The only choice that mattered in Ghost was the final choice. And really that choice was for the player, not for the game’s story. It was a reflection on how you felt about Jin.
Not gonna spoil it for those who haven’t played it. But it was an interesting choice despite not affecting the game.
Outside of a few forced stealth missions, you can go in swords blazing on anything you want to.
Once you upgrade to third tier armors you’re pretty much a God. Just get good at reading enemy special attacks and you’re set.
I used stealth solely to get the stealth based challenges at outposts. Other than that I do a stand-off, kill three of the poor ***** immediately, and then turn into nightmare fuel and massacre the rest one at a time.
Another thing. The forced stealth missions are easy. Just upgrade the ronin armor and upgrade your special hearing skill. My one complain about Ghost is that the enemy is really, really stupid. You can abuse their movement patterns.
God I hope region locking stays buried in whatever hellish pit it was sent to.
One thing I always loved about Nintendo handhelds was that none of them were region locked. And starting with the Nintendo DS a lot of games that were Japan releases included the English localization.
Played a number of games months before they came out in the states.
I’m playing Ghost at the moment. I started playing the game doing everything I came across. But last night I decided I’m going to burn my way through the rest of the story since I’m so overpowered at this point that I don’t feel any need to do anymore side quests.
With my current calendar, I’ll be finished with Ghost’s main story sometime next week. I’ll play side tales until Horizon comes out. After I’m done with Horizon I’ll play Iki island.
I’ve taken my plates off a few times for vacuuming. Sony actually included a dust port. There’s a little cut out in the plastic so you can vacuum off the motherboard. The fan is also open from the rear so you can vacuum dust out of the fan.
It’s a very intelligent design. It’s designed to be cleaned by the user.
Adding a secondary SSD to the PS5 does not void your warranty. You’re taking off the face plates, unscrewing a cover that protects the M2 port, and then installing it. That’s as far as you go for installing an M2 drive. M
It’s actually less steps than putting a HDD in a PS4 or a PS3. And neither one of those actions voided those older consoles warranties.
This isn’t that bad. Black Ops Cold War was way worse.
I’ve got the Steelbook version preordered physically. From my personal experience, Sony’s disc games are actually on the disc. I suspect that the entire game will be on the disc, with only a day one patch needing to be downloaded.
I’m so excited to play this. This is the first time I’ve preordered a Steelbook game in… Since Halo Reach. That’s how long it’s been.
Horizon was my favorite PS4 game. So I’m so massively hyped for the sequel that it’s not even funny.
As for Gamepass on PlayStation, I could see a condensed implementation where Sony allows Microsoft’s 1st party library but forbids 3rd party multiplatform games. That would actually work out in Sony’s favor. Gamers tempted to leave the nest for Xbox exclusives would just sign up for PS Gamepass. They’d still get the cut from multiplatform games.
The issue in that deal is what does Microsoft stand to gain beyond extra subscribers for this condensed version of Gamepass? I feel like Sony would need to throw Microsoft something. Maybe a multiplayer AAA title like a revived Killzone that would release on every version of Gamepass?
Honestly the Series and PS5 are so similar at the hardware level that porting the games would be simple.
The only work that really has to be done is the different API environment. Xbox games use Direct X while PlayStation titles commonly use Vulcan.
But if Sony allowed it, there’s nothing about the PS5’s hardware that forbids utilizing Direct X APIs for developers. It’s an x86-64 machine at its heart. The PS5 and Xbox Series are basically two different implementations of the same hardware.
It’s the APIs where things are drastically different. But that could be easily mitigated.
As much as I love the Dualsense, especially the haptic rumble, I’d sacrifice all of its special features for battery life equivalent to the Xbox controllers or my Switch pro controller.
My Pro controller, even at two years old, still lasts about 35 to 40 hours. Xbox controllers are in that same range.
My Dualsenses? 9 hours new, about 5 hours tops now with some age on them.
I don’t understand why the battery life is so piss poor. The Dualshock 4 had the same issues; actually it was worse. They don’t last off the charger very long.
Thankfully I do have the official PS5 charging station. So I just set the controller on the charger when I’m done using it. Still it’s annoying when I forget to put it up and the next day after work the controller is sitting on the equivalent of an hour of battery.
It runs very well in handheld mode. In docked mode I think the game is aiming for a resolution that’s a little too high so the framerate is unstable.
And it’s the friendliest SMT V game by far. Different difficulties and you can buy (for cheap, but still a shady practice) and turn on higher encounter rate for demons that give you a bunch of Xp and items to sell. Removes the grind almost entirely.
I’m playing it in normal mode. It’s hard. Extremely hard. But it’s very rewarding.
It’s a great gaming platform. I have a Switch and a PS5. They both compliment each other in terms of how you use them (you can pull the Switch out of its dock and play portably, great for gaming sessions while laying in bed) and also the games on offer.
I’m currently cracked out on Shin Megami Tensei V. And it’s an experience you’ll only get on Switch.
If you decide to pick one up, Breath of the Wild should be your first game. It’s amazing.
Squenix is stronger than From Software as a possible fit. But even then, they don’t have the diversity.
If Sony’s goal is to match Microsoft’s purchase in terms of value and variety, Capcom offers the widest variety of franchises from different genres and developers who make the widest assortment of different games.
I will predicate my post on the worst case scenario. Worst case scenario is that Call of Duty goes completely exclusive starting in 2023 and Microsoft and Sony cannot agree on introducing Gamepass to Playstation. This is what I feel Sony needs to do under those circumstances.
1. Reintroduce shooters back into the first party portfolio. This has been a weakness of Sony’s for the entire eighth generation, with only one big release (Killzone: Shadow Fall). Revive Killzone and SOCOM. Both names carry weight in the larger shooter community. Killzone as a traditional big budget shooter and SOCOM as a live service Battle Royale with hardcore gameplay elements. MAG would be a good thing to bring back as well since Dice and EA can’t make a big squad based shooter worth a ***** anymore.
2. Get Spartacus up and running. And release first party multiplayer games on the service day and date. They can keep single player AAA experiences off of it for a year then bring them over.
3. Purchase Capcom. It’s one of the few big publishers Sony could afford to buy outright. It would give them a ton of big franchises to help shore up Spartacus and maybe win back some good will in Japan.
One good thing that will hopefully come out of this is that Sony will get back into shooter games.
I’ve been dying for another Killzone. I love that series and it was some of the most fun I had on PS3.
I’d also love to see SOCOM make a big come back.
Also, MAG would be a good one to revive. That was such an interesting concept that was killed by the great PSN hack/outage of 2011. It needs a new lease on life.
Battlefield is based around squad combat utilizing distinct classes and a marriage between infantry and vehicles to take control points (when we are talking about conquest, the main game mode for each Battlefield). Battlefield and Call of Duty are fundamentally different shooters.
Battlefield is more rewarding than Call of Duty in most cases. You see and do things that would never happen in a Call of Duty title.
Unfortunately Dice has a habit of releasing Battlefield games in a half finished state. After a few months, they’re fantastic.
The issue is that 2042 is, at its core, not a Battlefield game. It’s a Battle Royale game that was hastily converted to a Battlefield title.
It’s an awful, awful game. And an even worse Battlefield game.
They can’t even get rounds to hit on target right. The hit markers are broken. That’s the most basic part of any shooter. If I shoot something, I expect it to take damage. And it doesn’t. Half the time you’re hitting dead on but the game isn’t registering them as hits.
The specialists are broken. And stupid. It’s just a reason for hero skins.
And while every Battlefield game is full of jank at launch, this one has by the worst vehicle/infantry balance the series has ever scene. Infantry is almost useless. And I guess no one at Dice realized that being able to spawn tanks and those stupid hovercraft anywhere on the map any time was a horrible idea.
I bought it, played it for a weekend, and promptly returned it.
I knew going in it would be bad. I was there for Battlefield V’s launch and how much of a ***** show it was for us.
I had no idea the game (2042) was fundamentally broken. Not talking about glitches and bugs either. It’s not a Battlefield game. It feels like a Free to Play Battle Royale design that got rapidly given some Battlefield features and game modes after Apex Legends blew up and EA realized that they didn’t need two Battle Royale series.
I’ll say it. It’s a bad game in general and a horrible Battlefield game.
There’s no saving this dumpster fire. Battlefield V was flawed, but it was never an outright dumpster fire without the basic functions every shooter needs for competitive multiplayer.
That’s not exactly fair. Sony didn’t enter the industry with any self created franchises either.
Nintendo and Sega started their video game careers as arcade manufacturers. So right off the bat they were creating games and IP. So they had stuff to transition to consoles with.
Sony and Microsoft both entered the industry as console manufacturers. They both depended heavily on third party franchises for their debut consoles. Their internal efforts were built by purchasing second party developers that they had relationships with.
COD gamers are New Age Multiplayers. They don’t give two flying dachshunds about console wars. They just care about Call of Duty. There is no platform loyalty for New Age Multiplayers. They’ll move consoles in a heart beat.
Xbox 360 was the COD console during the 7th Gen. Once Microsoft completely screwed the pooch with the Xbox One launch and Sony announced its marketing deal for exclusive content the PS4 version became the best version. The COD console crowd moved over to PS4 almost overnight.
They do. But Microsoft jumped the gun and fired the first shot. They were probably concerned about Tencent.
I’m honestly shocked Meta didn’t take the offer. Maybe they’re looking more at EA as potential purchase. Or they didn’t want to have to deal with completely restructuring Activision/Blizzard, which Microsoft is about to have to do considering how much of a ***** show Kotick has created over the past ten years there.
Assuming it’s the same as the last one, three years with a two year extension option agreed by both parties.
The new contract was signed sometime in 2020. So assuming an extension has already been signed it would be 2025.
But Microsoft doesn’t have to honor any of it once they move into the home office. They can toss it out the window. Until the deal is closed Activision is independent.
He’s focusing on Call of Duty because that is the primary loss Sony has suffered out of this deal and everyone involved knows it. Nintendo isn’t in this debate; they are insulated from the fall out thanks to being in a completely different market that they control.
Sony pulls in over 10% of their gaming division’s income off of COD royalties alone. Hell it may be more than that these days with how high the series sales (even on a down year) hits.
Those are huge numbers that Sony stands to lose. PlayStation was the COD console this past Gen and they made unbelievable money off of it.
But ultimately I’m multiplatform. So I’ll just pick up an Xbox of some kind or I’ll just build out another gaming rig in the future.
I’m not sure there’s anything the regulatory boards can do about this, and I don’t think Microsoft has really done anything unethical here.
Activision’s share holder council wanted to sell all assets. They didn’t even go to Microsoft as their first option; it was offered to Meta. Meta, shockingly, turned it down. We won’t find out, but I’m sure Kotick was making calls to a bunch of different people. Apparently EA was involved after Meta dropped out but in the end Microsoft offered the largest bid.
Even with the acquisition, they are still only the third largest publisher in the world.
Now if a year from now we hear that Microsoft is simultaneously purchasing EA and Ubisoft, then we will have an antitrust case on our hands.
Microsoft Gaming is under no obligation to keep Activision’s supposed “requirements” once the deal closes and they move in and take over. They can do whatever they want at that point.
In terms of sales and revenue Call of Duty takes a dump on all of those games, including Final Fantasy.
I think people are failing to realize just how much money COD pulls in year after year. Even on a downward trending slope this year it was still the best selling and highest revenue drawing PS4/PS5 and Xbox title. Not sure where it lands on PC, but it’s got to be near the top. We all dislike modern Call of Duty, but no one can deny the billions of dollars it brings in not only from sales but also from microtransactions.
Microsoft holds the power here. Not Sony. They can sort of do whatever they want to do.
I kind of lucked out. With my primary service I was one of the last customers who got in before they shut down membership applications. They are in the middle of expanding towers since most of the towers now are pretty maxed out.
It’s gotten better. Back in the PS3 era my only option was to jailbreak my old iPhone 4 and tether it to it with a VPN. Talk about awful. I used it solely to download PS1 classics.
Most games play ok. Some are worse than others. Smash is unplayable thanks to lag but I blame Nintendo for that more than my internet. It didn’t play worth a ***** when I was living in a small city and had cable that pulled down 300mbps constantly.
I think I’m willing to put up with it because I’ve always had crappy internet options. I remember the days of playing StarCraft on dialup.
It wasn’t until I moved a few years ago that I got to experience what modern internet is truly like.
But then another job change. Decided to come back to the home town. Granddad gifted me a few acres of land; couldn’t say no to the offer.
Another thing. The patches on next games usually aren’t that bad on single player, non-live service titles.
It’s only broken titles, multiplayer, and live service where patches are really bad. I tend to keep to one multiplayer game at a time and I avoid live service single player games (like Valhalla) like the plague.
I’m on a fixed wireless solution that uses LTE over ATT’s network. It’s 350 gigs per month. Speeds are around 20mbps on peak hours, up to 65 mbps off peak hours. I run my PS5 directly to my modem. My Switch is hardwired to my router. I use wifi solely for my phone and laptop. I have a separate service with its own router and modem with unlimited bandwidth (but as a consequence has terrible speeds) for streaming video directly to my televisions. Both use over the air LTE, though. Through two different carriers.
I tried PS Now, and the input latency was horrible. But I’m also a very picky person when it comes to latency. I can’t play DBZ FighterZ online for example; my main internet solution typically causes the game to drop four frames. But Street Fighter V, unless I get paired with someone on the other side of the country, plays pretty well with only two frames dropped.
Stuff like Fortnite and Call of Duty play fine. Not competition level mind you, but good. My ping is higher than I would like, about 75ms. But it’s perfectly playable.
In summation, I have to be choosy with what I do with it. I buy most single player games on PS5 disc to save bandwidth. I avoid live service games with constant updates. I avoid broken games that require huge patches just to be playable. I plan out my data usage. And nothing has auto update turned on. I download everything manually to control my data usage.
But the truth is that I really depend on my secondary ISP to keep my bandwidth usage on my primary net service within reason. All streaming video for my smart TVs go through that secondary service.
Where I live (rural southern United States) there are no options for fiber or cable. And speeds are hit or miss with each possible ISP. So I had to get creative. I have two ISPs. Yeah I pay a lot every month but it’s worth it. One has limited bandwidth but has good speeds. The other offered me unlimited bandwidth (thanks to owning an LLC and using a business account) but the speeds are terrible. Good enough for sub HD streaming video, though.
You play a large variety of games. You would be classified as traditional. I play Fortnite in addition to a bunch of single player games from a variety of genres. But the most important thing that makes you a traditional gamer is that you aren’t dominated by Meta. You spread your time around a bunch of different games.
If you solely played Rocket League and sunk all of your time into it, you would be classified as a New Age Multiplayer.
Call of Duty is not a casual game, which was my point. It’s a series dominated by New Age Multiplayers. Most of whom are try hards. I got back in COD with Black Ops Cold War. Or I tried. I realized I could never compete because I not only have a 50 hour per week job, but also because I play a wide assortment of single player games.
Like right now I’m putting a lot of time into Shin Megami Tensei V. Great game by the way. I recommend it 1000%.
I can download patches fine. I have the bandwidth for it.
I don’t have low enough latency to stream games, however. It’ll boot and run, but the input lag is horrendous.
Plus you’re forgetting something else. A patch is a passive download. I can do something else while it downloads. There’s nothing I can do to improve my latency issues.
Funny enough I can play multiplayer games online just fine. But my speeds just aren’t fast enough to compensate for the input latency in streamed titles.
I don’t like calling them casuals because they still sink a ton of hours into gaming. Just instead of a wide variety of titles they shove all that time into one game franchise.
I break gamers down into 3 different main classes.
Traditional: Gamers who primarily grew up from the 8-bit era up through the early parts of the 360/PS3 era. There’s a bunch of us left and the consoles we came up on dictate our buying preferences. We buy a wide variety of games and are strongly attached to single player experiences over multiplayer. We used to be the kings of the industry. Today we are diminishing.
True Casuals: Gamers who were brought into gaming by the Wii and Nintendo DS. Focused on short, sweet experiences. Moved from console to mobile. They dominate mobile gaming.
New Age Multiplayers: this crowd is the crowd many developers chase. They typically only play one franchise or one live service game. They came up during the later half of the 360/PS3 and early Xbone/PS4 era when online multiplayer really took off thanks to the expansion of broadband. They are used to micro transactions and are very “meta” oriented. They play what’s popular and then specialize in that one game. They are willing to pour money into games through micro transactions because they don’t really have to spend money on anything else. As a rule they are younger gamers.
There is a fourth class. The sports gamer. They overlap with the New Age multiplayers in terms of habits but age wise they are closer to the traditional gamer. They’ve been with the industry since Tecmo Bowl. Used to be a lot of overlap with traditional gamers but now they relate more to the New Age Multiplayers.
But hey. Maybe it forces Sony to revive the late PS3, PS4 era where they were truly creative and doing everything possible to catch up to the Xbox 360.
PlayStation is Sony at this point. Their non gaming divisions aren’t anything to write home about financially speaking and outside of the photography division they aren’t competitive with any of the respective industry leaders.
They can’t afford to let PlayStation fold. It is their corporation.
They could buy Sqenix for sure. Their total market value is only about 6 billion. Capcom would be difficult, but not impossible for them to buy if Capcom wanted to sell.
EA is out of the question. Sony would basically either have to merge with EA, which brings a ton of risk for long term solvency, or essentially “mortgage” their entire corporation. Which is also stupid risky.
Plus you’re not getting much in the way of exclusives with EA. The majority of EA is dominated by sports titles, where licensing leagues, teams, and players dictates multiplatform releases.
Sure they’d pick up Respawn, Dice, and BioWare. But of those three only Respawn is healthy and actually worth the risk. Dice is a has been studio; it would take years to fix their problems. And BioWare is only in slightly better shape.
I think Capcom makes the most sense. Sony can afford them assuming Capcom doesn’t overcharge on their stock for a buy out.
And frankly, Sony can build their FPS internally. Killzone needs a revival and unlike a lot of developers many of the guys who made the trilogy are still at Guerrilla.
Capcom brings a lot to Sony. Street Fighter is the biggest deal in fighting games. Plus with Sony’s financial backing, they could revive some other fighting franchises that could benefit from a modern makeover. Sony already has a strong partnership with Marvel. A new exclusive Marvel vs Capcom would be a big deal.
Pokémon isn’t internal Nintendo. That’s the Pokémon company. Nintendo publishes.
Mario Kart, I’ll give you. It’s a party game.
3D Mario has complex controls and as the game gets moving, you have to learn all of Mario’s move set to collect everything available. Nintendo famously refrains from using context sensitive buttons. It’s pretty complex.
And 2D Mario has simple controls, but the games do tend to introduce complex level design although I’ll admit that more recent Mario 2D games aren’t as difficult as the older games.
Metroid is also pretty complex. And historically Metroid and Zelda are the visual powerhouses of Nintendo consoles. They are the two franchises Nintendo likes to pull out to push their hardware to their breaking points.
If Sony is going to buy anyone, they need to look at Capcom. Out of every company that could be theoretically available, Capcom offers the biggest variety of developers in terms of what genres they cover.
Comments 775
Re: Ubisoft Pulls the Plug on Watch Dogs Legion PS5, PS4 Updates
I have a love hate relationship with Ubisoft titles that borders on abuse.
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Will Have Strong Moral Choices Leading to an Impactful Ending on PS5, PS4
@Northern_munkey
That’s what I’m getting.
The only choice that mattered in Ghost was the final choice. And really that choice was for the player, not for the game’s story. It was a reflection on how you felt about Jin.
Not gonna spoil it for those who haven’t played it. But it was an interesting choice despite not affecting the game.
Re: Poll: Does Sony Need to Take Action After Microsoft's Activision Buyout?
@anoyonmus
Kutaragi nearly killed the PlayStation division. He doesn’t get his opinion taking seriously.
And I say that with the utmost respect for his contributions.
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Is a Whopping 86GB on PS5
@Mauzuri
Outside of a few forced stealth missions, you can go in swords blazing on anything you want to.
Once you upgrade to third tier armors you’re pretty much a God. Just get good at reading enemy special attacks and you’re set.
I used stealth solely to get the stealth based challenges at outposts. Other than that I do a stand-off, kill three of the poor ***** immediately, and then turn into nightmare fuel and massacre the rest one at a time.
Another thing. The forced stealth missions are easy. Just upgrade the ronin armor and upgrade your special hearing skill. My one complain about Ghost is that the enemy is really, really stupid. You can abuse their movement patterns.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 410
Ghost of Tsushima and Shin Megami Tensei V.
Plus a little Fortnite here and there.
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Is a Whopping 86GB on PS5
@themightyant
God I hope region locking stays buried in whatever hellish pit it was sent to.
One thing I always loved about Nintendo handhelds was that none of them were region locked. And starting with the Nintendo DS a lot of games that were Japan releases included the English localization.
Played a number of games months before they came out in the states.
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Is a Whopping 86GB on PS5
@Mauzuri
I’m playing Ghost at the moment. I started playing the game doing everything I came across. But last night I decided I’m going to burn my way through the rest of the story since I’m so overpowered at this point that I don’t feel any need to do anymore side quests.
With my current calendar, I’ll be finished with Ghost’s main story sometime next week. I’ll play side tales until Horizon comes out. After I’m done with Horizon I’ll play Iki island.
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Is a Whopping 86GB on PS5
@AtlanteanMan
Dude, it’ll be fine.
I’ve taken my plates off a few times for vacuuming. Sony actually included a dust port. There’s a little cut out in the plastic so you can vacuum off the motherboard. The fan is also open from the rear so you can vacuum dust out of the fan.
It’s a very intelligent design. It’s designed to be cleaned by the user.
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Is a Whopping 86GB on PS5
@AtlanteanMan
Uh dude. Where did you get that information.
Adding a secondary SSD to the PS5 does not void your warranty. You’re taking off the face plates, unscrewing a cover that protects the M2 port, and then installing it. That’s as far as you go for installing an M2 drive.
M
It’s actually less steps than putting a HDD in a PS4 or a PS3. And neither one of those actions voided those older consoles warranties.
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Is a Whopping 86GB on PS5
This isn’t that bad. Black Ops Cold War was way worse.
I’ve got the Steelbook version preordered physically. From my personal experience, Sony’s disc games are actually on the disc. I suspect that the entire game will be on the disc, with only a day one patch needing to be downloaded.
I’m so excited to play this. This is the first time I’ve preordered a Steelbook game in… Since Halo Reach. That’s how long it’s been.
Horizon was my favorite PS4 game. So I’m so massively hyped for the sequel that it’s not even funny.
Re: Talking Point: In Theory, Could Xbox Game Pass Come to PS5, PS4?
As for Gamepass on PlayStation, I could see a condensed implementation where Sony allows Microsoft’s 1st party library but forbids 3rd party multiplatform games. That would actually work out in Sony’s favor. Gamers tempted to leave the nest for Xbox exclusives would just sign up for PS Gamepass. They’d still get the cut from multiplatform games.
The issue in that deal is what does Microsoft stand to gain beyond extra subscribers for this condensed version of Gamepass? I feel like Sony would need to throw Microsoft something. Maybe a multiplayer AAA title like a revived Killzone that would release on every version of Gamepass?
Re: Talking Point: In Theory, Could Xbox Game Pass Come to PS5, PS4?
@Ralizah
Honestly the Series and PS5 are so similar at the hardware level that porting the games would be simple.
The only work that really has to be done is the different API environment. Xbox games use Direct X while PlayStation titles commonly use Vulcan.
But if Sony allowed it, there’s nothing about the PS5’s hardware that forbids utilizing Direct X APIs for developers. It’s an x86-64 machine at its heart. The PS5 and Xbox Series are basically two different implementations of the same hardware.
It’s the APIs where things are drastically different. But that could be easily mitigated.
Re: Analyst Expects PS5 to Seriously Outperform Xbox This Year
@uptownsoul
I think it’ll be pretty close.
I could see the PS5 finishing at about 115 million and the Xbox Series systems right behind it at 100 to 105 million.
Re: Analyst Expects PS5 to Seriously Outperform Xbox This Year
@NeonPizza
As much as I love the Dualsense, especially the haptic rumble, I’d sacrifice all of its special features for battery life equivalent to the Xbox controllers or my Switch pro controller.
My Pro controller, even at two years old, still lasts about 35 to 40 hours. Xbox controllers are in that same range.
My Dualsenses? 9 hours new, about 5 hours tops now with some age on them.
I don’t understand why the battery life is so piss poor. The Dualshock 4 had the same issues; actually it was worse. They don’t last off the charger very long.
Thankfully I do have the official PS5 charging station. So I just set the controller on the charger when I’m done using it. Still it’s annoying when I forget to put it up and the next day after work the controller is sitting on the equivalent of an hour of battery.
Re: Analyst Expects PS5 to Seriously Outperform Xbox This Year
@UltimateOtaku91
It runs very well in handheld mode. In docked mode I think the game is aiming for a resolution that’s a little too high so the framerate is unstable.
And it’s the friendliest SMT V game by far. Different difficulties and you can buy (for cheap, but still a shady practice) and turn on higher encounter rate for demons that give you a bunch of Xp and items to sell. Removes the grind almost entirely.
I’m playing it in normal mode. It’s hard. Extremely hard. But it’s very rewarding.
Re: Analyst Expects PS5 to Seriously Outperform Xbox This Year
@Emperor_Rusty
It’s a great gaming platform. I have a Switch and a PS5. They both compliment each other in terms of how you use them (you can pull the Switch out of its dock and play portably, great for gaming sessions while laying in bed) and also the games on offer.
I’m currently cracked out on Shin Megami Tensei V. And it’s an experience you’ll only get on Switch.
If you decide to pick one up, Breath of the Wild should be your first game. It’s amazing.
Re: Poll: Does Sony Need to Take Action After Microsoft's Activision Buyout?
@anoyonmus
Not enough variety.
Squenix is stronger than From Software as a possible fit. But even then, they don’t have the diversity.
If Sony’s goal is to match Microsoft’s purchase in terms of value and variety, Capcom offers the widest variety of franchises from different genres and developers who make the widest assortment of different games.
Re: The Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection Launch Trailer Is Here
@JohnKarnes
The only one I never played was the original on PS3.
I was on 360 at that time. Gears of War and being 200 dollars less made me change my PS3 pre order and I bought a 360 on PS3 launch day.
Looking back… wish I would have stuck with Sony. I ended up trading my fourth RROD victim 360 for a Slim PS3 in early 2010.
Re: Poll: Does Sony Need to Take Action After Microsoft's Activision Buyout?
@Gravity_Bear
Microsoft is worth more than some countries.
Going bankrupt would be nearly impossible for them.
Re: Poll: Does Sony Need to Take Action After Microsoft's Activision Buyout?
@anoyonmus
I get that and agree.
It’s not the world we live in, though.
This acquisition has changed everything. Sony will need to get radical in the future to survive.
Re: These Are Dying Light 2's Graphical Options on PS5
60 fps or bust.
Re: Poll: Does Sony Need to Take Action After Microsoft's Activision Buyout?
I will predicate my post on the worst case scenario. Worst case scenario is that Call of Duty goes completely exclusive starting in 2023 and Microsoft and Sony cannot agree on introducing Gamepass to Playstation. This is what I feel Sony needs to do under those circumstances.
1. Reintroduce shooters back into the first party portfolio. This has been a weakness of Sony’s for the entire eighth generation, with only one big release (Killzone: Shadow Fall). Revive Killzone and SOCOM. Both names carry weight in the larger shooter community. Killzone as a traditional big budget shooter and SOCOM as a live service Battle Royale with hardcore gameplay elements. MAG would be a good thing to bring back as well since Dice and EA can’t make a big squad based shooter worth a ***** anymore.
2. Get Spartacus up and running. And release first party multiplayer games on the service day and date. They can keep single player AAA experiences off of it for a year then bring them over.
3. Purchase Capcom. It’s one of the few big publishers Sony could afford to buy outright. It would give them a ton of big franchises to help shore up Spartacus and maybe win back some good will in Japan.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
One good thing that will hopefully come out of this is that Sony will get back into shooter games.
I’ve been dying for another Killzone. I love that series and it was some of the most fun I had on PS3.
I’d also love to see SOCOM make a big come back.
Also, MAG would be a good one to revive. That was such an interesting concept that was killed by the great PSN hack/outage of 2011. It needs a new lease on life.
Re: Battlefield 2042 Could Potentially Go Free-to-Play After Poor Performance on PS5, PS4
@anoyonmus
Battlefield is based around squad combat utilizing distinct classes and a marriage between infantry and vehicles to take control points (when we are talking about conquest, the main game mode for each Battlefield). Battlefield and Call of Duty are fundamentally different shooters.
Battlefield is more rewarding than Call of Duty in most cases. You see and do things that would never happen in a Call of Duty title.
Unfortunately Dice has a habit of releasing Battlefield games in a half finished state. After a few months, they’re fantastic.
The issue is that 2042 is, at its core, not a Battlefield game. It’s a Battle Royale game that was hastily converted to a Battlefield title.
Re: Battlefield 2042 Could Potentially Go Free-to-Play After Poor Performance on PS5, PS4
@Korgon
It’s an awful, awful game. And an even worse Battlefield game.
They can’t even get rounds to hit on target right. The hit markers are broken. That’s the most basic part of any shooter. If I shoot something, I expect it to take damage. And it doesn’t. Half the time you’re hitting dead on but the game isn’t registering them as hits.
The specialists are broken. And stupid. It’s just a reason for hero skins.
And while every Battlefield game is full of jank at launch, this one has by the worst vehicle/infantry balance the series has ever scene. Infantry is almost useless. And I guess no one at Dice realized that being able to spawn tanks and those stupid hovercraft anywhere on the map any time was a horrible idea.
Re: Battlefield 2042 Could Potentially Go Free-to-Play After Poor Performance on PS5, PS4
@Jaz007
I bought it, played it for a weekend, and promptly returned it.
I knew going in it would be bad. I was there for Battlefield V’s launch and how much of a ***** show it was for us.
I had no idea the game (2042) was fundamentally broken. Not talking about glitches and bugs either. It’s not a Battlefield game. It feels like a Free to Play Battle Royale design that got rapidly given some Battlefield features and game modes after Apex Legends blew up and EA realized that they didn’t need two Battle Royale series.
Re: Battlefield 2042 Could Potentially Go Free-to-Play After Poor Performance on PS5, PS4
I’ll say it. It’s a bad game in general and a horrible Battlefield game.
There’s no saving this dumpster fire. Battlefield V was flawed, but it was never an outright dumpster fire without the basic functions every shooter needs for competitive multiplayer.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@anoyonmus
That’s not exactly fair. Sony didn’t enter the industry with any self created franchises either.
Nintendo and Sega started their video game careers as arcade manufacturers. So right off the bat they were creating games and IP. So they had stuff to transition to consoles with.
Sony and Microsoft both entered the industry as console manufacturers. They both depended heavily on third party franchises for their debut consoles. Their internal efforts were built by purchasing second party developers that they had relationships with.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@Rural-Bandit
I agree with that. The yearly COD release has taken its toll on the series. It needs a break.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@Rural-Bandit
The try hards use aftermarket performance controllers or Mouse and keyboard.
The community went to PlayStation because for most titles you got the map packs first, then later on exclusive modes, extra xp, etc.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@PegasusActual93
COD gamers are New Age Multiplayers. They don’t give two flying dachshunds about console wars. They just care about Call of Duty. There is no platform loyalty for New Age Multiplayers. They’ll move consoles in a heart beat.
Xbox 360 was the COD console during the 7th Gen. Once Microsoft completely screwed the pooch with the Xbox One launch and Sony announced its marketing deal for exclusive content the PS4 version became the best version. The COD console crowd moved over to PS4 almost overnight.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@UltimateOtaku91
They do. But Microsoft jumped the gun and fired the first shot. They were probably concerned about Tencent.
I’m honestly shocked Meta didn’t take the offer. Maybe they’re looking more at EA as potential purchase. Or they didn’t want to have to deal with completely restructuring Activision/Blizzard, which Microsoft is about to have to do considering how much of a ***** show Kotick has created over the past ten years there.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@uptownsoul
Assuming it’s the same as the last one, three years with a two year extension option agreed by both parties.
The new contract was signed sometime in 2020. So assuming an extension has already been signed it would be 2025.
But Microsoft doesn’t have to honor any of it once they move into the home office. They can toss it out the window. Until the deal is closed Activision is independent.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@locoism25
He’s focusing on Call of Duty because that is the primary loss Sony has suffered out of this deal and everyone involved knows it. Nintendo isn’t in this debate; they are insulated from the fall out thanks to being in a completely different market that they control.
Sony pulls in over 10% of their gaming division’s income off of COD royalties alone. Hell it may be more than that these days with how high the series sales (even on a down year) hits.
Those are huge numbers that Sony stands to lose. PlayStation was the COD console this past Gen and they made unbelievable money off of it.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@Col_McCafferty
Same here. I think Doom hurts the most.
But ultimately I’m multiplatform. So I’ll just pick up an Xbox of some kind or I’ll just build out another gaming rig in the future.
I’m not sure there’s anything the regulatory boards can do about this, and I don’t think Microsoft has really done anything unethical here.
Activision’s share holder council wanted to sell all assets. They didn’t even go to Microsoft as their first option; it was offered to Meta. Meta, shockingly, turned it down. We won’t find out, but I’m sure Kotick was making calls to a bunch of different people. Apparently EA was involved after Meta dropped out but in the end Microsoft offered the largest bid.
Even with the acquisition, they are still only the third largest publisher in the world.
Now if a year from now we hear that Microsoft is simultaneously purchasing EA and Ubisoft, then we will have an antitrust case on our hands.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@UltimateOtaku91
Microsoft Gaming is under no obligation to keep Activision’s supposed “requirements” once the deal closes and they move in and take over. They can do whatever they want at that point.
Re: Xbox Boss Expresses Desire to 'Keep Call of Duty on PlayStation' After Activision Buyout Is Complete
@Col_McCafferty
In terms of sales and revenue Call of Duty takes a dump on all of those games, including Final Fantasy.
I think people are failing to realize just how much money COD pulls in year after year. Even on a downward trending slope this year it was still the best selling and highest revenue drawing PS4/PS5 and Xbox title. Not sure where it lands on PC, but it’s got to be near the top. We all dislike modern Call of Duty, but no one can deny the billions of dollars it brings in not only from sales but also from microtransactions.
Microsoft holds the power here. Not Sony. They can sort of do whatever they want to do.
Re: Sony Responds to Activision Blizzard Buyout, Expects Games to Still Come to PS5, PS4
@NEStalgia
I kind of lucked out. With my primary service I was one of the last customers who got in before they shut down membership applications. They are in the middle of expanding towers since most of the towers now are pretty maxed out.
It’s gotten better. Back in the PS3 era my only option was to jailbreak my old iPhone 4 and tether it to it with a VPN. Talk about awful. I used it solely to download PS1 classics.
Most games play ok. Some are worse than others. Smash is unplayable thanks to lag but I blame Nintendo for that more than my internet. It didn’t play worth a ***** when I was living in a small city and had cable that pulled down 300mbps constantly.
I think I’m willing to put up with it because I’ve always had crappy internet options. I remember the days of playing StarCraft on dialup.
It wasn’t until I moved a few years ago that I got to experience what modern internet is truly like.
But then another job change. Decided to come back to the home town. Granddad gifted me a few acres of land; couldn’t say no to the offer.
Re: Sony Responds to Activision Blizzard Buyout, Expects Games to Still Come to PS5, PS4
@NEStalgia
Another thing. The patches on next games usually aren’t that bad on single player, non-live service titles.
It’s only broken titles, multiplayer, and live service where patches are really bad. I tend to keep to one multiplayer game at a time and I avoid live service single player games (like Valhalla) like the plague.
Re: Sony Responds to Activision Blizzard Buyout, Expects Games to Still Come to PS5, PS4
@NEStalgia
I’m on a fixed wireless solution that uses LTE over ATT’s network. It’s 350 gigs per month. Speeds are around 20mbps on peak hours, up to 65 mbps off peak hours. I run my PS5 directly to my modem. My Switch is hardwired to my router. I use wifi solely for my phone and laptop. I have a separate service with its own router and modem with unlimited bandwidth (but as a consequence has terrible speeds) for streaming video directly to my televisions. Both use over the air LTE, though. Through two different carriers.
I tried PS Now, and the input latency was horrible. But I’m also a very picky person when it comes to latency. I can’t play DBZ FighterZ online for example; my main internet solution typically causes the game to drop four frames. But Street Fighter V, unless I get paired with someone on the other side of the country, plays pretty well with only two frames dropped.
Stuff like Fortnite and Call of Duty play fine. Not competition level mind you, but good. My ping is higher than I would like, about 75ms. But it’s perfectly playable.
In summation, I have to be choosy with what I do with it. I buy most single player games on PS5 disc to save bandwidth. I avoid live service games with constant updates. I avoid broken games that require huge patches just to be playable. I plan out my data usage. And nothing has auto update turned on. I download everything manually to control my data usage.
But the truth is that I really depend on my secondary ISP to keep my bandwidth usage on my primary net service within reason. All streaming video for my smart TVs go through that secondary service.
Where I live (rural southern United States) there are no options for fiber or cable. And speeds are hit or miss with each possible ISP. So I had to get creative. I have two ISPs. Yeah I pay a lot every month but it’s worth it. One has limited bandwidth but has good speeds. The other offered me unlimited bandwidth (thanks to owning an LLC and using a business account) but the speeds are terrible. Good enough for sub HD streaming video, though.
Re: Sony Responds to Activision Blizzard Buyout, Expects Games to Still Come to PS5, PS4
@UltimateOtaku91
You play a large variety of games. You would be classified as traditional. I play Fortnite in addition to a bunch of single player games from a variety of genres. But the most important thing that makes you a traditional gamer is that you aren’t dominated by Meta. You spread your time around a bunch of different games.
If you solely played Rocket League and sunk all of your time into it, you would be classified as a New Age Multiplayer.
Call of Duty is not a casual game, which was my point. It’s a series dominated by New Age Multiplayers. Most of whom are try hards. I got back in COD with Black Ops Cold War. Or I tried. I realized I could never compete because I not only have a 50 hour per week job, but also because I play a wide assortment of single player games.
Like right now I’m putting a lot of time into Shin Megami Tensei V. Great game by the way. I recommend it 1000%.
Re: Sony Responds to Activision Blizzard Buyout, Expects Games to Still Come to PS5, PS4
@NEStalgia
I can download patches fine. I have the bandwidth for it.
I don’t have low enough latency to stream games, however. It’ll boot and run, but the input lag is horrendous.
Plus you’re forgetting something else. A patch is a passive download. I can do something else while it downloads. There’s nothing I can do to improve my latency issues.
Funny enough I can play multiplayer games online just fine. But my speeds just aren’t fast enough to compensate for the input latency in streamed titles.
Re: Sony Responds to Activision Blizzard Buyout, Expects Games to Still Come to PS5, PS4
@BAMozzy
I agree with this.
Good post.
Re: Sony Responds to Activision Blizzard Buyout, Expects Games to Still Come to PS5, PS4
@ORO_ERICIUS
You must not know any non-traditional gamers.
I don’t like calling them casuals because they still sink a ton of hours into gaming. Just instead of a wide variety of titles they shove all that time into one game franchise.
I break gamers down into 3 different main classes.
Traditional: Gamers who primarily grew up from the 8-bit era up through the early parts of the 360/PS3 era. There’s a bunch of us left and the consoles we came up on dictate our buying preferences. We buy a wide variety of games and are strongly attached to single player experiences over multiplayer. We used to be the kings of the industry. Today we are diminishing.
True Casuals: Gamers who were brought into gaming by the Wii and Nintendo DS. Focused on short, sweet experiences. Moved from console to mobile. They dominate mobile gaming.
New Age Multiplayers: this crowd is the crowd many developers chase. They typically only play one franchise or one live service game. They came up during the later half of the 360/PS3 and early Xbone/PS4 era when online multiplayer really took off thanks to the expansion of broadband. They are used to micro transactions and are very “meta” oriented. They play what’s popular and then specialize in that one game. They are willing to pour money into games through micro transactions because they don’t really have to spend money on anything else. As a rule they are younger gamers.
There is a fourth class. The sports gamer. They overlap with the New Age multiplayers in terms of habits but age wise they are closer to the traditional gamer. They’ve been with the industry since Tecmo Bowl. Used to be a lot of overlap with traditional gamers but now they relate more to the New Age Multiplayers.
Re: EA Is the Next Major Publisher Tipped for a Takeover
@Amppari
Probably not.
But hey. Maybe it forces Sony to revive the late PS3, PS4 era where they were truly creative and doing everything possible to catch up to the Xbox 360.
Re: EA Is the Next Major Publisher Tipped for a Takeover
@Amppari
PlayStation is Sony at this point. Their non gaming divisions aren’t anything to write home about financially speaking and outside of the photography division they aren’t competitive with any of the respective industry leaders.
They can’t afford to let PlayStation fold. It is their corporation.
Re: EA Is the Next Major Publisher Tipped for a Takeover
@BadPlayerOne
They could buy Sqenix for sure. Their total market value is only about 6 billion. Capcom would be difficult, but not impossible for them to buy if Capcom wanted to sell.
EA is out of the question. Sony would basically either have to merge with EA, which brings a ton of risk for long term solvency, or essentially “mortgage” their entire corporation. Which is also stupid risky.
Plus you’re not getting much in the way of exclusives with EA. The majority of EA is dominated by sports titles, where licensing leagues, teams, and players dictates multiplatform releases.
Sure they’d pick up Respawn, Dice, and BioWare. But of those three only Respawn is healthy and actually worth the risk. Dice is a has been studio; it would take years to fix their problems. And BioWare is only in slightly better shape.
I think Capcom makes the most sense. Sony can afford them assuming Capcom doesn’t overcharge on their stock for a buy out.
Re: EA Is the Next Major Publisher Tipped for a Takeover
@RevGaming
And frankly, Sony can build their FPS internally. Killzone needs a revival and unlike a lot of developers many of the guys who made the trilogy are still at Guerrilla.
Capcom brings a lot to Sony. Street Fighter is the biggest deal in fighting games. Plus with Sony’s financial backing, they could revive some other fighting franchises that could benefit from a modern makeover. Sony already has a strong partnership with Marvel. A new exclusive Marvel vs Capcom would be a big deal.
Re: EA Is the Next Major Publisher Tipped for a Takeover
@RevGaming
Pokémon isn’t internal Nintendo. That’s the Pokémon company. Nintendo publishes.
Mario Kart, I’ll give you. It’s a party game.
3D Mario has complex controls and as the game gets moving, you have to learn all of Mario’s move set to collect everything available. Nintendo famously refrains from using context sensitive buttons. It’s pretty complex.
And 2D Mario has simple controls, but the games do tend to introduce complex level design although I’ll admit that more recent Mario 2D games aren’t as difficult as the older games.
Metroid is also pretty complex. And historically Metroid and Zelda are the visual powerhouses of Nintendo consoles. They are the two franchises Nintendo likes to pull out to push their hardware to their breaking points.
Re: EA Is the Next Major Publisher Tipped for a Takeover
If Sony is going to buy anyone, they need to look at Capcom. Out of every company that could be theoretically available, Capcom offers the biggest variety of developers in terms of what genres they cover.