far more games than were ever officially released on PSN),have done much the same thing in reporting the exploits before they release any uses of it themselves.
Likewise whether Sony or other corporations think there's even rewards in place depending on the severity of exploits reported. Rule of thumb for those that can afford to mod their consoles or devices is never to update to latest firmware if they want to run their retro libraries anyway!
Whilst PS Owners might hope for a Shawn Layden or Shuhei Yoshida type who'd take the reigns, they will likely aim for another "numbers/business" guy. Keeping in mind that Jim Ryan's predecessor was Andrew House(?).
At least one legacy of Ryan's era that could improve is communication...unlike Shawn Layden (who headed U.S & Worldwide studios,& the likes of Shu Yoshida & others current Worldwide Studios head Hermen Hulst (formerly of Guerilla Games),is much like Ryan in rarely interacting publicly & usually with high end media sites rather than gaming news sites. Realistically he should be the more visible face of Playstation gaming but thus far usually just releases curated announcements or tweets.
Wish we could get some actual PS1 & PS2 Classics....eg: There's some Psygnosis ones like the Colony War series,or the Adventures of Lomax,Alundra...third party stuff like Dino Crisis 1 & 2,RE2 & 3 Classic, Blood Omen Legacy of Kain or the original Rayman...PS2 games like Maximo Quest for Glory & Army of Zin, the SSX series,NFS Underground 1 & 2, GTA LCS & VCS, Splinter Cell series,Ratchet & Clank, Sly Raccoon,or the OG GOW 1 & 2 just to throw a few suggestions out there!
If Disney want to offer up something good how about the PS3 locked Secret of Monkey Island 1 & 2 Enhanced editions! Thank goodness i rebought them on GOG Store for PC!
So how much did Embracer take off Gearbox's asking price so they'd take Randy too?!🙄😅
@Sequel Still remember in my gaming retail former life Mr Pitchford personally visiting us at a manager's conference to demo the Alien Colonial Marines trailers & extoll the amazing work Gearbox had done....& well remember the number of collectors editions i had sitting out back in cancelled or transferred preorders after the reviews came out!! Warned my regulars as I still wanted them as regulars afterwards! The nonsensical excuses of Pitchford denying Gearbox's direct involvement & blaming everyone else when I was literally sitting a short distance from him spouting his lies months earlier made it hard to ever take him seriously in any interview!🙄
Capcom: Our beloved "Pawns" had a stop work meeting & decided unanimously that with the increased risks of Monsters,higher costs of potions,& teleporting that the summoning prices we initially had during reviews was far too low!
But alas not,fair Traveller! We offerthese Rift Crystal shark cards to accommodate the Pawn's new pay rate! We sincerely apologise for any negative impact you might’ve experienced since launch,but our dear Pawns need this rift summon increase,so we're sure you'll understand why we've patched this in day one!🙄😂
A patch to help run RDR2 in a PS5 boosted mode, for FREE?! 😱🤯 When there's money to leave on the table for a PS5 native version to flog just like RDR 1 if a theoretical PS6 doesn't feature PS4 game compatibility? This IS Take-two/Rockstar we're talking about!!
Insofar as the PS5 Pro rumoured specs go, I think some need to take a deep breath. Keeping in mind the rumours of Sony already choosing to partner with AMD on next gen,they would be less likely to make a CPU jump both for pre-existing compatibility of standard PS5 & PS4 titles.
We don't know if & when what Zen CPU (or more likely APU incorporating the GPU),is chosen for "PS6" if backwards compatibility stretching back to PS4 in the engineering choice will be included. From a gaming library viewpoint,I hope so! But nothing is certain. From past interviews with Mark Cerny he's touched on Sony usually opting for baked in hardware backwards compatibility,but how it then dictates careful CPU choices & customisation.
Insofar as the leaks go,it does reinforce Sony's stance during the Activision Blizzard trial of where traditionally Activision would've been considered a launch partner,but would they be so quick with a PS6 Devkit now when leaks could happen.
Aspyr: "Insert cute baby seal pup BP We're Sorry South Park apology immediately,that'll fix it!"🙏🙄
Not sure if it was a blessing the PS5 KOTOR reboot was put on hold in light of their classic version efforts on Switch! As others have noted, Aspyr should be kept as far away as possible but unfortunately if Disney funded it then they were probably interested in how cheap they could do it rather than whom was the best to tackle it!🙄
Will be curious if the PS port is based off the PS2 version given the lack of new PS2 Classics on current gen since the I'll fated PS2 Classics on PS4 range which seemingly run into compatibility issues playing them on PS5.
@Synthatron_Prime What content is going to be different between the Japanese & Western releases? Like I mentioned earlier,I loved the Robotech series for what it was,(& the necessity of TV Syndication/sales back then),but I'm under no illusions about the way Harmony Gold squatted on their purported distribution "rights" thereafter.
Thought after all the legal wrangles that Macross branded stuff wouldn't be held hostage by them anymore?
Have come across the odd Macross arcade game or two,(& as mentioned Japan only releases like on PS1/Saturn)...but the closest I can recall otherwise was the not half bad Robotech PS2/XB game,(there was a sequel though set in the Invid War saga/Mesopeda for non Robotech fans),set during the Macross Saga....
As much as I loved & adored the Robotech series in my youth,(& there was TV syndication requirements BITD that led to different animes being stitched together for western releases),the fight over distribution rights that followed Robotech's initial success by its so called rights holder/squatter Harmony Gold for decades after was ridiculous. 🙄
Only finally got legally settled a few years ago which I'm guessing why we're seeing this! Like any traditional blast-em-up,looks hard,but will definitely keep a watch out now!👍
Sadly no Amiga ports,(albeit Mr Minter generally led with ST versions anyway),& not many 16bit titles albeit ones like Photon Storm used mouse input anyway. Happy to see Llamatron in there!👍 Though might prove a bit much for the over-excied ALL CAPS lad on twitter who complained one of Jeff's hits was a blatant Empire Strikes Back Atari rip-off!!🤯🤣 Erm,yes? It's kind of how devs would make games back then if they didn't get ports or got bad ones! If that poor chap saw the late Archer McLean's classic Dropzone I fear he'd need a nice camomile tea & a lie down!😅 Wonder if Hover Bover image the cut? Pinching the neighbours mower gave me a laugh!😂
Said this elsewhere,but again here. Feel like Herman Hulst has flown under the radar a bit as Worldwide Studios head in all this.
When the decree from Jim Ryan (or indeed Toroki as 2IC of Sony Group),for more live service games this generation came,(Especially with the Activision buyout),instead of looking towards the Sony IP cupboard like Resistance, Motorstorm, Twisted Metal, or even a remix ports of Little Big Planet 1 & 2 where they could launch with solid single player modes AND also be backed up with multiplayer/ live service & build on those ports towards a reboot/sequel etc.,Hulst & co.,went with a dartboard approach of throw AAA budgets at start up teams & hope for the best,plus pushing internal studios to come up with online only games along with the Bungie purchase.
The disdain for old IP's (esp. PS3 locked ones), that could've been used as building blocks feel like missed opportunities in favour of PS4 remasters. The rare engagement publicly Hulst gives rarely acknowledges older legacy IP's in the way Shawn Layden or Shuhei Yoshida did.
It might not be all Hulst's personal role to oversee every title daily,but Santa Monica as an example during a Yoshida God of War (PS4 reboot), visit certainly listened to his feedback & pivoted as a result of it.
@Shepherd_Tallon Keeping in mind settlements (regardless of "independent investigations" or not), are often a way to get NDA's signed & no admission of actual fault/liability but it's effective to deal with making problems go away.
That said,bit confused how Sony could be "disrupting the culture" of a studio that has only shipped one game?!🤔
Ultimately, such decisions to purchase them & oversight should surely have been led by Hermen Hulst? Whilst much has been written of Mr Ryan, when you think of previous luminaries like Shuhei Yoshida,& Shawn Layden among others, Hulst has been far less in the spotlight & on the rare times he does speak,feels like he pays lip service to legacy IP's lying dormant whilst his current gen line-up is seemingly running into multiple production issues at the present time.🤔
Embracer: Wow! Thanks for the cash,we need it! Here we'll even throw in Gearbox! Private Equity Group: We're happy to take 'em,but you can keep Randy!🙄 Randy: But I have THE USB STICK!!😤 Private Equity Group: Yuck,no you keep Randy guys!🙄 Embracer: C'mon,be fair look what we're giving you...we'll even throw in Borderlands!!🙏😬 Private Equity Group: Oooh,alright then!🙄😑 Randy: Everything is coming up Randy,wahoo!!😁
@Americansamurai1 Yep,its a shame the likes of Nightdive & Digital Eclipse are now "Atari" (with a big asterisk if you're an 80's gaming kid),albeit allegedly semi independent to work on other projects would've been perfect fits.
That said,seems bizarre given Bluepoint's excellent track record porting across multiple PS Gens they've been retasked into an original IP project?!🤔
@sanderson72 Feels like a bit of a mystery where Bluepoint who'd done great jobs through the years (& multiple PS Gens),seemingly working on possibly an original IP felt mystifying.🤔
Yep,a pity some of those studios no longer around,but if emulation (particularly of PS3), is such an expensive (hardware based),or tricky (software based),situation,it boggles the mind they would buy Mobile & PC devs but not setup any internal porting houses with their library of legacy titles?🤔
Obviously its a few years removed from their original releases to judge Oranges for Oranges sales. But can't help but wonder if they poured resources into less ambitious ports (Mixed in with a reboot of say Twisted Metal Black with both campaign/co-op & online modes ),of PS3 locked series like Resistance,Motorstorm,& Little Big Planet 1&2/Karting alongside their HD ports of single player titles ala Ratchet & Clank Trilogy, or Sly Cooper could've served as a test of tried IP's with online mtx to see if any were worth a full sequel or reboot.
Instead,we've seen PC linked remasters of PS4 games like TLOU 1 & 2,minus the PS4's factions mode on TLOU with the promise of "wait til you see our multiplayer only game!",which we didn't allegedly because it failed to impress Bungie higher ups.🤔
In theory the hiring of ex-Ubisoft,or Activision staff with a view of creating a new COD/Fortnite competitor seemed sound,but its an expensive experiment tooling up a several new studios from scratch on untested new AAA IP's all at once.
Been a while since the last Helldivers game but guessing it wasn't as higher budgeted as other games....the London Studio game cancellation sounds a pity given most western RPG AAA devs are owned by Microsoft.
Just feels like missed opportunities when there's old IP's sitting in the cupboard that could've tested the online waters with AND still had campaign modes to attract the traditional player base. Granted,I'm not the COD,GTA,Fortnite cash cow they want,so what do I know!
Gee,if only they had some of the classic games to use as a design model,have old & possibly new characters for a reboot & split screen/co-op & online modes ala the classic Need For Underground or Midnight Club series.🤔
Although its a bit easy to sometimes build some predecessors overtly,at least with a Shu Yoshida, or Shawn Layden you could tell by their interviews how they had a deep knowledge & appreciation of a fair few of those legacy titles,something which (just my two cents worth),I've struggled to get a read of Hermen Hulst on. 🤔
This rather feels like the "second shoe" dropping from Toroki's comments at the shareholder meeting & asking the studios to be more efficient.
Whilst it's never easy to be in the hot seat deciding what projects to green light & stick with (or not),when I look at missed opportunities to bring certain ps3 locked (& some ps2 titles that got HD PS3 ports),titles to PS4/5 gens but seen some questionable remasters of ps4 titles it does beg some questions around Mr Hulst's decision making since taking over.🤔
Shawn Layden gave a rather controversial interview post SIE about the costs of development during the ps4 generation. His observations that either sinking more into making 40-50hr open world time games would lead to ways needing to recoup that,or players be happy with 20hr games at the then last gen range pricepoints. Feels like a bit of that is coming home to roost if several AAA G.A.S.S. titles had been the focus.
I remember when in the aftermath of AC Black Flag's release,it emerged how it almost became a spin off from the AC Series.
When I first heard about Skull & Bones, I immediately assumed that is exactly what would happen...but like Beyond Good & Evil 2,instead of focusing on a single player/campaign story & incorporate an online mode,they fell to the siren lie lure of G.A.A.S./Live services MMO & chuck out any semblance of single player.🙄
It's not to say G.A.A.S games aren't popular with kids,look at COD,Fortnite,Minecraft,Roblox etc. But not many reach that Everest,in which case its a heck of a full priced game gamble to see if your $120/130 (dollary roos here),pays off with enough players & content.
They could've had the the new age Pirates,instead they went all in with live service & the oceans are dead calm & there's no wind!
Can't help but wonder as much as these industry wide layoffs are to keep beancounters in Accounts happy for their next shareholder meetings if there's also been a "next big thing" uptake in tinkering with A.I. development tools?
With the tendency of AAA production tending to play it safe title to title,it must be awfully tempting for upper management of these devs/publishers to see what they might get away with A.I. doing the work & any tidy up being done by those that still work there or external (cheap) contractors.
Insert Day one Pikachu surprise face on twitter for next release & "we had no idea our new game fell short of yours & ours expectations"🙄🤔
@sanderson72 Hence why I was meaning they had a dedicated team or two work on porting some of those PS3 era games like LBP 1 & 2,Karting, Motorstorm series,Resistance etc., if its easier than working on an emulation of PS3 titles. They did ports of some of their PS2 era games onto PS3 & even the likes of the Uncharted series & TLOU onto ps4 from PS3
Surely a better solution than the limited availability of PS NOW/PS Premium streaming servers to only select few regions!
It's such a shame in between mobile & PC dev house acquisitions,that Sony didn't acquire a good porting team,(Especially if Bluepoint have seemingly moved onto original IP),to work on PS Classics from PS1/PS2 like Alundra,Adventures of Lomax,Colony Wars,Ratchet & Clank PS2 & PS3 era ports,Sly Cooper,God of War 1 & 2,& the likes of Little Big Planet 1 & 2,Resistance series etc , if they regarded PS3 emulation as too much effort.
They & others managed HD versions of PS2 gen games to PS3,why not similar onto the likes of PS5? Rather than a full blown TLOU remake, just make them to 1080p compatible view without looking like an elephant has squashed the screen! 😕
From a financial/business manager viewpoint you can't help but respect his success. When he rose to UK boss he kept the PS3 Sales going at a period the brand was struggling in the U.S. playing catchup. Likewise he kept the PS4 momentum going until the Covid years stuck in the middle of a console launch.
Likewise,Shuhei Yoshida (after stepping aside as President of Worldwide Studios First Parties), credits him with his appointment to third party & Indie relations & working to improve Sony's support to indie publishers back to a similar level it enjoyed late PS3/Early PS4 gens. Indies won't please everyone,but there's certainly more variety in the PSN Sales than 3-4 years ago.
Insofar as being a Shawn Layden (I know he was never CEO),style "public face" of Playstation goes he certainly could put his foot in it.
He'd allude to the costs of implementing backwards compatibility of legacy gens vs popularity,yet we've seen a mixed bag of official efforts such as the games added to the PS Classics range,(& emulation used),with little support for the likes of PS2/PS1 in-house classics nevermind chasing third party additions. How are you going to sell a Premium Service if you don't put in an effort to match that tier?
Given the comments of Totoki,the pressure for more live services could be argued as coming above Jim & Hermen Hulsts head's. That said, missed opportunities for getting a good remastering studio or two & focusing on rebooting Motorstorm,Resistance,or LBP 1 or 2 or Karting games from the PS3 Catalogue which in turn could've presented online multiplayer dlc opportunities were definitely missed over some of the remaster choices.
Likewise,the communication with the lack of a true public face to explain some of their decisions could've saved animosity too.
Agree with other comments,you hope his successor isn't a "suit" first & doesn't know how to fire up a console. Or even if they did,fix your PR but moreso develop your PSN Store for a steam style refund system,store gifting etc.,& get a public face to represent you who does know how to lob Phil Spencer PR back to him like TNT to Wyle E. Coyote!😁😋
@Shepherd_Tallon Oh look,I thoroughly agree it's YouTube clickbait & socials at its worst!🙄
But a bit like when Phil Spencer played to his audience softening them up with the we're handing out some unnamed Gamepass Xbox studio crumbs elsewhere,now Sony should do the same with Helldivers & let that be the narrative to spread from there.
Even channels/sites then talking up possible PS6 specs when an unannounced Pro hasn't even launched...or Sony stock crashed on slowing sales etc.
We can all debate did Covid/supply issues & cross gen affect PS5/Series X/S gaming...heck everyone easily forgets scaling for Switch specifications has equally affected "crossgen" as much as anything too with strong console numbers.
But agree its premature to write off this gen & treat next gen like its 12 months away. (Outside of Switch 2 which will presumably still do its own thing,especially if they plan to keep Ninty owners digital libraries upgrading).
Insofar as PS6 goes,it will be interesting if PS4 compatibility will be part of its design. I hope so, but we know Jim Ryan did say PS5 features had costs vs priority,so can't see that philosophy changing even with his retirement.
As much as a Pro model would cost,it would make sense if Playstation has paid the bucketloads they would've to Take-two to market it with GTA VI.
A hardcore system for the disposable income types that spend big on GTAO & Shark Cards. It might also settle the "Sony is walking away from the PS5" stories since their Stockholder meeting.
Yes,there's little doubt they're planning next gen. They're hunting a new SIE Jim Ryan replacement. They're trying to pivot first parties &/or live services,how many we don't know but the acting CEO as a senior Sony Exec is pushing "be more productive/& don't go over budget".
There'll be a PS6,they're competing with a Microsoft,Zenimax,ABK megacorp. But the PS5 isn't going away meantime whether you're a GTA gamer or not.
@GeeEssEff Even if one takes that 5-6 billion revenue,that was an independent third party Activision that sold on most platforms it regarded profitable,(eg: Ported Crash onto Switch but not COD)...going forward putting games like Diablo IV or presumably COD on Gamepass without the payments like Sony (& in the 360 era Xbox), paid for content & any games beyond COD being exclusive would see that revenue take a hit!
Not to mention the likes of $1 upgrades of Gold memberships etc.,where Microsoft parent company has been subsidising Gamepass, you'd imagine it'd take a while to pay for itself.🤔
@render Yep,much like that hypocritical Gamer Phil statement of not seeing any benefit of Helldivers 2 not being on Xbox,yet was quite comfortable spending billions on Zenimax & Activision & taking future releases off rival platforms very much reeks of the "All your bases belong to us,mwhahaha!" mentality with this memo! 🙄😂
"I'm not exactly sure who it helps keeping Helldivers 2 off Xbox"🤔 Says the executive whom has clocked up billions on Satya's corporate credit card buying up Zenimax Bethesda & Activision Blizzard to keep future iterations of franchises like Doom, Elders Scrolls,Diablo V,Crash,not to mention cancelled planned PS5 versions of games already in the works once the acquisitions were rubber stamped & they gained control despite promising publicly to the contrary,Phil??🙄 They literally spent billions removing third party AAA publishers from other gaming platforms!
To compare Helldivers 2 not coming to Xbox would be like saying why Forza Horizon doesn't benefit not coming to PS5/Switch 2!! As always,the hypocrisy with "Gamer" Phil remains strong!
Still not sure what's worse,the layoffs to date, or the survivor devs & IP's being sold off in an almost predictable fire sale of them or their IP's as the parent company seemingly implodes.😕
Suikoden was my introduction to the genre of Eastern rpg's having dabbled in the likes of AD&D Gold Box ones & the odd Dungeon Master style ones on Amiga.
Would never have given FF7 a go if not for the wonderful experience that was Suikoden & lusting after Suikoden II when I learned of its Easter egg quest unlock if you'd unlocked all 108 characters save file from the first one!
Especially loved the family/friends special attacks which seemingly were unique too. Didn't back the Kickstarter but have been keeping an eagle eye on Eiyuden & glad it led to a remaster of the original two games...very sad he won't get to see the fruits of his labour & 55 is way too young but thank you Yoshitaka & will look forward to playing both games again soon.😥
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Re: Hermen Hulst, Hideaki Nishino Replace Jim Ryan As PlayStation CEOs
A couple of curiosities to note out of this:
1) Totoki besides retaining his overall Sony Group role, (& was acting in a "interim" capacity with Playstation),seems to be keeping a closer watch on the books,with the dual CEO's.
2) Insofar as Hulst having an expanded role, time will tell. 🤔 As the public "face" of Playstation Studios,it's been hard to get a read on him. When he did give rare interviews,it was pushing the Ryan era initiatives of live service games,(several which been shuttered),& remasters of several PS4 hits to PS5 alongside PC & Mobile studio acquisitions.
He would touch on PS Studios legacy titles, but apart from the limited PSN streaming regions, most older titles remain unavailable on modern platforms,eg: Ratchet & Clank classics, GOW 1 & 2, Sly Raccoon,LBP 1 & 2,infamous 1 & 2, Resistance just to name a few.
Whether much changes under his watch time will tell. 🤔
3) As for Hideaki Nanshino, presumably that still leaves Playstation alumni like Mark Cerny (& his dev company),still carrying on as he does now we hope into PS5 Pro or PS6 in the future,& presumably Shuhei Yoshida in his current Indies role given he was reporting to Jim Ryan before hand.🤞🙏
Guessing we won't be seeing any "big" acquisitions by Playstation anytime soon, the only hope is the arms race will slow a bit in light of the maas layoffs across the AAA landscape.
Re: Founders, Long-Time Employees Reportedly Say Xbox Now Effectively Microsoft Gaming
More deflection & excuses from one of the bigger Microsoft cheerleading "reporter" in Ryan McCaffrey.
Xbox has ALWAYS been a Microsoft entity,since day one,they're literally the parent company & just why "Gamer" Phil Spencer pushed & convinced them to fork out near $88 billion to buy their way back in dominance & cut Sony out not only from potential timed exclusive deals but shut them out period from some of the biggest 3rd party IP's out there like COD.
But between the deals needed to get the sales over the line,(& legals,& associated costs,& losses of third party games going exclusive & subscription based),little surprise the upper management are suddenly asking where their investment has gone not seeing a Windows like market domination of either Xbox or Gamepass.
The silly thing is there was always going to be a price paid for buying two of the biggest third party AAA Publishers,(& their slew of IP's & studios), & releasing solely onto a subscription service day one release with optional purchase.
Its surprising they were prepared to gamble the obvious costs of so many studios short term vs hits to software sales & didn't consider Phil's sales pitch optimistic!🙄
If Bungie's purchase & cancellation of several Sony live service titles are attributed to Jim Ryan, then its laughable the currently in hiding Phil Spencer isn't responsible for Xbox Studios failings.
Re: Vengeful Fallout 76 Players Keep Nuking Xbox Boss Phil Spencer's Camp
Guess we won't be seeing any Starcraft Ghost/ Kerrigan soldier skin mods anytime soon then!😂
Re: Tipsy Microsoft Exec Once Attempted to Steal LittleBigPlanet from Sony
Given Herman Hulst's love of remasters,(though mostly PS4 to PS5),it's sad he doesn't have the same love for a LBP 1& 2 remaster/remake. It's got plenty of mtx opportunities,& they literally have a creation tool in Dreams that potentially could be reworked for LBP!
As for Microsoft....well they've always had a sense of humour,they gave the normally staid Nintendo board the giggles when they suggested a takeover buyout!!😋😂
Re: More Xbox Layoffs Reportedly Inbound as Company Attempts to Cut Costs
Imagine a bizzarro world where a multi trillion software monopoly spends $88 BILLION to acquire two of the biggest AAA Third party publishers,multiple IP's & dev studios,(nevermind the P.R. spend,legal fees vs the FTC & EU & UK regulators,then the undoubted "donations" to various Congress people to put the political blowtorch on the very body designed to protect consumers from big company monopolies!),& then cry poor "we're spread too thinly,we can't afford all these studios!!🙄🤣 Oh wait...🤔
Saw an unattributed quote that supposedly was spoken by Shawn Layden but sounds like him. "Buying studios is easy,managing them is a whole other problem"....whilst he probably has little interest aspiring to returning to Playstation towers it would be well worth the price to find a role back there for him.
Re: This Year's Call of Duty May Not Be Included in Xbox Game Pass After All
"Gamer" Phil Spencer's legacy at this rate will be succeeding in an entire couple of Xbox console generations of players no longer wanting to buy AAA or AA/Indies because they'll only play them on Gamepass!🙄
The only reason Bobby Kotick backflipped on all things Gamepass & Microsoft was that multi million/billion golden parachute after spending all those millions in no fault legal settlements.
Before that he was deadset against it as far as Day One release on subscription services. Even the pricey third party marketing/dlc timed exclusives would only see older COD games on something like PS Plus long after the hard core fans had bought it.
With less $1 Live Gold deals than there used to be let's see how popular it is.
Re: Arkane Lyon Director Calls Out Xbox Studio Closures: 'It's a F*cking Gut Stab'
Unlike the staid,corporate Matt Booty email that thanks them for their time,how sad too bad,& no doubt "Gamer Phil" is undoubtedly practising for his constipated pained face & "it's been a tough day" P.R. damage control tweet/interview video, this shows genuine emotion of a studio boss wearing the consequences of decisions made above his pay grade.😕
Maybe he might be giving zero fudges & waiting for a similar fate/consequences,but if not,then the same "angry gamers",that were blowing up over account linking a few days ago,(despite doing so on multiple other games),will vote with their wallets supporting a monopolistic trillion dollar company buying up all the major AAA publishers perhaps isn't such a "win for gamers",after all?🤔🙄
Re: Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, More Closed in Brutal Bethesda Restructure
How many times did we hear Microsoft P.R.,& their media & social influencer bots throughout the proceedings in the U.S.,EU,& U.K. how both Zenimax Bethesda & Activision Blizzard buyouts were "good for gamers",& give back "creative freedom".
About the laughable claims of "Gamer" Phil Spencer insist TIMED 3rd party exclusives were the root of all evil versus using the Corporate credit card to remove the likes of Starfield off a PS5 release altogether was also a "win for gamers"?🙄
I don't pretend Playstation is flawless...
With Helldivers 2 surprising even their best hopes & a new acting CEO & Sony Group 2IC wanting to cut costs saw savage cutbacks to the Jim Ryan & Herman Hulst era live service investments.
But given this is the second time Microsoft have slashed jobs & closing previously successful studios,(Prey,Evil Within etc),exposes the hypocrisy of Phil Spencer & the Microsoft P.R. machine.
Will be curious after all the vitriol put towards Playstation by certain PC players if they'll be as savage towards Saint Phil when he'll do another "this has been a real tough day for us" tweets.🙄
One would hope we'll see those affected pop up in smaller AA studios or Indies,but invariably we tend to see the cycle repeat when bought out by the bigger publishers time & again these days.😕
Re: Helldivers 2 PC Is Getting Review Bombed Over PSN Requirement
As many others have said, it's pretty hard NOT to avoid any AAA published game &/or storefront or both having multiple accounts!
That Sony is joining a very long list of other AAA publishers hardly feels like a capital offence its being made out by certain PC owners...
Not to make light of data/privacy concerns,but as others have said,be more worried about Google, Facebook,heck even Microsoft's recent Windows 11 update has disabled most of the previously used work arounds to create a local account versus strong arming a Microsoft account during setup!🙄😕 (Not to mention adverts in the start menu)
But a linked PSN account is apparently far worse?! Strange hill to fight to the end on!
Re: OlliOlli, Kerbal Space Program Teams Shut Down by GTA Publisher
Strauss Zelnick will undoubtedly still enjoy his regular bonus pay cheque much like Bobby Kotick on his annual Activision Blizzard purges.🙄
So much for Private Division being the "Indie Arm" of the Take-two business...make a successful game,get bought out allegedly on the pretence of stability & guaranteed finance,next thing find your IP rights gone & lights turned off & locks changed at the office!
But one only has to look at how veterans of Rockstar got churned or burned out,& the older games get contracted out to the likes of Grove Street Games for substandard "remasters" & single player dlc cancelled to see Take-two's priorities these days!😑
Re: Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (PS5) - Stars Align for Classic JRPG Adventure
Must admit haven't fired up Suikoden in quite a while,(have it sitting on emulation & even ps3 digitally along with my ps1 copy). Do recall sections (esp. during the first walkthroughs of),where you had limited spots to rest/recharge spells but didn't recall inns etc.,being overpriced.🤔
Oh well,sounds like it ticks all the right boxes. Guessing picking up the spin off will help complete the experience.
Hopefully might inspire Konami to mention a release date on Suikoden 1 & 2 remasters,& pray they let its devs give them the TLC they deserve!🙏🤞
Re: GTA Publisher Laying Off 5% of Workforce and Cancelling 'Several' Games
Why waste good money on new IP,s or a Bully 2, RDR 3, etc when you can push GTA Online V2.0 dlc out & just outsource their older titles for minimal "remasters" to the cheapest bidder.🙄
Re: Star Wars Outlaws Will Feature Galaxy's Most Infamous Card Game
@itsfoz Can see it now...they'll be called :Ubi Bucks"!! *NB Ubi bucks can't be used in any other Ubisoft game. Ubi Bucks won cannot be redeemed for real world currency!!😂🙄
Re: Dave the Diver (PS5) - PS Plus Gains an Inventive, Satisfying Adventure Overflowing with Ideas
Even if I can only take Cooking Mama/Overcooked type games in bursts,the diving sections & art style look nice even if I'm sure it'll up the tension quickly enough.
Re: Mini Review: Planet of Lana (PS5) - A Gorgeous, Serene Platform Puzzler
Visually it gives a bit of Forgotton Anne vibes, which I enjoyed for what it was but never quite worked out the "best" ending beyond the basic two but definitely hinted at.
One to nab on a sale.
Re: Harold Halibut (PS5) - Great Style, Little Substance in Fishy Sci-Fi Adventure
Watched a bit of gameplay when it released a brief demo of the PC version. The visuals look lovely,albeit it sticks to a tried & true point & click classic formula.
Probably end up wishlisting it for an eventual sale rather than a day one buy.
Re: $130 Version of Star Wars Outlaws Under Fire as Ubisoft Prices Increase
Bought the standard South Park Fractured But Whole (which I think was the last Ubisoft title I bothered with before they went all in on open world live service style grinding games),as didn't know what value their season pass would provide.
Years later,still not that sure in the occasional dlc discounts if its any value for money over the main game!
May sound overly sceptical here,but will very much dependi on a GTA Online type sales momentum for Ubisoft to pour ongoing resources into an expensive Disney royalties Star Wars game for which we've seen little in the way of actual gameplay so far.
The trailers look the part,but quite a roulette wheel gambling on the pricey higher tier versions let alone preordering any version at this time.🤔
Re: Physical Backers of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Hit with Unexpected Shipping Costs
@TechaNinja Don't have an oar in the water so to speak,as intend getting the game later....but it does bring to mind the likes of Limited Run Games (Adding extra tracking insurance & supposedly squash proof casing as extras),or Strictly Limited Games charging exorbitant shipping & taking advantage of their exclusivity shipping from the northern hemisphere to make buying physical a painful exercise.
Firm believer in physical as especially in the console gaming space some pricing competition from bricks & mortar is better than none. Unfortunately becoming a lot harder as publishers seek to limit the distribution channels. 🤔
Re: New MediEvil Trophy List Suggests PS1 Original Being Resurrected for PS Plus Premium
Whilst we did get an insight into the mystery group doing these releases being the group implicit conversions (thanks to that Time Extension article),its still a mystery whom at Playstation is actually acquiring the game releases!
Missed opportunity not interacting with players on what titles they might like to see. Likewise outside of old Disney games & rarely in-house Sony titles (mostly PSP based),there either hasn't been much will,or possibly $$ to get more third party titles on the service.
On PS1 you get some more obvious titles like Blood Omen Legacy of Kain,(& the subsequent 3d entries by Crystal Dynamics),Alundra, Adventures of Lomax,(heck Sony owned Psygnosis had a 16bit game the Misadventures of Flink too!), Cony Wars series...Capcom's RE 2 & 3 Classic & Dino Crisis games,the OG Gran Turismo 1 & 2, Ridge Racer, Hypersports,Rayman to name a few!
NM,PS2 series like SSX,Splinter Cell, Ratchet & Clank, God of War 1 & 2,Sly Raccoon & the Maximo games & NFS series could fill out the classic libraries nicely!
Re: Google Engineers Responsibly Report PS Portal Exploit, Ending Potential PSP Emulation
If memory serves,it's not much different to hackers/modders whom in the past found exploits with the PS4's PS2 emulator as a jailbreak back-door,(& found in theory its so-so emulation could run far more games than were ever officially released on PSN),have done much the same thing in reporting the exploits before they release any uses of it themselves.
Likewise whether Sony or other corporations think there's even rewards in place depending on the severity of exploits reported.
Rule of thumb for those that can afford to mod their consoles or devices is never to update to latest firmware if they want to run their retro libraries anyway!
Re: New PlayStation CEO Hiroki Totoki Starts Temporary Role Today
Whilst PS Owners might hope for a Shawn Layden or Shuhei Yoshida type who'd take the reigns, they will likely aim for another "numbers/business" guy. Keeping in mind that Jim Ryan's predecessor was Andrew House(?).
At least one legacy of Ryan's era that could improve is communication...unlike Shawn Layden (who headed U.S & Worldwide studios,& the likes of Shu Yoshida & others current Worldwide Studios head Hermen Hulst (formerly of Guerilla Games),is much like Ryan in rarely interacting publicly & usually with high end media sites rather than gaming news sites. Realistically he should be the more visible face of Playstation gaming but thus far usually just releases curated announcements or tweets.
Time will tell.
Re: PS Plus Premium's Classic Catalogue Seemingly Adding Star Wars Rebel Assault 2 Next Month
Wish we could get some actual PS1 & PS2 Classics....eg: There's some Psygnosis ones like the Colony War series,or the Adventures of Lomax,Alundra...third party stuff like Dino Crisis 1 & 2,RE2 & 3 Classic, Blood Omen Legacy of Kain or the original Rayman...PS2 games like Maximo Quest for Glory & Army of Zin, the SSX series,NFS Underground 1 & 2, GTA LCS & VCS, Splinter Cell series,Ratchet & Clank, Sly Raccoon,or the OG GOW 1 & 2 just to throw a few suggestions out there!
If Disney want to offer up something good how about the PS3 locked Secret of Monkey Island 1 & 2 Enhanced editions! Thank goodness i rebought them on GOG Store for PC!
Re: Take-Two Will Acquire Borderlands Dev Gearbox Entertainment
So how much did Embracer take off Gearbox's asking price so they'd take Randy too?!🙄😅
@Sequel Still remember in my gaming retail former life Mr Pitchford personally visiting us at a manager's conference to demo the Alien Colonial Marines trailers & extoll the amazing work Gearbox had done....& well remember the number of collectors editions i had sitting out back in cancelled or transferred preorders after the reviews came out!! Warned my regulars as I still wanted them as regulars afterwards! The nonsensical excuses of Pitchford denying Gearbox's direct involvement & blaming everyone else when I was literally sitting a short distance from him spouting his lies months earlier made it hard to ever take him seriously in any interview!🙄
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Slated for Adding Sinister PS5 Microtransactions at Launch
Capcom: Our beloved "Pawns" had a stop work meeting & decided unanimously that with the increased risks of Monsters,higher costs of potions,& teleporting that the summoning prices we initially had during reviews was far too low!
But alas not,fair Traveller! We offerthese Rift Crystal shark cards to accommodate the Pawn's new pay rate!
We sincerely apologise for any negative impact you might’ve experienced since launch,but our dear Pawns need this rift summon increase,so we're sure you'll understand why we've patched this in day one!🙄😂
Re: The First Red Dead Redemption 2 PS4 Patch in Over a Year Isn't What You're Hoping For
A patch to help run RDR2 in a PS5 boosted mode, for FREE?! 😱🤯 When there's money to leave on the table for a PS5 native version to flog just like RDR 1 if a theoretical PS6 doesn't feature PS4 game compatibility? This IS Take-two/Rockstar we're talking about!!
Re: Sony Reportedly Undertaking Internal Investigation Following Leaked PS5 Pro Specs
Insofar as the PS5 Pro rumoured specs go, I think some need to take a deep breath. Keeping in mind the rumours of Sony already choosing to partner with AMD on next gen,they would be less likely to make a CPU jump both for pre-existing compatibility of standard PS5 & PS4 titles.
We don't know if & when what Zen CPU (or more likely APU incorporating the GPU),is chosen for "PS6" if backwards compatibility stretching back to PS4 in the engineering choice will be included. From a gaming library viewpoint,I hope so! But nothing is certain.
From past interviews with Mark Cerny he's touched on Sony usually opting for baked in hardware backwards compatibility,but how it then dictates careful CPU choices & customisation.
Insofar as the leaks go,it does reinforce Sony's stance during the Activision Blizzard trial of where traditionally Activision would've been considered a launch partner,but would they be so quick with a PS6 Devkit now when leaks could happen.
Re: Aspyr Issues Apology for Atrocious Star Wars: Battlefront Classic PS5, PS4 Launch
Aspyr: "Insert cute baby seal pup BP We're Sorry South Park apology immediately,that'll fix it!"🙏🙄
Not sure if it was a blessing the PS5 KOTOR reboot was put on hold in light of their classic version efforts on Switch! As others have noted, Aspyr should be kept as far away as possible but unfortunately if Disney funded it then they were probably interested in how cheap they could do it rather than whom was the best to tackle it!🙄
Will be curious if the PS port is based off the PS2 version given the lack of new PS2 Classics on current gen since the I'll fated PS2 Classics on PS4 range which seemingly run into compatibility issues playing them on PS5.
Re: MACROSS Shooting Insight Gearing Up for Western Release on PS5, PS4
@Synthatron_Prime What content is going to be different between the Japanese & Western releases?
Like I mentioned earlier,I loved the Robotech series for what it was,(& the necessity of TV Syndication/sales back then),but I'm under no illusions about the way Harmony Gold squatted on their purported distribution "rights" thereafter.
Thought after all the legal wrangles that Macross branded stuff wouldn't be held hostage by them anymore?
Re: MACROSS Shooting Insight Gearing Up for Western Release on PS5, PS4
Have come across the odd Macross arcade game or two,(& as mentioned Japan only releases like on PS1/Saturn)...but the closest I can recall otherwise was the not half bad Robotech PS2/XB game,(there was a sequel though set in the Invid War saga/Mesopeda for non Robotech fans),set during the Macross Saga....
As much as I loved & adored the Robotech series in my youth,(& there was TV syndication requirements BITD that led to different animes being stitched together for western releases),the fight over distribution rights that followed Robotech's initial success by its so called rights holder/squatter Harmony Gold for decades after was ridiculous. 🙄
Only finally got legally settled a few years ago which I'm guessing why we're seeing this! Like any traditional blast-em-up,looks hard,but will definitely keep a watch out now!👍
Re: Mini Review: Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (PS5) - A Trippy Odyssey Through a Yak's Brain
Sadly no Amiga ports,(albeit Mr Minter generally led with ST versions anyway),& not many 16bit titles albeit ones like Photon Storm used mouse input anyway.
Happy to see Llamatron in there!👍 Though might prove a bit much for the over-excied ALL CAPS lad on twitter who complained one of Jeff's hits was a blatant Empire Strikes Back Atari rip-off!!🤯🤣
Erm,yes? It's kind of how devs would make games back then if they didn't get ports or got bad ones! If that poor chap saw the late Archer McLean's classic Dropzone I fear he'd need a nice camomile tea & a lie down!😅
Wonder if Hover Bover image the cut? Pinching the neighbours mower gave me a laugh!😂
Re: Sony Partner Deviation Games Shuttered Before Shipping Its First PS5 Project
Said this elsewhere,but again here. Feel like Herman Hulst has flown under the radar a bit as Worldwide Studios head in all this.
When the decree from Jim Ryan (or indeed Toroki as 2IC of Sony Group),for more live service games this generation came,(Especially with the Activision buyout),instead of looking towards the Sony IP cupboard like Resistance, Motorstorm, Twisted Metal, or even a remix ports of Little Big Planet 1 & 2 where they could launch with solid single player modes AND also be backed up with multiplayer/ live service & build on those ports towards a reboot/sequel etc.,Hulst & co.,went with a dartboard approach of throw AAA budgets at start up teams & hope for the best,plus pushing internal studios to come up with online only games along with the Bungie purchase.
The disdain for old IP's (esp. PS3 locked ones), that could've been used as building blocks feel like missed opportunities in favour of PS4 remasters. The rare engagement publicly Hulst gives rarely acknowledges older legacy IP's in the way Shawn Layden or Shuhei Yoshida did.
It might not be all Hulst's personal role to oversee every title daily,but Santa Monica as an example during a Yoshida God of War (PS4 reboot), visit certainly listened to his feedback & pivoted as a result of it.
Re: Sony Studio Firesprite Accused of Alleged Toxic Culture in Exposé
@Shepherd_Tallon Keeping in mind settlements (regardless of "independent investigations" or not), are often a way to get NDA's signed & no admission of actual fault/liability but it's effective to deal with making problems go away.
That said,bit confused how Sony could be "disrupting the culture" of a studio that has only shipped one game?!🤔
Ultimately, such decisions to purchase them & oversight should surely have been led by Hermen Hulst? Whilst much has been written of Mr Ryan, when you think of previous luminaries like Shuhei Yoshida,& Shawn Layden among others, Hulst has been far less in the spotlight & on the rare times he does speak,feels like he pays lip service to legacy IP's lying dormant whilst his current gen line-up is seemingly running into multiple production issues at the present time.🤔
Re: Borderlands Dev Set to Join Saber in Leaving Embracer Group
Embracer: Wow! Thanks for the cash,we need it! Here we'll even throw in Gearbox!
Private Equity Group: We're happy to take 'em,but you can keep Randy!🙄
Randy: But I have THE USB STICK!!😤
Private Equity Group: Yuck,no you keep Randy guys!🙄
Embracer: C'mon,be fair look what we're giving you...we'll even throw in Borderlands!!🙏😬
Private Equity Group: Oooh,alright then!🙄😑
Randy: Everything is coming up Randy,wahoo!!😁
Re: Embracer Group to Sell KOTOR Remake Studio in Deal Worth $500 Million
@Americansamurai1 Yep,its a shame the likes of Nightdive & Digital Eclipse are now "Atari" (with a big asterisk if you're an 80's gaming kid),albeit allegedly semi independent to work on other projects would've been perfect fits.
That said,seems bizarre given Bluepoint's excellent track record porting across multiple PS Gens they've been retasked into an original IP project?!🤔
Re: Reaction: The Problem with PlayStation Right Now
@sanderson72 Feels like a bit of a mystery where Bluepoint who'd done great jobs through the years (& multiple PS Gens),seemingly working on possibly an original IP felt mystifying.🤔
Yep,a pity some of those studios no longer around,but if emulation (particularly of PS3), is such an expensive (hardware based),or tricky (software based),situation,it boggles the mind they would buy Mobile & PC devs but not setup any internal porting houses with their library of legacy titles?🤔
Re: Reaction: The Problem with PlayStation Right Now
Obviously its a few years removed from their original releases to judge Oranges for Oranges sales.
But can't help but wonder if they poured resources into less ambitious ports (Mixed in with a reboot of say Twisted Metal Black with both campaign/co-op & online modes ),of PS3 locked series like Resistance,Motorstorm,& Little Big Planet 1&2/Karting alongside their HD ports of single player titles ala Ratchet & Clank Trilogy, or Sly Cooper could've served as a test of tried IP's with online mtx to see if any were worth a full sequel or reboot.
Instead,we've seen PC linked remasters of PS4 games like TLOU 1 & 2,minus the PS4's factions mode on TLOU with the promise of "wait til you see our multiplayer only game!",which we didn't allegedly because it failed to impress Bungie higher ups.🤔
In theory the hiring of ex-Ubisoft,or Activision staff with a view of creating a new COD/Fortnite competitor seemed sound,but its an expensive experiment tooling up a several new studios from scratch on untested new AAA IP's all at once.
Been a while since the last Helldivers game but guessing it wasn't as higher budgeted as other games....the London Studio game cancellation sounds a pity given most western RPG AAA devs are owned by Microsoft.
Just feels like missed opportunities when there's old IP's sitting in the cupboard that could've tested the online waters with AND still had campaign modes to attract the traditional player base. Granted,I'm not the COD,GTA,Fortnite cash cow they want,so what do I know!
Re: Rumour: Live-Service Twisted Metal One of the Games Cancelled by Sony
Gee,if only they had some of the classic games to use as a design model,have old & possibly new characters for a reboot & split screen/co-op & online modes ala the classic Need For Underground or Midnight Club series.🤔
Although its a bit easy to sometimes build some predecessors overtly,at least with a Shu Yoshida, or Shawn Layden you could tell by their interviews how they had a deep knowledge & appreciation of a fair few of those legacy titles,something which (just my two cents worth),I've struggled to get a read of Hermen Hulst on. 🤔
Re: Unannounced Games from PlayStation Studios Have Been Cancelled
This rather feels like the "second shoe" dropping from Toroki's comments at the shareholder meeting & asking the studios to be more efficient.
Whilst it's never easy to be in the hot seat deciding what projects to green light & stick with (or not),when I look at missed opportunities to bring certain ps3 locked (& some ps2 titles that got HD PS3 ports),titles to PS4/5 gens but seen some questionable remasters of ps4 titles it does beg some questions around Mr Hulst's decision making since taking over.🤔
Shawn Layden gave a rather controversial interview post SIE about the costs of development during the ps4 generation. His observations that either sinking more into making 40-50hr open world time games would lead to ways needing to recoup that,or players be happy with 20hr games at the then last gen range pricepoints.
Feels like a bit of that is coming home to roost if several AAA G.A.S.S. titles had been the focus.
Re: Skull and Bones Release Triggers Spike in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Players
I remember when in the aftermath of AC Black Flag's release,it emerged how it almost became a spin off from the AC Series.
When I first heard about Skull & Bones, I immediately assumed that is exactly what would happen...but like Beyond Good & Evil 2,instead of focusing on a single player/campaign story & incorporate an online mode,they fell to the siren lie lure of G.A.A.S./Live services MMO & chuck out any semblance of single player.🙄
It's not to say G.A.A.S games aren't popular with kids,look at COD,Fortnite,Minecraft,Roblox etc. But not many reach that Everest,in which case its a heck of a full priced game gamble to see if your $120/130 (dollary roos here),pays off with enough players & content.
They could've had the the new age Pirates,instead they went all in with live service & the oceans are dead calm & there's no wind!
Re: Layoffs Hit Until Dawn, Dark Pictures Dev Supermassive Games, 90 People Affected
Can't help but wonder as much as these industry wide layoffs are to keep beancounters in Accounts happy for their next shareholder meetings if there's also been a "next big thing" uptake in tinkering with A.I. development tools?
With the tendency of AAA production tending to play it safe title to title,it must be awfully tempting for upper management of these devs/publishers to see what they might get away with A.I. doing the work & any tidy up being done by those that still work there or external (cheap) contractors.
Insert Day one Pikachu surprise face on twitter for next release & "we had no idea our new game fell short of yours & ours expectations"🙄🤔
Re: Leaked LittleBigPlanet Hub PS3 Footage Is a Blast from the Past
@sanderson72 Hence why I was meaning they had a dedicated team or two work on porting some of those PS3 era games like LBP 1 & 2,Karting, Motorstorm series,Resistance etc., if its easier than working on an emulation of PS3 titles.
They did ports of some of their PS2 era games onto PS3 & even the likes of the Uncharted series & TLOU onto ps4 from PS3
Surely a better solution than the limited availability of PS NOW/PS Premium streaming servers to only select few regions!
Re: Leaked LittleBigPlanet Hub PS3 Footage Is a Blast from the Past
It's such a shame in between mobile & PC dev house acquisitions,that Sony didn't acquire a good porting team,(Especially if Bluepoint have seemingly moved onto original IP),to work on PS Classics from PS1/PS2 like Alundra,Adventures of Lomax,Colony Wars,Ratchet & Clank PS2 & PS3 era ports,Sly Cooper,God of War 1 & 2,& the likes of Little Big Planet 1 & 2,Resistance series etc , if they regarded PS3 emulation as too much effort.
They & others managed HD versions of PS2 gen games to PS3,why not similar onto the likes of PS5? Rather than a full blown TLOU remake, just make them to 1080p compatible view without looking like an elephant has squashed the screen! 😕
Re: Outgoing PlayStation Exec Says Sony Must Continue to Entertain, Surprise, and Delight
From a financial/business manager viewpoint you can't help but respect his success. When he rose to UK boss he kept the PS3 Sales going at a period the brand was struggling in the U.S. playing catchup.
Likewise he kept the PS4 momentum going until the Covid years stuck in the middle of a console launch.
Likewise,Shuhei Yoshida (after stepping aside as President of Worldwide Studios First Parties), credits him with his appointment to third party & Indie relations & working to improve Sony's support to indie publishers back to a similar level it enjoyed late PS3/Early PS4 gens.
Indies won't please everyone,but there's certainly more variety in the PSN Sales than 3-4 years ago.
Insofar as being a Shawn Layden (I know he was never CEO),style "public face" of Playstation goes he certainly could put his foot in it.
He'd allude to the costs of implementing backwards compatibility of legacy gens vs popularity,yet we've seen a mixed bag of official efforts such as the games added to the PS Classics range,(& emulation used),with little support for the likes of PS2/PS1 in-house classics nevermind chasing third party additions.
How are you going to sell a Premium Service if you don't put in an effort to match that tier?
Given the comments of Totoki,the pressure for more live services could be argued as coming above Jim & Hermen Hulsts head's. That said, missed opportunities for getting a good remastering studio or two & focusing on rebooting Motorstorm,Resistance,or LBP 1 or 2 or Karting games from the PS3 Catalogue which in turn could've presented online multiplayer dlc opportunities were definitely missed over some of the remaster choices.
Likewise,the communication with the lack of a true public face to explain some of their decisions could've saved animosity too.
Agree with other comments,you hope his successor isn't a "suit" first & doesn't know how to fire up a console. Or even if they did,fix your PR but moreso develop your PSN Store for a steam style refund system,store gifting etc.,& get a public face to represent you who does know how to lob Phil Spencer PR back to him like TNT to Wyle E. Coyote!😁😋
Re: Sea of Thieves Will Be the First PlayStation Game in Rare's 39-Year History
@bigkingy This absolutely!👆 I was a despised C64 owner so a mixed bag on their conversions but there was some good stuff!
Might be wrong Sammy,but after their Microsoft purchase,didn't several leave & go onto games like Croc & some on the Yooka Laylee games for a time?🤔
Re: Upgraded PS5 Pro Planning to Be the Best Place to Play GTA 6
@Shepherd_Tallon Oh look,I thoroughly agree it's YouTube clickbait & socials at its worst!🙄
But a bit like when Phil Spencer played to his audience softening them up with the we're handing out some unnamed Gamepass Xbox studio crumbs elsewhere,now Sony should do the same with Helldivers & let that be the narrative to spread from there.
Even channels/sites then talking up possible PS6 specs when an unannounced Pro hasn't even launched...or Sony stock crashed on slowing sales etc.
We can all debate did Covid/supply issues & cross gen affect PS5/Series X/S gaming...heck everyone easily forgets scaling for Switch specifications has equally affected "crossgen" as much as anything too with strong console numbers.
But agree its premature to write off this gen & treat next gen like its 12 months away. (Outside of Switch 2 which will presumably still do its own thing,especially if they plan to keep Ninty owners digital libraries upgrading).
Insofar as PS6 goes,it will be interesting if PS4 compatibility will be part of its design. I hope so, but we know Jim Ryan did say PS5 features had costs vs priority,so can't see that philosophy changing even with his retirement.
Re: Upgraded PS5 Pro Planning to Be the Best Place to Play GTA 6
As much as a Pro model would cost,it would make sense if Playstation has paid the bucketloads they would've to Take-two to market it with GTA VI.
A hardcore system for the disposable income types that spend big on GTAO & Shark Cards.
It might also settle the "Sony is walking away from the PS5" stories since their Stockholder meeting.
Yes,there's little doubt they're planning next gen. They're hunting a new SIE Jim Ryan replacement. They're trying to pivot first parties &/or live services,how many we don't know but the acting CEO as a senior Sony Exec is pushing "be more productive/& don't go over budget".
There'll be a PS6,they're competing with a Microsoft,Zenimax,ABK megacorp. But the PS5 isn't going away meantime whether you're a GTA gamer or not.
Re: Xbox's 'Everywhere' Future Outlined in Company Memo from Phil Spencer
@GeeEssEff Even if one takes that 5-6 billion revenue,that was an independent third party Activision that sold on most platforms it regarded profitable,(eg: Ported Crash onto Switch but not COD)...going forward putting games like Diablo IV or presumably COD on Gamepass without the payments like Sony (& in the 360 era Xbox), paid for content & any games beyond COD being exclusive would see that revenue take a hit!
Not to mention the likes of $1 upgrades of Gold memberships etc.,where Microsoft parent company has been subsidising Gamepass, you'd imagine it'd take a while to pay for itself.🤔
@render Yep,much like that hypocritical Gamer Phil statement of not seeing any benefit of Helldivers 2 not being on Xbox,yet was quite comfortable spending billions on Zenimax & Activision & taking future releases off rival platforms very much reeks of the "All your bases belong to us,mwhahaha!" mentality with this memo! 🙄😂
Re: Microsoft Exec on Helldivers 2: I'm Not Sure Who It Helps By Not Being on Xbox
"I'm not exactly sure who it helps keeping Helldivers 2 off Xbox"🤔
Says the executive whom has clocked up billions on Satya's corporate credit card buying up Zenimax Bethesda & Activision Blizzard to keep future iterations of franchises like Doom, Elders Scrolls,Diablo V,Crash,not to mention cancelled planned PS5 versions of games already in the works once the acquisitions were rubber stamped & they gained control despite promising publicly to the contrary,Phil??🙄 They literally spent billions removing third party AAA publishers from other gaming platforms!
To compare Helldivers 2 not coming to Xbox would be like saying why Forza Horizon doesn't benefit not coming to PS5/Switch 2!!
As always,the hypocrisy with "Gamer" Phil remains strong!
Re: Embracer Layoffs Total Nearly 1,400 So Far, 29 Unannounced Games Cancelled
Still not sure what's worse,the layoffs to date, or the survivor devs & IP's being sold off in an almost predictable fire sale of them or their IP's as the parent company seemingly implodes.😕
Re: Legendary Suikoden, Eiyuden Chronicle Creator Yoshitaka Murayama Has Passed Away
Suikoden was my introduction to the genre of Eastern rpg's having dabbled in the likes of AD&D Gold Box ones & the odd Dungeon Master style ones on Amiga.
Would never have given FF7 a go if not for the wonderful experience that was Suikoden & lusting after Suikoden II when I learned of its Easter egg quest unlock if you'd unlocked all 108 characters save file from the first one!
Especially loved the family/friends special attacks which seemingly were unique too. Didn't back the Kickstarter but have been keeping an eagle eye on Eiyuden & glad it led to a remaster of the original two games...very sad he won't get to see the fruits of his labour & 55 is way too young but thank you Yoshitaka & will look forward to playing both games again soon.😥