Comments 307

Re: Reaction: What Next for PlayStation?

art_of_the_kill

I have to say, the shuttering of Japan Studio coupled with the gradual loss of the brand identity as Sony chases short-term profits by putting exclusives on PC (which will be day-and-date eventually, mark my words) has left my faith in PlayStation's future at an all-time low. Jim Ryan is running the brand into the ground as far as I'm concerned.

Re: Bogus Leak Dupes Web with Purported PS4 to PC Ports

art_of_the_kill

@thefourfoldroot Except that Days Gone is being ported next, and will only be two years old when it is. So no, it's clearly not always going to be 3 1/2 years. In fact, I expect that window to only continue to shrink, which is why I find it quite interesting that Ghost of Tsushima is listed here, being the only game that isn't at least three years old.

Re: Take-Two Boss Believes Players Were 'Ready' for $70 Games

art_of_the_kill

"and the last time there was a frontline price increase in the US was 2005, 2006..."

Yeah, but then you adopted MTX and season passes and deluxe editions, and all the other bullcrap which was, supposedly, meant to counter the fact that game prices have remained stagnant for 15 years.

So he can piss right off in pretending that all that stuff hasn't resulted in games becoming progressively more expensive, ESPECIALLY when it comes to the NBA 2K games which are monetized worse than many F2P games.

Re: Reaction: Japan Studio's Disbandment Is Disappointing, But Not Surprising

art_of_the_kill

What hurts me is that Sony reportedly wouldn't even let them make the games they wanted to make unless they could appeal outside of Japan. I can only wonder what sort of games we missed out on, possibly even RPGs (Heaven forbid Sony should put out one of those ever again). And for Christ sakes, the amount of Sony franchises that are stuck in limbo is already insane, and now it's even worse. Lord knows we'll never see Gravity Rush again.

In any case, regardless of how long this was coming, Jim Ryan at the helm of PlayStation continues to take the brand on a downward spiral. Just saying, good news for PS seems to be in short supply these days while the bad news continues to pile on.

Re: Poll: How Do You Feel About PS4 Exclusives Being Ported to PC?

art_of_the_kill

No matter the arguments, I just can't not see this as Sony throwing away their brand identity for short-term profits. I'm sorry, I just can't. And once again, unlike with MS who at least acts like putting all of their exclusives on PC benefits Xbox owners, we PS owners are really getting nothing out of this deal. All we get is first access to the inferior versions of Sony's own games. So....hooray? Hell, I'm already seeing tons of PC gamers thrilled at the notion that they won't have to buy a PS5 after all this gen or bother with any Sony hardware anymore because they'll now have access to Sony exclusives as well. So yeah, there's your adverse reaction, Mr. Ryan.

Also, I find it very interesting that most of people who are okay with this appear to be focused on the caveat that at least Sony is only putting games on PC years down the line. So my question is, what happens when Sony does eventually do day-and-date PC releases as well? Because I do think that's just the logical and obvious end point of this. Sony will only become less and less committed to supporting their hardware, and so long as Jim Ryan is willing to pretend that there's absolutely no downside to it, he will happily transition to PC releases that get closer and closer until they release on the same day as on the PS5.

All I'm saying is, there are reasons to not be okay with this that go far beyond "Sony fanboys just don't want to share their games!"

Re: Days Gone Is Coming to PC

art_of_the_kill

"Firstly, in terms of the straightforward success of the activity of publishing the game on PC, people liked it and they bought it."

Yeah, no *****, Sherlock. Of course people bought it. Do not freaking act like that surprises you. That was always going to happen when you made a game available more than one platform. So it's ALMOST as if the reason why Sony hasn't been putting exclusives on PC this whole time is because they knew up until now that exclusives gave the PlayStation brand, you know, some actual value? Value that will now be pissed away in favor of profit.

Also, no massive adverse reactions from the community? Yeah, I highly doubt that. Just don't act like you're also surprised when the PS5 doesn't sell nearly as well as the PS4 since you insist on communicating the message that no one actually needs one.

In any case, it seems pretty damn clear that Ryan is steering PlayStation towards a future where it has no exclusives anymore. Likely only a matter of time before they start doing day and date releases as well, just like MS. Putting him in charge of the brand is probably one of the worst decisions Sony's ever made.

Re: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Is Another £70 / $70 PS5 Game from Sony

art_of_the_kill

It's probably time to accept that the price hike is here to stay. I definitely don't see Activision or 2K going back on it now, and Sony only seems to be doubling down.

Oh, but if only this ushered the end to MTX like everyone said it was going to.....for f***ing YEARS. (Not that this game will have them, but obviously they ain't going anywhere for EA, Activision, 2K, etc.)

Re: This Is Why PS5, PS4 Microtransactions Won't Be Going Away

art_of_the_kill

Its not that microtransactions need to go entirely, they just need to f*** the hell off in non-free to play games.

After all, weren't we told by thralls of people for several years that it was either microtransactions or a price hike for video games? Well, we finally got the game price hike that was supposedly oh-so-long overdue. So why do we still have MTX, then?

Re: PlayStation Studios Poised to Publish First Ever Xbox One Game

art_of_the_kill

Wow, so many questions this raises...

For starters, there goes any notion that "PlayStation Studios" logo was going to be an indication of a game exclusive to PS. So how do we know now what PlayStation exclusives are going to be or remain exclusive? We officially don't, I suppose, since this opens the door to all sorts of possibilities.

Secondly, given that MLB: The Show is literally the only thing that Sony San Diego produces, do they even still qualify as a first-party developer anymore? Because I feel like they've basically transitioned into a third-party studio that Sony just happens to own.

And yeah, I get that Sony has no ownership over MLB and that they forced them into this, but....that could easily apply to Spider-Man as well, which Sony also has no ownership over outside of movie rights. I'm just wondering whether Disney could ever similarly force Sony's hand to make Insomniac's Spider-Man series multiplatform as well.

Re: Sadly, You Can't Store PS5 Games on an External HDD

art_of_the_kill

I swear, the more we've learned about the PS5, the worse of a deal it's gotten. It's no friggin' wonder why Sony went out of their way to reveal so little about the system before people tripped over themselves to preorder it.

The arrogant, far less consumer-friendly Sony is back, full force.

Re: NBA 2K21 Is the Next Game to Include Unskippable Adverts After Launch

art_of_the_kill

@Arnna I guarantee you, a WHOLE lot of people thought that. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people defend MTX by saying "It's either this, or a price hike!" Hell, there's someone in this very thread who thinks that MTX are being done away with.

So yeah, those guys are going to have to come up with a brand new excuse to justify them, it seems. Funny enough, Jim Ryan recently defended the price hike by saying that "the value is obvious." Yeah, no it's not. Not if games are going to continue to be treated as if they're free-to-play and crammed with every scrap of monetization under the sun, up to and including intrusive ads like this.

Re: Reaction: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Today's PS5 News

art_of_the_kill

Not gonna lie, it genuinely feels like Sony is going out of their way to pull the wool over our eyes. There is no reason whatsoever why Spider-Man, Sackboy, and Horizon could not have been announced as coming to PS4 back in June when they were announced.

Oh, and can't forget that for a short while today, it was believed that Demon's Souls was coming to PC and "other consoles" before Sony pulled the trailer and confirmed that it's a PS5 exclusive. Gee, what an odd mistake to make. I can't help but wonder whether Sony was actually just being accidentally honest, but heaven forbid they not have us prospective PS5 buyers believe that Sony's exclusives will remain exclusive. I mean, it's not like they've outright stated their commitment to putting first party games on PC, is it? Oh, wait...

Gotta say, my trust for Sony is pretty low right now. Things have definitely changed over there since Jim Ryan took over.

Re: Don't Panic, But More PlayStation Exclusives Will Come to PC

art_of_the_kill

Honestly, I think people need to accept that there are more genuine reasons to be against this that go well beyond simple fanboyism or not wanting these games to be experienced by a wider audience. So, here's three:

1. PlayStation fans will ultimately end up with the inferior versions of Sony's own games. That's simply the long and the short of it. The PC version of any game will pretty much be superior just for mod support alone, nevermind how they'll run at higher resolutions and framerates.

2. This doesn't benefit the existing PS userbase. So Sony gets more money out of this deal. Whoop-dee-doo for them. What do we get? For MS, that answer is that Xbox users get to also play their games on PC, but Sony isn't adopting MS's Play Anywhere system (and probably couldn't if they wanted to). So PS users instead get nothing, except perhaps the privilege of feeling like a chump when a game that they believed would remain exclusive forever gets a PC version, which they may feel will render their entire purchase of a PS console meaningless.

3. The undermining of labels such as "Only on PlayStation" and "PlayStation Exclusive." Detroit: Become Human and HZD already got the ball rolling on this, but that "Only on PlayStation" labeling that adorns all Sony-published games (and has been utilized three times this year alone for Dreams, TLoU 2, and GoT) pretty much means less than nothing now. This is most likely why Sony is doing away with it for next gen, but the trailers for upcoming PS5 games instead use "PlayStation Exclusive" which probably also won't be a labeling that ages particularly well in some cases. A little more honesty from Sony would be nice. For Death Stranding we knew almost up front that it would get a PC release later down the line. That's pretty much how it should be for any exclusive that Sony thinks there's even a chance of getting a PC port later on.

Re: Don't Panic, But More PlayStation Exclusives Will Come to PC

art_of_the_kill

I find it highly distasteful that apparently the only motive behind this is increasing their profits. Nevermind the two and a half decades Sony has spent building up their brand with numerous franchises that people associate only with PlayStation. Nevermind this entire generation has proven for them that the best way to stay head and shoulders above the competition is having titles that can't be played anywhere else, which is the reason why MS floundered so much this gen. Nevermind how much this actively screws over the existing PS fanbase who only end up receiving the inferior versions of Sony's own games. I guess all of that just can't get in the way of more money, can it?

Almost makes me wonder why they didn't start doing this last gen, back when the PS3 was a total financial failure for them and their exclusives weren't nearly as successful as they are now. I guess Sony simply valued the PS brand more back then than they do now.