Rudy_Manchego

People saying it doesn’t make sense for Bungie don’t know the state of their financials - for all we know they are burning through cash and Destiny isn’t making enough money. Stranger things have happened even though it didn’t happen. Interesting that the articles put forward that Bungie were too expensive.

I am going to keep banging the drum but the clear lack of diversity in Ubisoft's portfolio was down to the fact that a handful of people were calling the creative shots and shooting down anything they didn't like. Oh and those same people were horrific people who have been forced out once the allegations were made public.

Scott Pilgrim is a cheap and very easy attempt to appeal to gamers and make them excited for their very limited portfolio. Same with Prince of Persia. It is going to be several years, if at all, before Ubisoft can get themselves out of this creative (and moral) slump.

@Porco Agreed - By allowing all your games to be planned by a couple of pretty horrendous people for the past 10 years.

They also put out an apology video for their systematic abuse of staff and downright horrendous mobile game trailer but oddly they didn't include it in the Forward so it isn't linked to the games. Weird that.

In the end I bought Ultimate edition on PC this week as have wanted it for the AWE expansion coz I likes me some Alan Wake. The price was far cheaper than the costed Ultimate edition for consoles.

Love it but I can afford it. Real shame as I love most of these games!

@BleedingDreamer Yeah I have the Xbox one official remote (got cheap second hand) and it is really rugged and the kids haven’t broken it. Though somehow made the Xbox symbol button spin 180

@Octane I have tried but someone sewed their name and address into all their clothes so they keep being returned.

I mean technically I don't need a white new computer box to replace my other computer box that sits next to all my other computer boxes. So if I am in the market for not needing things I totally don't need this.

@Octane I will. I currently use the XB1 S as a HD blu-ray player and no way am I letting the kids near the controller!

Going to get this as well.

Wow I cannot WAIT for them to comment on the abuse allegations, loss of their creative team (with full stock and pension options and no penalisations) and how they are going to do better next time. I am sure they certainly WON'T just announce a fan favourite remake or two and show more Watch Dogs footage and ignore it.

@darksoul77 Me too - as a Gamepass Ultimate customer already, if I sold my XB1 S for say a £100, that is something like £4 off the monthly price meaning I am only paying an extra £5 a month. I have a small XB1 physical collection, all of which are now on Gamepass as MS exclusives. I want the PS5 first and foremost but I have already budgeted for that.

@darksoul77 Even better for Microsoft! I mean it is a bargain and I tend to only use my Xbox for digital and Gamepass games anyway which is pretty much what this system seems to be about.

In my mind, the real place that Microsoft has a massive edge is their monthly price plans. Put it this way, I have Gamepass Ultimate. For an extra £9 a month I can continue with this AND get a Series S. It means I may end up double dipping.

@NotSmartEnough @S1ayeR74 Thanks for the clarification and I have now done my homework.

Interesting tactic by Microsoft and as a second console, I would consider it for gamepass.

it is aggressive and it has made me think well.. .maybe I get the Series S as well as a PS5 at some point given the lower price point. However, I should state that I need to see the internals. Rumour has it that the S is really just a current XB1X which is no slouch but there you go.

Yeah nah - the corporate ethics of Activision is something I don't like. I will always judge a product on its merits but a company that makes multiple people redundant while recording record profits and top level payouts and also does underhand tactics of changing games after review scores deserves scorn. I don't think games should be scored lower or anything but I also, as a consumer, weigh up me feelings before buying a product.

@LiamCroft Yeah think I might.

The crazy thing about this GAAS backlash is that if they had released a 20 hour solid campaign and then charged for regular story based DLC with new or existing characters, I'd probably be quite interested in playing more of the same and pay for it.

Really balanced review @LiamCroft. Enjoyed the read and it has led me to believe that I'll wait for price reductions before having as I have zilch interest in the GaaS but the campaign sounds fun.

It isn’t great timing so I would delay Howe er they cannot delay by much because all publishers are developing next gen and would see a hole in their revenue. I think a push of 6 months is likely though

I hope so - I really want to get this one as soon as is possible.

Ha ha cool - am going to use The Last of Us in my next work call on Teams.

This is disappointing as the retro scene is pretty vibrant. I see people commenting that you can still play on old hardware. Well yes... kinda but not necessarily easily. PS1 and PS2 don't look as good on HD Tv's without doing some smart upscaling. There are companies out there that exclusively make devices to upscale old consoles and these are quite popular among the retro scene.

Most mainstream gamers won't care but as said, check out the Youtube profiles of some larger retro gamer channels and they are significant. Having the ability to play older games in some capacity would have been a selling point to some people.

Personally, I think Sony will be looking to monetize this in some way - possibly as part of PS Now where the emulation can be done on server and doesn't need to take up space on a machine.

My personal feeling is that the concept of games as a service is better than the execution of games as a service and what the idea has become.

I mean, the idea of a game that continues to give you content, remains playable and all that for a long period of time and offers value for money is not a bad concept. This was the original 10 year dream for Destiny after all.

I know a lot of Destiny players and Rainbow Six and other games, including MMO's who have got a lot out of the game. The problem most gamers have though is that this model is often abused to the detriment of gamers.

Take Assassin's Creed Odyssey - I won't complain about the good DLC stories and paid expansions but the game itself is grindy for a single player game with a story and the grind is there purely to offer incentive to microtransactions. As others have said, take other games like the obvious ones such as Anthem and The Divsion etc that launch in state where there is not much content and you have to hope that it is well supported.

The Avengers game is a game that seems cynical. We have had some great superhero properties over the last few years that have done well and been largely self contained. I am not sure that the game has so far shown why it needs to be games as a service except for attempting to sell users additional content. Is a player on xbox getting the same deal as those on PS4 for this game? No - this isn't done for the consumer.

So I think that games as a service has a wide range of meanings but in short hand it has been polluted by cynical cash grabs.

Too early to tell. Concept looks solid, I don’t like games as a service in a type of game that might work better as a solid narrative but waaaay too early for me to get the pitchfork out. I can do that for Avengers.

Late to the party but probably Disco Elysium on PC and might start Concrete Genie or something shorter after finishing Ghost of Tsushima.

I think I may have solved the suicide. Rachel did it.

Wait wait wait... you mean Ubisoft is looking to make a distracting announcement of a game they could have sorted the rights out to at any moment in the last few years?

It is almost like... people are upset with them? What amazing timing.

To be honest this makes sense to me. If I was being critical to the game, it doesn't do much new and has a lot of generic open world stuff to do. If i was reviewing it and being critical (as a critic) I can see why it would have that type of score.

To play though as someone who just wants a fun game, I've really enjoyed it and am still ploughing through for the platinum. Open worlds, despite being a little stale are hugely popular genres so can see why a good one would get better user reviews.

I will wait for the facts. I expect these consoles to be expensive at launch becase a) next gen and b) really are pretty packed with tech. I really don't think native 4k as opposed to upscaled 4k is going to make a huge sales difference. Plus, I have no doubt that devs will struggle at the start of this gen with cross platform games. It remains to be seen if it is as stark as the PS3 from 360.

Anime and the interest in it has really increased in the last few years and Sony do have a stake in it as they are a big investor in japanese orientated gaming etc. so would be well placed to maximise this.

If this was offered as a bundle with Playstation hardware you are really sealing the Sony brand as the place to go to get anime and anime inspired content. I could see it happening.

They are delaying for the right reason and let's be honest - for early adopters, you are going to be buying what you are going to be buying really. What this will really effect is the media attention and the 'who won' the launch kind of thing which does have an affect but let's not forget, this could take some time.

Everyone seems to forget that launch titles are always thin on the ground. When I got my PS4 in early 2015 I can remember complaints that there weren't enough good games coming out for PS4 etc.

This is a blow to Microsoft but not as much of a blow of releasing a launch title that wasn't ready for consumption.

@JohnnyShoulder Will add it to my twitter account while I reflect on all those restraining orders...

Think this is great. I might try it tonight. Semi clothed. For... reasons.

@Scoobijohn Dude - Spoilers man!

Got to be Ghost if Tsushima of course. Out nearly 17 hours in since last Sunday which is huge for me so you might say I am addicted.

@Taylorzombie Just a joke about the hoo ha that the detractors of said game about being about woke activism. Don't google it though... massive rabbit hole of conspiracy etc.

@Caliburn08 Yeah. I completely get why it is attractive to publishers because you only need to code for one console for x amount of time which lessens pressure and you are getting a safety cushion in case of poor sales. It always makes sense to have some guaranteed cash for a launch.

Tomb Raider has been cross platform since launch but it really annoyed me as it was a direct story sequel to the reboot which wsan't available on all platforms for a year.

@Flaming_Kaiser That is a great gif!

To be honest, I have been confused about Microsoft's marketing message on things for some time now.

We dont like timed exclusives. We have lots of exclusives. Now we have lots of timed exclusives. We won't force you to upgrade but most of the exclusive say Series X only and the official statement that Kotaku is stating is that it is up to the Dev to support XB1 for the next 2 years - even some titles that used to say XB1 (Everwild I think) now state XB Series X.

I think this is damaging to MS - I know where I am with PS5. I buy it, I get games designed for it by Sony and other developers.

As for timed exclusives - Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo... I don't like the practice for 2 reasons. One, it doesn't engender brand loyalty, I'll just wait if I can't play on the system I want and two, I feel it damages the hype and anticipation for a big launch. Rise of the Tomb Raider on PS4 wasn't exciting because the game was out there when it launched on PS4.

@Col_McCafferty Agreed and also, if you want to be cynical, third person allows for better customization of characters etc. In RPG's etc, this is actually a really big part of the experience (admittedly, now preyed upon by some game makers).

I think there are advantages to FPS and vice versa but it depends on the story you are trying to tell. I think FPS can be more immersive and immediate (though I am lucky and not affected by any motion issues). However, as you say, Third person isn't a genre. Bloodborne is in no way the same type of game as The Last of US Pt 2 for example - completely different genres.

This is just all the woke activists buying more than one copy.

Seriously though, the march to digital is undeniable. When large first party games rack up that many millions of digital sales it shows something. I wonder how much Covid 19 has helped to change the purchasing of games?

@ShogunRok I understand the criticism but at the same time, not particularly fair. I mean, Killzone Shadow Fall, Wipeout, GT, Drive Club, Resogun, Matterfall etc.

Probably more the issue is that a lot of the most successful games of this gen have been third person titles but you could argue that has been true of many of the major AAA games this gen. On the XB1 side, Gears 4 and 5, Recore, Quantum Break, Sunset Overdrive. Cross gen, the Assasin's Creed games, Control, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, RE2, RE3, DMC 5, The Division, Jedi Fallen Order.

I just think that third person titles have become the FPS of the previous generation. Maybe it is a tired design but let's face it... it is industry wide. It also happens that Sony First party releases are some of the best examples of the genre.

In theory I don't mind paying a little bit more but I don't want to pay that and STILL have the consequences of paid content via micro transations etc. to deal with.

Ah engagement... the most important metric.

I hope they clean up shop first. Their earnings call today sounded ‘interesting’.

To be honest, of all the Sony first party games, this was one that I had the least interest in. That said, saw the hype, bought it and I have been staying up late to play it. It is a very generic open world game mechanically but it is done so well and the combat so good, it just makes me want to explore. The way you can find things encourages exploration rather than stick everything on the map with a pin.

Yeah for this one... I don’t need to hold the controller in public. I will take Geoff Keighley’s word for it on this one

@3MonthBeef Ha yeah but if it isn't in a game it doesn't count!!

I know a few female streamers and they get some horrendous abuse and bizarre hassle from people online. The intentions of this game may well have been positive - it’s execution may also have been good but the marketing and even game name was very poor.

It was marketed as ‘here is a young buxom female streamer, be in control of what she does and doesn’t see’. At a time when so much abuse is surfacing in the industry, the reveal was tone deaf.

I hope the game devs are able to present this game.

Up next Crunch: The Game. Pretend to be a studio lead who creates a toxic culture and gives people ptsd.

Meh - to be honest, happy with PS Plus this gen and I don't play online. As others have said, I shop around and pay yearly.

I think Xbox will scrap the current version of Live. Ultimate subscriberes will also get Xbox Cloud which is their version of Stadia which will tie into a digital library etc.