Unfortunately this is an area where there really doesn't feel like Sony's 3rd party content team's have put any great efforts into with regards to bolstering "PS Classics" content.
What on earth ever happened to the rumoured Dino Crisis games,or surely RE 2 & 3? Or Rayman, or there's EA games like Theme Park/Hospital, Wing Commander 3 & 4. Alundra,Blood Omen Legacy of Kain,& the Adventures of Lomax, or the Colony Wars series....
Nevermind if they bothered doing a new ps2 emulation capable of running on ps5 properly there'd be stuff like NFS Underground 1 & 2, SSX Series,Maximo Quest for Glory & Army of Zin, & the Sly Cooper & early God of War games just to name a few!
Sad to say, but felt like PS Deluxe was a mere afterthought for regions like mine that never had PS Now streaming, with little budget or teams to bring across PS Classic content.
Whilst unlikely that the gaming press had tipped them off specifically on critical reviews,if there were enough questions coming back on game bugs/impending day one patches it might’ve spooked them enough not to join Tintin, King Kong,& Gollum in the "hold my beer" award & hold off 'til at least the day one patch instead now becomes the new "pre release" template instead!
Pretty easy to sum up. You had a hostile Activision board having splashed out millions in various "settlements",all carrying no fault NDA disclosures,plus lawyer & P.R. focused getting Bobby Kotick's $70 billion deal & multi billion payout approved. Consequently what was once upon a time an important marketing/revenue deal now was a nuisance in light of Microsoft's takeover so its shovelled out in as contractually obligated minimal effort possible.
Live service stuff really doesn't really appeal to me,but I can sadly understand the logic in terms of wanting to try come up with their own COD/ GTA Online cashcow.
Like others,remained concerned at the focus having felt being more on those efforts at the expense of others...in particular,feel like the opportunity to have enjoyed the best of both worlds by tapping into IP's like bringing LBP 2 to current gen (which had plenty of mtx dlc), or tapped into the likes past games like Twisted Metal (with a solid single player/co-op mode), or maybe Warhawk,or even stuff like LBP Karting,Jak racing or similar.
Once upon a time,I'd eagerly look for every bit of pre release news on a Rockstar release....but after efforts like the GTA "Definitive edition remaster" trilogy,& the functional,but unspectacular & overpriced RDR 1 remaster,just view any GTA VI announcements with a wait for the second shoe to drop approach.
With the likes of Dan Houser & Lazlow long departed now,will we still even see a substantial single player story mode? Or will they go the Diablo IV approach & force everyone online to enforce those mtx? My initial enjoyment of GTA V's story wore down with it's share market driven tutorials which led towards the online mode's sjark cards to buy any properties & ever changing prices online. 😑
Nevermind the humour of the ps2 era games with Lazlow,Fernando etc.,& over the top 80's/90's atmosphere & superb soundtracks back then. Modern day Take-two directed Rockstar has become the very souless corporate company they used to poke fun at!😕
@Ainu20 Uep,Wyle E. Coyote "super genius" sure seems to have opened the portal to spam, nutter & crypto bots much like when Walter Peck shut down the containment grid in OG Ghostbusters!🙄
Says he'll look into it,but will undoubtedly set his conspiracy bot army onto Playstation & just whinge it's all their fault.
@GamingFan4Lyf I know it's all in jest,but did you ever play (or at least watch a longplay),of Alundra on ps1? Must admit never got in as far in as the longplays of my video store rental of it but enjoyed it as much as I was tearing my hair out BITD!
YouTube channel A Bit More Jordan has a nice retrospective/playthrough of it,well worth a watch!
@LieutenantFatman I did own a buggy copy of C64 Robocop which I successfully swapped BITD, but have learned from one of the old Ocean devs on twitter it was actually a mastering issue where the bug wasn't picked up...apparently some later versions & also certain cracked ones fixed it so there were later levels. Not to say other games weren't back then...the PAL version of Predator was almost unbeatable due to a bug to set up the log trap on the Predator! C64 Karnov had an incomplete version given to Ocean by Activision for a compilation but none of the game testers could get far enough in to find out!😱😂
Apparently the Megadrive & SNES Tintin games I've seen on YouTube are super hard,but would be better options for fans of the classic series. At least there you got Captain Haddock etc.
Slightly off-topic, but wondered if Pendulo's Blacksad ever got fixed whether PS4 or PC as occasionally seen it on sale but no point if it remained near unplayable.
Its why the insert South Park BP We're Sorry gif PR apology rings as hollow as it sounds AFTER release than before!🙄 It's a shame that the PS Store doesn't have a Steam style refund system in play to incentivise publishers a bit more to delay these messes.
Oh how cute,Famitsu believes him to keep the scoop,instead of pressing him on his & other Microsoft's executives wanting to "spend Sony out of the market",or cancelling futute PS versions of games the moment the acquisition ink has dried ala Zenimax? Sure Jan/Gamer Phil!🙄😂
A lot of the comments point towards Insomniac, but realistically it harks back to the "modern" day direction of the likes of DC or Marvel/Disney or any other corporate reboot eg: Star Wars, Indiana Jones,Doctor Who etc.
Marvel comics went the way of the likes of Female Thor,Hulk, Miles etc. Insofar as the Disney model goes you generally see a insert new character with a usually "broken hero",to make the new hero look perfect & it just comes off as a borefest at best or disrespectful depending on some I.P's that might’ve been childhood memories.
I'm NOT singling Spiderman out specifically as doing anything quite as bad here...but like Last of Us 2 as an example. When I played as Joel going through the university on TLOU & read/heard the clues Ellie wasn't the first bite survivor,nothing in retroactive sequels & tv shows would convince me Joel was "selfish" in saving Ellie. I don't hate on the sequel as a game,but I'll never warm to Abbey no matter how hard they tried.
It's like a generation of kids now regard Bumblebee as Autobot leader....but for my generation a Peter Cullen voiced Optimus is always the leader,Rodimus be dammed!😋
For a younger set,Miles is being pushed as the new gen always Spiderman...I'll still play em so long as the games are fun,but don't do a Disney & tell me every other minute how awesome the new corporate creation is over Peter or you'll just end up with it going all Poochie!
@Throb Funny, having the same issue in my region down under too! I can login to the PS web store on PC, but when I hit the add comment Tab,it just defaults to the top of the page. The "Login" to account prompt does the same...but if I click on the Sony link & then select login,it shows my profile as per having logged in correctly. 2FA etc.,work fine,it just doesn't won't let me login properly on the blog to add a comment!
So did they ever sort out the worst of the gameplay glitches in this Mafia 2 port or is it a bit like the Blacksad port wherein you're just rolling the dice & hope for the best?
@__jamiie Been picking up certain old TV shows & movies on DVD & Bluray just on the very basis that there are older ones i know won't be shown on local streaming services down under here most of the time,nevermind not affording half a dozen ones! Not to mention the at times awful reboots of classic movies/shows!
Still wondering for the "new & improved" streaming,whether this will translate into Sony expanding the service like they initially promised launching the new tiers. Deluxe now near $200 down under for the trickle of "classic" games. Can only imagine the extra for streaming!🤔
Whilst the latest iteration of Atari looks like it's leaning into classic gaming & making all the right noises,given the low bar of hotels & NFT's etc., I do hope for the likes of Nightdive & Digital Eclipse this isn't just the latest "fad" using investors money only for it to go all Embracer later as both devs are a step above most in giving old classics the TLC they deserve!🤞
When you're old enough to remember the pre-internet gaming days when you'd play through a fighting or driving game & shock,horror unlock extra fighters,cars etc.!! Good times!
Won't say Sony's track record was perfect when he was part of Worldwide Studios,with short lived ventures like the "ps2 classics on ps4" venture. (In his defence probably wasn't his department), but you can't help but feel with Crash Bandicoot making a surprise comeback on the back of his Uncharted cameo, Shadow of the Collossus remake & even Medievil, you can't help but wonder if we'd seen LBP/LBP 2 ports,or God of War 1 & 2, Sly Cooper/Ratchet/Jak series might’ve seen light of day by now, vs TLOU PS5 by now if he had been still around.
Shawn would be a popular figure to return to PS towers,but whether he'd want to is another matter. Executives rarely return to their old haunts (unless you were Steve Jobs),& probably a fair turnover of staff from when he was there last.
Unfortunately current management can't seem to be bothered beyond a trickle of mostly obscure PSP & ps1 games for classic content!😑
As always,it's actions that'll speak louder than words. Whilst it'll likely give them a little bit bigger warchest to try chase after the next Rocket League/Fall Guys type mtx hit,how much trickles down into the miserly "classic games" efforts remains debatable. Pretty much not only PSP led,with a trickle of PS1 games,no sign of PS2 games being added either first party or third-party,....but it's not like Eric Lempel would interact with the paying audience on the PS Blog to answer such questions anyway. 😕
Don't forget...we couldn't possibly have had a traditional single player offline mode,only way to keep all those cheaters & scammers at bay is online only!!😂🙄
As was exposed during the FTC lawsuit,take anything "Gamer Phil" says publicly with a pinch of salt & then run it through a fine tooth comb of legal double Dutch snake oil to look at what he doesn't say/omits to interpret Microsoft's true intents.
He mentions PS4/PS5....note no mention of future systems like PS6...would be rather convenient to release COD on next gen XB but not PS.... Likewise,you can be certain future iterations of Diablo,Crash,Spyro,or potential revived IP's will be exclusives. Just look at the Zenimax email directives that anything unannounced & not contracted will get cancelled.
Obviously,the case is done,Microsoft's lawyers, $$ & influence saw to that...but buying up AAA publishers & established IP's to permanently exclude them off the competition isn't good for gamers no matter how much the acolytes try to spin their hypocrisy.
Though disappointed to see indie studio Night School get bought out by Netflix,(liked Oxenfree), this is also the same Netflix that as most movie studios have all gone to chasing their own streaming services has left them with so-so reboots of shows bearing little resemblance to their originals,or shows that even if good get cancelled after a season or two. (Dark Crystal, sigh!)
The bigger concern might come if the likes of Apple,Amazon,etc.,decide to either go head to head with Microsoft's buying spree,or in theory could afford a takeover bid of Sony itself.
"You will remain welcome!",says friendly P.R. Public "Gamer" Phil....private email Phil, "Let's make a Reaper of Souls type Diablo IV expansion so we can retire all non XB/PC versions! All unannounced games are exclusives going forward apart from COD!" Next Year: "We're gonna bring Starcraft Ghost....Batlle Royale! Day one gamepass!"🙄
As others have noted,apart from being a likely PC/XB/Mobile Ganepass exclusive,could imagine in place of the old plastic guitar it'd be via a phone App filled with lovely mtx! Right up their live services alley!!
Technically have Jedi Survivor in my pile of shame from a sale,but would have to go back to PS2 era NFS Underground/SSX series or GOG PC games like Theme Park/Hospital etc,for EA being a go to for me.
That said,would absolutely detest a Disney run EA even moreso. Currrent day Disney's bereft of any creativity,with remakes minus the soul of what made their originals good or designed by committee borefests to feed their streaming machine.
Literally killed off the once innovative Lucasarts Games as one of their first acts of taking it over!🙄
Looking at $40 extra in dollaryoos my neck of the woods,($160 Blu-ray add-on). It's a nice option to have rather than be "locked in",as you are on the current digital models whether ps5 or Xbox. But if you're on the fence or have an extensive ps4 physical library common sense says you get the model bundled with the drive from the get go.
Happy enough with my current model purchase during the recent Days of Play promotion,& daresay there'll be more as they'll want momentum to continue beyond this year.
Too many bills atm even if I were subscribed! On the ps5vshopping list will be an SSD at some point but still a bit undecided about going for a 3rd party heatsink or not. Seen a couple that seemingly replace the ps5 ssd cover & claim better cooling...or if better just to stick with included ones on the likes of Samsung,or Kingston etc.,🤔
Whilst Riccitello won't be missed,that he'd already checked out allegedly selling off shares ahead of the entire train wreck waa telling. The CEO of the adware tech company that Unity uses & merged with still sits on the Unity board, so don't expect their current direction to change that dramatically.
@anon_pel222 Yep,good times on the original Brian Lara,(Shane Warne down under),on ps1 back in the day,esp. with certain cheats turned on! Likewise some of the EA Cricket entries on ps2.
Sadly without the sort of AAA budgets & production values they had for their time,these modern adaptations will always feel like a budget effort at a full price!
For the slightly off topic part of the discussion regarding the Motorstorm series, would happily play Pacific Rift & Apocalypse again either as a port or remake which could allow them to sink their live services into,(so long as their single player & co-op waa still retained).
Back onto Driveclub,if only it'd been given a bit more time in the development oven. Likewise though,imagine a team of modders,/engineers like Illusion handling backwards compatibility modes & boosts across the ps1/ps2/ps4 games .
Unfortunately,not a priority for current management.
The saddest thing out of all this is KOTOR is available on all other current gen formats bar Playstation...albeit heard/read that the Switch version remains somewhat buggy.😕
A shame it wasn't handed to the likes of Bluepoint or even (what was at the time a third-party) Nightdive.
Would want to be better than the grindfest Illfonic Friday the 13th type games...though I own the likes of The Quarry & some of the Dark Pictures Anthology wish for another Until Dawn like game with the same sort of production polish it had (even if something not directly related to the original)..
What we won't know by these announcements is if there's anyone Jim Ryan would be pushing to take his place or if its something the Sony board will pursue independently by inferring this pro temporary appointment
Traditionally they have promoted from within, but does this infer possibly expanding to looking externally? Obviously Shuhei Yoshida has a lot of sentimental support & engages with the PS Community. But his current role was (according to him),a result of a Jim Ryan initiative to overhaul & improve & encourage Indie support back to Playstation. Would Shu want the CEO role given its demands? He seems quite happy engaging with devs in his current role.
One would hope a Shawn Layden/Shu Yoshida type figure could be found who hopefully can engage & communicate with the community, but obviously a lot of senior management currently there like Hermen Hulst & co.,would have been Jim Ryan appointments,so time will tell.
In Sony's case,as has been seen previously, they tend to target older releases rather than day one releases,though there are exceptions ala Fall Guys which they clearly saw mutual benefit with its live services monster it became,much like Rocket League.
Gamepass is quite happy to splash the cash on day one/& or single player content like they did with games like Death's Door or Carrion, (timed exclusives),or Octopath Traveller (which is still to see PS4/5 port despite the sequel being belatedly announced for XB),as its likely to get more "user engagement" vs sales. But just looking at Phil Spencer's AAA publisher shopping list, they clearly have bigger fish to fry buying publishers outright. So smaller indies bit less of a priority at present.
Whilst its fair for longtime PS owners to be apprehensive after the PS3 era hack,& on the alert,let's await further information.
Not to belittle what would be a user nightmare true,but in my neck of the woods have seen a major Telci provider & also a private health insurer both subjected to massive data breaches & lax practices protecting sensitive customer data.
Likewise,remember Sony is a multi division company,so have they targeted PSN, or SIE, or indeed another division ala the time Sony Films got targeted? Must admit have usually gone the psn wallet top ups myself,but not sure i can buy any ps plus top ups digitally unless one has a card payment attached for subscription renewal being turned on by default as a result?
Think that just about leaves most of the series apart from the Miles Edgeworth AA Investigations games having made it across now!
Still,never thought we'd ever see the likes of the Sherlock Holmes inspired one in the west so, will undoubtedly add this to the collection at some point.
@Titntin 😑 Yep,too many! PS2 gen era stuff like NFS Underground series,SSX etc.,was about the last I played...& even in house 16bit stuff (& C64 before it among other formats),ala Desert Strike etc. Wing Commander & more... Thanks for your part from that classic era,great talents were Bullfrog & happily remembered from an era of "is it fun?" also factored in as much as :will it sell?"
@Titntin Mike Diskett was tweeting the other day on "John R.",stalking him like some sort of boogeyman/nemesis from Bullfrog to Pandemic to now being a wrecking ball with his studio using Unity! 👻
The likes of Bullfrog & Westwood still hurt my soul from the Amiga era (& beyond). Heck, can recall DICE's origins with their Pinball games, Benefactor,(i think?🤔),& "Hardcore"/Ultracore!
Wasn't a big strategy fan,but Populous II, Flood, Theme Park,(& picked up it & Hospital via GOG), Syndicate & Syndicate Wars all got a decent to heavy bashing BITD! How inept EA upper management were to suck the very soul of their elite studios is something I'll never quite fathom!😑
@DrVenture69 Got family members who are Apple fans...within reason...been Android myself, but after seeing how my old Galaxy fared dutifully updating it & even after replacing the battery(when that was still an option!), I've become more cautious!
Managed to get by 3+years touch wood & keep apps updated,but quelle surprise seem to have ecked out a longer battery life thus far not falling for the phone manufacturer update racket! 😋
Seen way to many indie devs talk about the pain of publishing on Apple/Android vs the big boys with their Candy Crush Roblox freemium warez!
"It'll be the best games console!"...until the IPhone 16 comes out...& then when you have to update your OS you'll find everything runs more slowly, & the battery drains faster!😋 Then by the IPhone 17 & next major OS update your paid for game apps unless updated will probably no longer run on your "most powerful console" Iphone 15 anymore!🙄
It was already something dismissed by their lawyers as a "joke" during the FTC Trial,but wherein in email exchanges about "spending Sony out of the market",was subsequently shown to be no idle threat with the ABK takeover being a mere part of a wider shopping list.
Unfortunately the lack of not breaking up Microsoft during the 90's browser wars, (wherein they propped up an ailing Apple from bankruptcy & paved the way for Steve Jobs return),led to the megacorps of it,Apple,Amazon,Facebook etc. of today.
Microsoft has demonstrated its influence with US Congress & the likes of the EU regulators & its online PR Campaigns during the trials portraying it as the "little" multi trillion dollar indie when the reality is it has major fingers in the Azure Market & cloud services & is increasingly pushing for the same Microsoft account across gaming & Windows,Office,& other services.
The acolytes will keep cheering "gamer" Phil, but the reality is Megacorps buying up all the third party AAA studios are not your friends.
Just breaking online is apparently their next-gen console plans & cloud integration is very much in their pipeline.
Would be about on form for LRG if this dteadful excuse of a title actually gets released on all the PSN Store regions... meantime indies like Deathwish Enforcers or even the infamous Night Trap Anniversary edition remain locked to the U.S. PSN Store only.
Plumbers Don't Wear Ties made for a great Angry Video Gamer Nerd episode but the gameplay would make Dragon's Lair look like an in-depth game in comparison!
Feels like a nothing insert South Park BP "We're sorry",statement. Wouldn't a sensible exec team have "talked to our staff,partners & community" etc ,before deciding on this train wreck?🙄
Saw a tweet over the weekend that suggested looking beyond just the CEO. Seemingly the adware tech company they bought,(& use in Unity especially mobile),exec is now part of the board alongside,financial/board members associated with a certain space rocket chap who's heavily monetised "his" social platform. Though it is the internet & rabbit hole theorising it makes more sense than the utterances thus far!
As always its the staff still there that haven't been purged in recent months & devs mid project or relying on older titles to supplement the next that have been thrown onto the train tracks by this nonsense.😕
Haven't caught up with all the latest policy changes by socials,but seemingly another "coincidence",prior to the Unity train wreck was several execs quietly selling off their company shares prior to all this!🙄
Not sure how serious or not they are but Massive Monsters/Cult of Lamb seemingly tweeted potentially needing to buy it before things changeover with a possible digital deletion if things continue on their current course.
Going to take more than a roll back to regain trust in the Unity brand after this.
Yes,though there can be some poorer examples of Unity hames out there,there can be some nice ones too...as others have noted,it certainly was the preference for 2D games in particular!😕
Would hate to see devs feel compelled to yank older games off digital store shelves if Unity management continues the madness.
Ubisoft could've had a sequel done & dusted by now if they'd hadn't gone off on a MMO live service online only thing riding on the name only with edgy swearing gorillas!
An actual sequel single player game continuing Jade's quest from the first game would be far better. Insofar as a remaster of the original,it'd be welcome as found myself engaged far more than I expected getting the PS3 HD version via PS Plus years ago. The combat/shoulder camera could do with a revamp though as got way too frustrated/ lost in the maze like sections battling aliens & laser beam gates!
About the main way users could send a possible message is to login to their preferences & switch off auto-renewal on their subscriptions.
Pretty likely there'll be enough data tracking in place to notice if users are turning it off. In my neck of the woods $96 for Essential whilst going up to $195 for Deluxe! 😱 Hate to think what Premium would be if they ever added streaming Down Under...as it stands,the paper thin PSP,PS1 offerings have been lacklustre with occasional exception & non existent PS2 & third party classics.
It's been a disappointment to date that vs home-brew alternatives elsewhere there hasn't been a similar effort in-house on ps2 emulation & indeed even the number of ps1 titles added have been few in number.
Even if they wanted to make it a ps5 only feature for future releases & improve compatibility, it should've been a feature from launch of Deluxe/ Premium.
With previously third party IP's being removed from future PS platforms,trying to at least shore up a decent catalogue of the classic gens, alongside indies etc.,need to be alternatives for those players not wishing to jump on the live service games train.
Comments 1,349
Re: PS Plus Premium Poised to Add Another Classic Disney Game
Unfortunately this is an area where there really doesn't feel like Sony's 3rd party content team's have put any great efforts into with regards to bolstering "PS Classics" content.
What on earth ever happened to the rumoured Dino Crisis games,or surely RE 2 & 3? Or Rayman, or there's EA games like Theme Park/Hospital, Wing Commander 3 & 4. Alundra,Blood Omen Legacy of Kain,& the Adventures of Lomax, or the Colony Wars series....
Nevermind if they bothered doing a new ps2 emulation capable of running on ps5 properly there'd be stuff like NFS Underground 1 & 2, SSX Series,Maximo Quest for Glory & Army of Zin, & the Sly Cooper & early God of War games just to name a few!
Sad to say, but felt like PS Deluxe was a mere afterthought for regions like mine that never had PS Now streaming, with little budget or teams to bring across PS Classic content.
Re: Broken Roads Delayed Days from Launch, and While Being Reviewed
Whilst unlikely that the gaming press had tipped them off specifically on critical reviews,if there were enough questions coming back on game bugs/impending day one patches it might’ve spooked them enough not to join Tintin, King Kong,& Gollum in the "hold my beer" award & hold off 'til at least the day one patch instead now becomes the new "pre release" template instead!
Re: Maligned Modern Warfare 3 Developed in Just 18 Months, Staff Required to Work Nights and Weekends
Pretty easy to sum up. You had a hostile Activision board having splashed out millions in various "settlements",all carrying no fault NDA disclosures,plus lawyer & P.R. focused getting Bobby Kotick's $70 billion deal & multi billion payout approved.
Consequently what was once upon a time an important marketing/revenue deal now was a nuisance in light of Microsoft's takeover so its shovelled out in as contractually obligated minimal effort possible.
Re: Sony Delays Six Live Service PS5 Games, But Company Remains Committed to Model
Live service stuff really doesn't really appeal to me,but I can sadly understand the logic in terms of wanting to try come up with their own COD/ GTA Online cashcow.
Like others,remained concerned at the focus having felt being more on those efforts at the expense of others...in particular,feel like the opportunity to have enjoyed the best of both worlds by tapping into IP's like bringing LBP 2 to current gen (which had plenty of mtx dlc), or tapped into the likes past games like Twisted Metal (with a solid single player/co-op mode), or maybe Warhawk,or even stuff like LBP Karting,Jak racing or similar.
Time will tell,I guess.
Re: GTA 6 Reveal Trailer Debuts in Early December, Rockstar Says
Once upon a time,I'd eagerly look for every bit of pre release news on a Rockstar release....but after efforts like the GTA "Definitive edition remaster" trilogy,& the functional,but unspectacular & overpriced RDR 1 remaster,just view any GTA VI announcements with a wait for the second shoe to drop approach.
With the likes of Dan Houser & Lazlow long departed now,will we still even see a substantial single player story mode? Or will they go the Diablo IV approach & force everyone online to enforce those mtx? My initial enjoyment of GTA V's story wore down with it's share market driven tutorials which led towards the online mode's sjark cards to buy any properties & ever changing prices online. 😑
Nevermind the humour of the ps2 era games with Lazlow,Fernando etc.,& over the top 80's/90's atmosphere & superb soundtracks back then. Modern day Take-two directed Rockstar has become the very souless corporate company they used to poke fun at!😕
Re: Elon Musk May Try to Stop PS5, PS4's Twitter Integration Removal
@Ainu20 Uep,Wyle E. Coyote "super genius" sure seems to have opened the portal to spam, nutter & crypto bots much like when Walter Peck shut down the containment grid in OG Ghostbusters!🙄
Says he'll look into it,but will undoubtedly set his conspiracy bot army onto Playstation & just whinge it's all their fault.
Re: Sony Will Help Fund and Distribute a Live-Action The Legend of Zelda Film
@GamingFan4Lyf I know it's all in jest,but did you ever play (or at least watch a longplay),of Alundra on ps1? Must admit never got in as far in as the longplays of my video store rental of it but enjoyed it as much as I was tearing my hair out BITD!
YouTube channel A Bit More Jordan has a nice retrospective/playthrough of it,well worth a watch!
Re: Dev Admits PS5, PS4 Tintin Game Is Unfinished on the Same Day It Releases
@LieutenantFatman I did own a buggy copy of C64 Robocop which I successfully swapped BITD, but have learned from one of the old Ocean devs on twitter it was actually a mastering issue where the bug wasn't picked up...apparently some later versions & also certain cracked ones fixed it so there were later levels. Not to say other games weren't back then...the PAL version of Predator was almost unbeatable due to a bug to set up the log trap on the Predator! C64 Karnov had an incomplete version given to Ocean by Activision for a compilation but none of the game testers could get far enough in to find out!😱😂
Apparently the Megadrive & SNES Tintin games I've seen on YouTube are super hard,but would be better options for fans of the classic series. At least there you got Captain Haddock etc.
Re: Dev Admits PS5, PS4 Tintin Game Is Unfinished on the Same Day It Releases
Slightly off-topic, but wondered if Pendulo's Blacksad ever got fixed whether PS4 or PC as occasionally seen it on sale but no point if it remained near unplayable.
Its why the insert South Park BP We're Sorry gif PR apology rings as hollow as it sounds AFTER release than before!🙄
It's a shame that the PS Store doesn't have a Steam style refund system in play to incentivise publishers a bit more to delay these messes.
Re: PlayStation Users to Be Considered 'Part of the Xbox Community', Says Xbox Boss
Oh how cute,Famitsu believes him to keep the scoop,instead of pressing him on his & other Microsoft's executives wanting to "spend Sony out of the market",or cancelling futute PS versions of games the moment the acquisition ink has dried ala Zenimax?
Sure Jan/Gamer Phil!🙄😂
Re: Insomniac Confirms Primary Marvel's Spider-Man Moving Forward
A lot of the comments point towards Insomniac, but realistically it harks back to the "modern" day direction of the likes of DC or Marvel/Disney or any other corporate reboot eg: Star Wars, Indiana Jones,Doctor Who etc.
Marvel comics went the way of the likes of Female Thor,Hulk, Miles etc. Insofar as the Disney model goes you generally see a insert new character with a usually "broken hero",to make the new hero look perfect & it just comes off as a borefest at best or disrespectful depending on some I.P's that might’ve been childhood memories.
I'm NOT singling Spiderman out specifically as doing anything quite as bad here...but like Last of Us 2 as an example. When I played as Joel going through the university on TLOU & read/heard the clues Ellie wasn't the first bite survivor,nothing in retroactive sequels & tv shows would convince me Joel was "selfish" in saving Ellie. I don't hate on the sequel as a game,but I'll never warm to Abbey no matter how hard they tried.
It's like a generation of kids now regard Bumblebee as Autobot leader....but for my generation a Peter Cullen voiced Optimus is always the leader,Rodimus be dammed!😋
For a younger set,Miles is being pushed as the new gen always Spiderman...I'll still play em so long as the games are fun,but don't do a Disney & tell me every other minute how awesome the new corporate creation is over Peter or you'll just end up with it going all Poochie!
Re: All PS Plus Members Handed a Movie Discount on Sony Pictures Core
@Throb Funny, having the same issue in my region down under too! I can login to the PS web store on PC, but when I hit the add comment Tab,it just defaults to the top of the page. The "Login" to account prompt does the same...but if I click on the Sony link & then select login,it shows my profile as per having logged in correctly. 2FA etc.,work fine,it just doesn't won't let me login properly on the blog to add a comment!
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for November 2023 Announced
So did they ever sort out the worst of the gameplay glitches in this Mafia 2 port or is it a bit like the Blacksad port wherein you're just rolling the dice & hope for the best?
Re: PS5 Cloud Streaming Is Now Available for PS Plus Premium Members in North America
@__jamiie Been picking up certain old TV shows & movies on DVD & Bluray just on the very basis that there are older ones i know won't be shown on local streaming services down under here most of the time,nevermind not affording half a dozen ones! Not to mention the at times awful reboots of classic movies/shows!
Still wondering for the "new & improved" streaming,whether this will translate into Sony expanding the service like they initially promised launching the new tiers. Deluxe now near $200 down under for the trickle of "classic" games. Can only imagine the extra for streaming!🤔
Re: Atari Ramps Up Retro Ambitions with Digital Eclipse Acquisition
Whilst the latest iteration of Atari looks like it's leaning into classic gaming & making all the right noises,given the low bar of hotels & NFT's etc., I do hope for the likes of Nightdive & Digital Eclipse this isn't just the latest "fad" using investors money only for it to go all Embracer later as both devs are a step above most in giving old classics the TLC they deserve!🤞
Re: Mortal Kombat 1 Fans Are Finished with the PS5 Game's $10 Halloween Fatality
When you're old enough to remember the pre-internet gaming days when you'd play through a fighting or driving game & shock,horror unlock extra fighters,cars etc.!! Good times!
Re: Former PlayStation Boss Shawn Layden Says It's 'Criminal' Industry Isn't Properly Preserving Games
Won't say Sony's track record was perfect when he was part of Worldwide Studios,with short lived ventures like the "ps2 classics on ps4" venture. (In his defence probably wasn't his department), but you can't help but feel with Crash Bandicoot making a surprise comeback on the back of his Uncharted cameo, Shadow of the Collossus remake & even Medievil, you can't help but wonder if we'd seen LBP/LBP 2 ports,or God of War 1 & 2, Sly Cooper/Ratchet/Jak series might’ve seen light of day by now, vs TLOU PS5 by now if he had been still around.
Shawn would be a popular figure to return to PS towers,but whether he'd want to is another matter. Executives rarely return to their old haunts (unless you were Steve Jobs),& probably a fair turnover of staff from when he was there last.
Unfortunately current management can't seem to be bothered beyond a trickle of mostly obscure PSP & ps1 games for classic content!😑
Re: Sony on PS Plus Price Increase: We Want to Make PlayStation Plus Great
As always,it's actions that'll speak louder than words. Whilst it'll likely give them a little bit bigger warchest to try chase after the next Rocket League/Fall Guys type mtx hit,how much trickles down into the miserly "classic games" efforts remains debatable.
Pretty much not only PSP led,with a trickle of PS1 games,no sign of PS2 games being added either first party or third-party,....but it's not like Eric Lempel would interact with the paying audience on the PS Blog to answer such questions anyway. 😕
Re: Blizzard Disables Diablo 4 Trading, Threatens Bans For Players Engaged in Illicit Duplication
Don't forget...we couldn't possibly have had a traditional single player offline mode,only way to keep all those cheaters & scammers at bay is online only!!😂🙄
Re: Xbox Boss Promises '100% Parity' for Call of Duty on PS5, PS4
As was exposed during the FTC lawsuit,take anything "Gamer Phil" says publicly with a pinch of salt & then run it through a fine tooth comb of legal double Dutch snake oil to look at what he doesn't say/omits to interpret Microsoft's true intents.
He mentions PS4/PS5....note no mention of future systems like PS6...would be rather convenient to release COD on next gen XB but not PS....
Likewise,you can be certain future iterations of Diablo,Crash,Spyro,or potential revived IP's will be exclusives. Just look at the Zenimax email directives that anything unannounced & not contracted will get cancelled.
Obviously,the case is done,Microsoft's lawyers, $$ & influence saw to that...but buying up AAA publishers & established IP's to permanently exclude them off the competition isn't good for gamers no matter how much the acolytes try to spin their hypocrisy.
Re: Netflix Aims to Be PlayStation's Next Big Rival, And It Wants Grand Theft Auto
Though disappointed to see indie studio Night School get bought out by Netflix,(liked Oxenfree), this is also the same Netflix that as most movie studios have all gone to chasing their own streaming services has left them with so-so reboots of shows bearing little resemblance to their originals,or shows that even if good get cancelled after a season or two. (Dark Crystal, sigh!)
The bigger concern might come if the likes of Apple,Amazon,etc.,decide to either go head to head with Microsoft's buying spree,or in theory could afford a takeover bid of Sony itself.
Re: PS5, PS4 Players Will 'Remain Welcome' As Xbox Closes $69 Billion Activision Blizzard Buyout
"You will remain welcome!",says friendly P.R. Public "Gamer" Phil....private email Phil, "Let's make a Reaper of Souls type Diablo IV expansion so we can retire all non XB/PC versions! All unannounced games are exclusives going forward apart from COD!"
Next Year:
"We're gonna bring Starcraft Ghost....Batlle Royale! Day one gamepass!"🙄
Re: Activision Boss Hints a Guitar Hero Revival Could Be on the Cards
As others have noted,apart from being a likely PC/XB/Mobile Ganepass exclusive,could imagine in place of the old plastic guitar it'd be via a phone App filled with lovely mtx! Right up their live services alley!!
Re: Disney CEO Reportedly Being Pressured to Double Down on Gaming
Technically have Jedi Survivor in my pile of shame from a sale,but would have to go back to PS2 era NFS Underground/SSX series or GOG PC games like Theme Park/Hospital etc,for EA being a go to for me.
That said,would absolutely detest a Disney run EA even moreso. Currrent day Disney's bereft of any creativity,with remakes minus the soul of what made their originals good or designed by committee borefests to feed their streaming machine.
Literally killed off the once innovative Lucasarts Games as one of their first acts of taking it over!🙄
Re: PS5 Slim's Digital Edition Gets a Stealth Price Increase in USA
Looking at $40 extra in dollaryoos my neck of the woods,($160 Blu-ray add-on). It's a nice option to have rather than be "locked in",as you are on the current digital models whether ps5 or Xbox.
But if you're on the fence or have an extensive ps4 physical library common sense says you get the model bundled with the drive from the get go.
Happy enough with my current model purchase during the recent Days of Play promotion,& daresay there'll be more as they'll want momentum to continue beyond this year.
Re: Amazon Big Deal Days: Best Deals on PS5 Consoles, Games, Controllers, SSDs, 4K TVs and More
Too many bills atm even if I were subscribed! On the ps5vshopping list will be an SSD at some point but still a bit undecided about going for a 3rd party heatsink or not. Seen a couple that seemingly replace the ps5 ssd cover & claim better cooling...or if better just to stick with included ones on the likes of Samsung,or Kingston etc.,🤔
Re: Unity CEO John Riccitiello Retiring from Role Following Pricing Debacle
Whilst Riccitello won't be missed,that he'd already checked out allegedly selling off shares ahead of the entire train wreck waa telling.
The CEO of the adware tech company that Unity uses & merged with still sits on the Unity board, so don't expect their current direction to change that dramatically.
Re: Mini Review: Cricket 24 (PS5) - A Below Par Score on a Flat Batting Pitch
@anon_pel222 Yep,good times on the original Brian Lara,(Shane Warne down under),on ps1 back in the day,esp. with certain cheats turned on!
Likewise some of the EA Cricket entries on ps2.
Sadly without the sort of AAA budgets & production values they had for their time,these modern adaptations will always feel like a budget effort at a full price!
Re: DriveClub at 60FPS on PS5 Has Us Mourning the Loss of Evolution Studios All Over Again
For the slightly off topic part of the discussion regarding the Motorstorm series, would happily play Pacific Rift & Apocalypse again either as a port or remake which could allow them to sink their live services into,(so long as their single player & co-op waa still retained).
Back onto Driveclub,if only it'd been given a bit more time in the development oven. Likewise though,imagine a team of modders,/engineers like Illusion handling backwards compatibility modes & boosts across the ps1/ps2/ps4 games .
Unfortunately,not a priority for current management.
Re: Epic's V-Buck Price Hike Scheme Set to Expand Globally
The Epic board doing a Bobby Kotick...those lawyers, new jacuzzi room & 2024 yacht's don't pay for themselves!🙄
Re: PS5's Console Exclusive Knights of the Old Republic Remake Is Being Nuked from the Internet
The saddest thing out of all this is KOTOR is available on all other current gen formats bar Playstation...albeit heard/read that the Switch version remains somewhat buggy.😕
A shame it wasn't handed to the likes of Bluepoint or even (what was at the time a third-party) Nightdive.
Re: First-Party Firesprite's Dark PS5 Horror Could Be Due in 2025
Would want to be better than the grindfest Illfonic Friday the 13th type games...though I own the likes of The Quarry & some of the Dark Pictures Anthology wish for another Until Dawn like game with the same sort of production polish it had (even if something not directly related to the original)..
Re: Who Is PlayStation's New CEO, Hiroki Totoki?
What we won't know by these announcements is if there's anyone Jim Ryan would be pushing to take his place or if its something the Sony board will pursue independently by inferring this pro temporary appointment
Traditionally they have promoted from within, but does this infer possibly expanding to looking externally?
Obviously Shuhei Yoshida has a lot of sentimental support & engages with the PS Community. But his current role was (according to him),a result of a Jim Ryan initiative to overhaul & improve & encourage Indie support back to Playstation.
Would Shu want the CEO role given its demands? He seems quite happy engaging with devs in his current role.
One would hope a Shawn Layden/Shu Yoshida type figure could be found who hopefully can engage & communicate with the community, but obviously a lot of senior management currently there like Hermen Hulst & co.,would have been Jim Ryan appointments,so time will tell.
Re: Indie Firm Devolver Digital Rejected PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Deals Over 'Undervalued' Games
In Sony's case,as has been seen previously, they tend to target older releases rather than day one releases,though there are exceptions ala Fall Guys which they clearly saw mutual benefit with its live services monster it became,much like Rocket League.
Gamepass is quite happy to splash the cash on day one/& or single player content like they did with games like Death's Door or Carrion, (timed exclusives),or Octopath Traveller (which is still to see PS4/5 port despite the sequel being belatedly announced for XB),as its likely to get more "user engagement" vs sales. But just looking at Phil Spencer's AAA publisher shopping list, they clearly have bigger fish to fry buying publishers outright. So smaller indies bit less of a priority at present.
Re: Sony Has Allegedly Suffered a Huge Hack by Ransomware Group
Whilst its fair for longtime PS owners to be apprehensive after the PS3 era hack,& on the alert,let's await further information.
Not to belittle what would be a user nightmare true,but in my neck of the woods have seen a major Telci provider & also a private health insurer both subjected to massive data breaches & lax practices protecting sensitive customer data.
Likewise,remember Sony is a multi division company,so have they targeted PSN, or SIE, or indeed another division ala the time Sony Films got targeted?
Must admit have usually gone the psn wallet top ups myself,but not sure i can buy any ps plus top ups digitally unless one has a card payment attached for subscription renewal being turned on by default as a result?
Re: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy Enters the Courtroom in January 2024
Think that just about leaves most of the series apart from the Miles Edgeworth AA Investigations games having made it across now!
Still,never thought we'd ever see the likes of the Sherlock Holmes inspired one in the west so, will undoubtedly add this to the collection at some point.
Re: Nine Minutes of Dragon's Dogma 2 Gameplay Is Enough to Make You Drool
@ShogunRok Capcom also announced the Apollo Justice Ace Attorney trilogy of the DS/3DS games for PS4,(NSW,Xbone,Steam),too.
Re: Battlefield Takes Priority at Need for Speed Developer Criterion Games
@Titntin 😑 Yep,too many! PS2 gen era stuff like NFS Underground series,SSX etc.,was about the last I played...& even in house 16bit stuff (& C64 before it among other formats),ala Desert Strike etc. Wing Commander & more...
Thanks for your part from that classic era,great talents were Bullfrog & happily remembered from an era of "is it fun?" also factored in as much as :will it sell?"
Re: Battlefield Takes Priority at Need for Speed Developer Criterion Games
@Titntin Mike Diskett was tweeting the other day on "John R.",stalking him like some sort of boogeyman/nemesis from Bullfrog to Pandemic to now being a wrecking ball with his studio using Unity! 👻
The likes of Bullfrog & Westwood still hurt my soul from the Amiga era (& beyond). Heck, can recall DICE's origins with their Pinball games, Benefactor,(i think?🤔),& "Hardcore"/Ultracore!
Wasn't a big strategy fan,but Populous II, Flood, Theme Park,(& picked up it & Hospital via GOG), Syndicate & Syndicate Wars all got a decent to heavy bashing BITD!
How inept EA upper management were to suck the very soul of their elite studios is something I'll never quite fathom!😑
Re: Apple Insinuates iPhone 15 Pro Will Be a Better Games Console Than PS5, PS4
@DrVenture69 Got family members who are Apple fans...within reason...been Android myself, but after seeing how my old Galaxy fared dutifully updating it & even after replacing the battery(when that was still an option!), I've become more cautious!
Managed to get by 3+years touch wood & keep apps updated,but quelle surprise seem to have ecked out a longer battery life thus far not falling for the phone manufacturer update racket! 😋
Seen way to many indie devs talk about the pain of publishing on Apple/Android vs the big boys with their Candy Crush Roblox freemium warez!
Re: Apple Insinuates iPhone 15 Pro Will Be a Better Games Console Than PS5, PS4
"It'll be the best games console!"...until the IPhone 16 comes out...& then when you have to update your OS you'll find everything runs more slowly, & the battery drains faster!😋
Then by the IPhone 17 & next major OS update your paid for game apps unless updated will probably no longer run on your "most powerful console" Iphone 15 anymore!🙄
Re: Xbox Almost Flashed Its Cash At Warner Bros, Sees Nintendo As the Holy Grail
It was already something dismissed by their lawyers as a "joke" during the FTC Trial,but wherein in email exchanges about "spending Sony out of the market",was subsequently shown to be no idle threat with the ABK takeover being a mere part of a wider shopping list.
Unfortunately the lack of not breaking up Microsoft during the 90's browser wars, (wherein they propped up an ailing Apple from bankruptcy & paved the way for Steve Jobs return),led to the megacorps of it,Apple,Amazon,Facebook etc. of today.
Microsoft has demonstrated its influence with US Congress & the likes of the EU regulators & its online PR Campaigns during the trials portraying it as the "little" multi trillion dollar indie when the reality is it has major fingers in the Azure Market & cloud services & is increasingly pushing for the same Microsoft account across gaming & Windows,Office,& other services.
The acolytes will keep cheering "gamer" Phil, but the reality is Megacorps buying up all the third party AAA studios are not your friends.
Just breaking online is apparently their next-gen console plans & cloud integration is very much in their pipeline.
Re: One of the Worst Games of All Time Is Coming to PS5, PS4, And You Won't Believe the Merch
Would be about on form for LRG if this dteadful excuse of a title actually gets released on all the PSN Store regions... meantime indies like Deathwish Enforcers or even the infamous Night Trap Anniversary edition remain locked to the U.S. PSN Store only.
Plumbers Don't Wear Ties made for a great Angry Video Gamer Nerd episode but the gameplay would make Dragon's Lair look like an in-depth game in comparison!
Re: Unity Promises Changes to Controversial New Policy After Causing 'Confusion and Angst'
Feels like a nothing insert South Park BP "We're sorry",statement. Wouldn't a sensible exec team have "talked to our staff,partners & community" etc ,before deciding on this train wreck?🙄
Saw a tweet over the weekend that suggested looking beyond just the CEO. Seemingly the adware tech company they bought,(& use in Unity especially mobile),exec is now part of the board alongside,financial/board members associated with a certain space rocket chap who's heavily monetised "his" social platform.
Though it is the internet & rabbit hole theorising it makes more sense than the utterances thus far!
As always its the staff still there that haven't been purged in recent months & devs mid project or relying on older titles to supplement the next that have been thrown onto the train tracks by this nonsense.😕
Re: Developers Rally Together as Unity Attempts to Clarify Controversial Install Fee Policy
Haven't caught up with all the latest policy changes by socials,but seemingly another "coincidence",prior to the Unity train wreck was several execs quietly selling off their company shares prior to all this!🙄
Not sure how serious or not they are but Massive Monsters/Cult of Lamb seemingly tweeted potentially needing to buy it before things changeover with a possible digital deletion if things continue on their current course.
Going to take more than a roll back to regain trust in the Unity brand after this.
Re: Unity's Newly Announced Install Fee Policy Already Causing Disharmony Amongst Devs
Yes,though there can be some poorer examples of Unity hames out there,there can be some nice ones too...as others have noted,it certainly was the preference for 2D games in particular!😕
Would hate to see devs feel compelled to yank older games off digital store shelves if Unity management continues the madness.
Re: Borderlands Studio Gearbox May Be Sold by Embracer Group, It's Claimed
Embracer: It's a bargain guys,we'll even throw in Randy's usb drive!😋
Sega: Just give us Randy,we're still looking for the Aliens dev funds!😂
Re: Iconic PS2 Platformer Beyond Good & Evil Appears to Be Coming to PS5
Ubisoft could've had a sequel done & dusted by now if they'd hadn't gone off on a MMO live service online only thing riding on the name only with edgy swearing gorillas!
An actual sequel single player game continuing Jade's quest from the first game would be far better.
Insofar as a remaster of the original,it'd be welcome as found myself engaged far more than I expected getting the PS3 HD version via PS Plus years ago. The combat/shoulder camera could do with a revamp though as got way too frustrated/ lost in the maze like sections battling aliens & laser beam gates!
Re: PS5, PS4 Owners Are Understandably Irate with PS Plus Price Hike
About the main way users could send a possible message is to login to their preferences & switch off auto-renewal on their subscriptions.
Pretty likely there'll be enough data tracking in place to notice if users are turning it off. In my neck of the woods $96 for Essential whilst going up to $195 for Deluxe! 😱 Hate to think what Premium would be if they ever added streaming Down Under...as it stands,the paper thin PSP,PS1 offerings have been lacklustre with occasional exception & non existent PS2 & third party classics.
Re: Is Sony Working on a New PS2 Emulator for PS5, PS4?
It's been a disappointment to date that vs home-brew alternatives elsewhere there hasn't been a similar effort in-house on ps2 emulation & indeed even the number of ps1 titles added have been few in number.
Even if they wanted to make it a ps5 only feature for future releases & improve compatibility, it should've been a feature from launch of Deluxe/ Premium.
With previously third party IP's being removed from future PS platforms,trying to at least shore up a decent catalogue of the classic gens, alongside indies etc.,need to be alternatives for those players not wishing to jump on the live service games train.