Shepherd_Tallon

Dave the Diver, MediEvil and Alone in the Dark for me.

At this point they've added almost every PS1 game that I was asking for when this first launched. Vagrant Story is the only one missing.

I'm in chapter 12 of Rebirth.
I'm going to try finish that today, then focus on Helldivers for a few days before starting Dragon's Dogma.

Makes me nostalgic for a time when nobody cared about sales numbers or what script a CEO was reading from that week.

I don't follow the franchise, but that ad is universal to all of the games we grew up with.

I only played the Rebirth demo for the rewards. As soon as it let me create a save file I quit.
If there were no rewards I wouldn't have played it at all. I wanted to go into the game completely fresh.
The Stellar Blade demo I played from start to finish.

@The_Pixel_King "Quite a lot of people say otherwise, but I think PS5 is on fire right now and, as such, this has been my favourite console generation in a while."

Yes. Been saying this myself. I'm very much of the same opinion. I don't think I've ever been lost in this many fantastic single player games at one time before.
I think as core gamers and enthusiasts we put a lot of effort into armchair analysis and showing off how much we know, but sometimes we just forget to have fun.

@AJ1 You can skip almost all of them, don't worry.
I'm loving the game, but tbf I do agree, the mini games are a bit much.

@thechetearly I think you're right.
We usually hear this story going around, then in a year or two we'll be discovering that the game has sold 6-8 million copies including bundles or something.

@ChrisDeku I'd be very surprised if it's not over 3m by now.

A crazy amount of great single player games have launched in the first few months of the year too, and while some of them will have legs, they'll all be eating each others sales for now.
Dragon's Dogma, FF and Rise of the Ronin, it'll be Christmas before we get a fair picture of how well they have sold.

Perfect timing. I reached chapter 12 last weekend. I've been rambling around doing the last few regional side quests before I head for the Gold Saucer.

@ShogunRok I edited my comment to make it safe either way 😌

I was wondering how long it would be before we started hearing this.
The game looked fun, but exclusive to PlayStation and releasing that close to Helldivers? It never had much of a chance.

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare is nice.
I had it on PS1, my cousin had it on PS2. After spending years playing Resi and Silent Hill during the PS1 days, that game scared the crap out of us.
I wonder how well it's aged.

Also, og MediEvil. That's a nice one for the nostalgia.

I was watching the stream and tbf, what they showed looked like a lot of fun.
That first gameplay clip was very exciting.

Hopefully Bungie can stick the landing.

I think he's correct in that the budgets will have to come down, but I don't see the prices for blockbuster AAA games dropping now that they've been established.

I took sleeping tablets for a bit last year.
I swear when I was on them I had dreams exactly like this trailer.

Very cool.
I won't lie I don't think I was aware of this game, but after a glance on YouTube it looks like a lot of fun.

@get2sammyb @LifeGirl
I can't praise Portal enough.

Fair enough it doesn't play games locally, but it doesn't need to.
Sometimes when I use it I forget that I'm even streaming, and my internet is not that good - 11mbs download is a good day for me.

I think Sony knew exactly what they were doing with Portal and who it was for. The only mistake they made was listening to internet feedback and not realising how many people actually want it.

As for the popularity of stationary consoles, in Japan they are definitely not as popular as they used to be for various social and economic reasons, or so it would seem at a glance.
Still, clearly consoles are as strong as they have ever been elsewhere.
It's interesting to follow the trends in Japan though.
@LifeGirl If you're still in college do a thesis and let us all know what you find 😎

@LifeGirl
Sorry for the incoming wall of text, but you've touched on something that I used to love researching in college so you'll have to forgive the inevitable babble...

• LinkedIn tells me that that the total global market size for PC gaming "will reach around USD 32.11 billion by 2030".
  That article was published in January of this year.
• Fortune Business insights says that "The global Gaming Console Market size stood at USD 34.27 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 51.15 billion by 2027." Console remains some way ahead of PC it seems, and the indications are that it will stay ahead.
• Regarding mobile gaming, Statista indicates that mobile gaming "will reach around US$118.90bn in 2027".
  Mobile gaming. Is. A. Monster.

Mobile gaming is a different beast to the other two though. It doesn't threaten the others really either. Instead it creates opportunities for publishers to add additional revenue streams and to spread their IP around a massive market outside of the PC and Console space.
Additionally, practices which may or may not be predatory, depending on your own perspectives on such things, drive people to constantly spend on microtransactions.
These practices are in console and PC gaming too but we seem to be a little more resistant to them still, for now.

For PC and Console, it appears, at least based on the information that I'm reading which is somewhat different than yours, that Console is still bigger than PC, but it doesn't really matter as both markets are growing in value still and there's a lot of money on the table there. Nobody who can make the PC or console model work will walk away from that pot.
They may not be growing the actual market size by much in terms of customer numbers, but they are thinking of more ways to get us spending our money.

The console market is more or less the same size now as it was in the 90s. Nobody in publishing other than the likes of Shawn Layden ever really talked about it as much before now because they all assumed/hoped that the future would be dominated by streaming. But now that it turns out there might not be enough customers for streaming to take over in the way the CEOs had all hoped, the number of console and PC players is suddenly a bigger topic of discussion.
Gotta stretch those profit margins.
It's like the objective for some companies is to have all of the money. Being sustainable is not enough. Constant growth is the only marker of success. How many industries would love to see revenue like what Console and PC generate? But it's never enough for the companies with skin in the game it seems.

Personally I have no concerns about Consoles or PC. We'll still be having this conversation in 30 years.
They'll make consoles and gaming PC parts for as long as we want them.
And if we don't want them anymore it's hopefully because something better has come along.

I'm still loving Helldivers 2 and Final Fantasy VII.
There's a big old storm outside so currently I'm sat up in bed playing FF on my Portal.

@somnambulance Preference is fine obviously. I have no problem with anyone who prefers 60fps. But yeah I agree - Some folks seem to really go for the pitchforks over this.

If devs stopped being ambitious and stopped pushing the limits of their creations I'm sure we'd see 60fps more often.

@somnambulance Came down to the comments to say the exact same thing.
I always go for the quality mode, and as long as the frames are steady I really don't care.

I don't notice the difference after a few minutes either.

@GloriosaDaisy @ear_wig Yeah I tend to lean this way on this topic too.
I have no problem playing as Jill Valentine or Aloy, but yeah personally I really enjoy creating a character that resembles myself. It's just that bit more immersive to see yourself moving about in the game world.
At least in my view.

Not everything needs to be about a social issue. Sometimes it's just fun to include more people.

Perfect timing. I'm almost at Chapter 11. I've been hoping this would be fixed before I get much further.

@MrGilly69 Everything is subjective of course, but I disagree with you on the "modern games are soulless and boring" point.
I've been gaming since the pong machine and lately I'm having the best time I can remember in this hobby since the PS1 days of RE2 and FF VII.

Currently on my PS5 home screen I can see;

• FF VII Rebirth
• Helldivers II
• Dragon's Dogma II
• Stellar Blade Demo
• Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles
• Unicorn Overlord
• Rise of the Ronin
• Granblue Fantasy: Relink
• Final Fantasy XVI
• Elden Ring
• Dragon's Crown

And on my Switch Mario Kart and Zelda are as good as they've ever been.

I would argue that none of these are soulless titles, but again, that's subjective.

Have you ever felt burned out by the thought of playing games? I genuinely think that many gamers are burned out these days. It happens to a lot of us. There are too many titles to play and we're almost conditioned through FOMO to consume content like our lives depend on it.
I say it because it happened to me in my 20s and early 30s. I spent a lot of time playing whatever my friends were playing, whatever was in the top 10 that month, but never really jumping in to any titles that I enjoyed. In the end I didn't know what I liked anymore and had to stop playing for a year just to reset my brain.

Then again, I could be completely wrong so forgive my observations if that's the case.

What I know I'm right about, and with regards to this article, is that people have been telling me since the PS3 days that consoles are dead because of phones and PC, and singleplayer titles are coming to an end because of CoD and online gaming.

But I keep getting new consoles with more singleplayer games than I have the time to play.

Behemoth on PSVR2 is the only game that needs to show me something at this point.
Everything else I'm happy to take as it comes.

@StrickenBiged This x 100

I just saw a vid of something else they added... I need work to end so I can jump in and try the updates.

• Stellar Blade Demo
• Helldivers II
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

In that order. It's the long weekend so I'll probably get caught up with Shogun too.

Edit: Dragon's Dogma II, Bulwark, Unicorn Overlord and Rise of the Ronin also need to be played at some point...

@Kidfunkadelic83 I'm going to drag myself out of bed now and get back to it.
I think like everyone I was expecting fairly straightforward hack n slash combat, so the strategic approach needed for the more difficult fights is a nice surprise.

@Kidfunkadelic83 You're an absolute gem.
Thanks!

I played about a half an hour just now before heading for bed. I'll finish it in the morning.
I've loved it so far. That parry is nice and forgiving, but I suck at the dodge.

@Art_Vandelay
Valve Vs Microsoft
PlayStation Vs Nintendo

That might not be the worst outcome of the last few years.

@LifeGirl
I think you're right.
As I said I don't want the see MS leave the console space, but it seems inevitable at this point.
Handheld PCs or something like the Steam Machines from a few years back, I think that's the direction they're heading.

@lightningbolt79 I think the second last paragraph explains why the article is relevant - The same issues MS are facing in this regard will also be faced by Sony. We'll just hear about it from MS first because they've bet hard on this model, while Sony have been holding back and sticking more to the traditional model.

I don't think anyone who is being realistic has any doubts about the future of the XBOX brand either - XBOX will be around for as long as gaming is around.
It's their future as a console manufacturer that people are starting to doubt. It's not just PS fanboys either.

Personally I think it would be a tragedy if they leave the console space, but based on recent comments it looks like they want to be a kind of a Steam Machine more than a console now.

@Frmknst Go to the store, select any version of the game, select the menu (three dots) beside the wishlist option, select demo from the menu that appears.

That should get you there.

@__Seraph That's the thing - When I reached it I was dreading a convoluted mess because that's what the internet told me it was, but I think there was only one occasion where I struggled to reach a point of interest, and that's because I wasn't paying attention and missed a fork in the path.
The flow of the landscape generally tends to take you to wherever you're trying to reach.

But it's the internet - You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Midgar was too linear.
Gongaga is too convoluted.

I still have the old big box pc version. We could never get passed the speeder bike section when we were kids.
It's a classic, but I'm happy to leave this one with my nostalgia.

@add286 I just finished the Gongaga region last night and thought it was amazing.
I had seen people online talking about how it was the worst area in any game ever, but I thought it was just a lot of fun. Gorgeous to look at too.
And the music. Was it a mix of Uilleann pipes and an African choir or something? It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

@Aggirivator They're perplexed by it for the most part. They don't see the need for it.
But as long as Sony don't mandate two iterations of every game or something annoying like that, nobody will care.

I don't think it will be as successful as PS4 Pro (inflation, potentially higher price etc), but if that poll did turn out to be a reflection of overall sales, 23% of 55,000,000 is 12,650,000 (or so Google tells me). PS4 Pro did around 14,000,000 by Jan 2020.

I doubt PS5 Pro will sell that many units. In fact I'd say that's beyond Sony's wildest dreams.

A healthy niche is what they will be hoping for here. Enough to spread the word about PSSR. The market will be somewhere between the folks who bought the base PS5 and the folks who bought the InZone PC gear.

For myself, hopefully my house will be done by next Christmas. If it is I'll be getting a PS5 Pro to celebrate.

Khayl Adam, you ask a lot of questions. Too many...
The only question you need to ask is - Where is the nearest democracy officer?

@NeonPizza I had a similar thought.
I have no problem with how the PS5 looks first of all. It is what it is.
But I wouldn't mind something the throws me back to the first three consoles this time either. And by all means keep the black and white theme, but I'd love to see the PS1 logo on it with the original colours.

Ultimately it makes no difference to me though. If it looks like a welly and plays the games I'd get it.
It would be nice though...

I can see why many won't be bothered, but I love new console hardware.
I'll be pre-ordering.

Hopefully Sony have figured out a way to beat the scalpers. Then again, if it's only for a niche audience maaaaybe that won't be a problem this time...

@Czar_Khastik Well hello to your little gamer!
Also, personally I feel sarcasm is underrated 😂
Keep it comin!

@Czar_Khastik You are on fire lately 😂😂

PS5 Pro will be a niche product among niche products.
As long as devs are not obliged to enhance their games for the Pro they shouldn't have many complaints.

@Dr_ENT Same for me. I'll get it for PSSR and because I love console hardware. With the Switch 2 rumoured to be delayed to next year I'll pick up a PS5 Pro for Christmas instead.

Edit: Even if it's just first party titles that benefit from PSSR at launch, that's fine with me.
I play most of those anyway.

@Americansamurai1 I've had similar thoughts.
The bar for RPGs has been raised massively in the last ten years.
If Bethesda don't push this series upwards, and currently there's little indication that they will, then I'm afraid it will be left behind.

@BeerIsAwesome Just snarky enough I would say. 😌

@Bentleyma This is how it goes for me too. I don't play the annual open world stuff from the likes of Ubisoft, so when other open world titles come along I have a great time because I'm not burned out already.

I can't wait to play it, but currently there are 5 other games between me and Rise of the Ronin:
Helldivers II, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Bulwark, Dragon's Dogma II, Unicorn Overlord... Rise of the Ronin.

Plus I've started reading epic fantasy novels again so it's probably going to be July before I start this game.
I went through the character creator last night though and really liked it.

I don't know where to start this weekend.

• Helldivers II
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Unicorn Overlord
• Rise of the Ronin
• Dragon's Dogma II

...And my objective this year was to play fewer games.