Comments 2,529

Re: Reaction: PS5's Success Is Not Luck, Because Sony's Spent Years Putting in the Hard Yards

sanderson72

@Kevw2006 @Mephisto2869 Well, if you wheel back to the PS4 launch which wasn't backwards compatible with the PS3, that could have gone very wrong.
Fortunately, a competitively priced, more powerful console, positive noises from developers and Xbox repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot gave the PS4 the traction it needed. Three years on and the PS5 still feels somewhat like a glorified PS4 Pro Plus but maybe that's down to the cross-gen titles that are still scheduled into 2025.

Re: Video: Why Sony Will Never Make the PS Vita 2

sanderson72

Don't need a Vita 2 - we need a PSP 3. Vita was a terrible name and so many people didn't know what it was.

The proprietary memory cards were one of the many failures of Sony in the console's support (PSP had proprietary cards but at least Lexar and Sandisk joined in on the production of the Memory Stick Duo)
Ultimately, Sony pulling first party support was the knife in the back that killed it. Why would 3rd parties continue supporting a platform that had been abandoned by its owner?

I think Jack Tretton did an interview a little while back and he says that, looking back, they should have produced more games and supported it more so it could gain traction.

Still got my Vita 2000 series and I've also got a PSP-3000 Slim & Lite.

Re: PS Plus Subscriptions on Sale Now, But There's a Big Catch

sanderson72

Good until 4th Dec 2024 so I'm sticking as is until that runs out.

I was on Essential (PS+ as was) and last time I stacked a sub, I had the option to upgrade to Extra for about £5 - and it added it to the full length of my PS+ sub so I ended up with about 18 months of Extra over the Essential price for about a fiver. Weird. Not mentioned it to Sony in case they'd fluffed something up!

Re: Talking Point: As PS5 Turns 3, How Are You Feeling About It?

sanderson72

The PS5 games are fine but really nothing more than the PS4 could do - mainly 'cos they are cross gen titles with a bit more shiny stuff sprinkled on them.

There are a few PS5 quality of life improvements that we're waiting for 3 years on:
1) Folders and themes cut & pasted directly from PS4 - might help give an uplift to that horrid, morbid UI and allow us to order our games how we want them to be ordered
2) Allow use of DS4 controllers on PS5 games - haptic feedback outside of Astro's Playroom just doesn't seem to be a thing from what I've experienced and the DS4 is just a much more comfortable & better built controller with all the appropriate buttons.
3) USB save backups - the PS4 can do it and I think the PS5 can backup PS4 saves but not PS5 ones?

There are a few other things which irritate - inability to download multiple things at once due to a lack of a PS4 custom chip seems very short-sighted, the 'is it a long press or short press of the PS button?' confusion, the web browser is STILL missing in action and the inability to just install the PS5 version of something when you have a cross-gen disc - it just constantly tries installing the PS4 version too every time the disc is in!

Re: PS Plus Gets Heavy Discounts for Black Friday

sanderson72

Got just over a year left on my previously extended Extra so I'm OK for now.
Remember to buy discounted wallet top ups from Shop To and save even more!

@N1ghtW1ng Yes, I wish they'd have introduced a lower tier just for online purposes. That said the online save backups is useful, but only because they haven't allowed the PS5 to do USB backups which the PS4 still allows.

Re: It's Clear to See Why Sony Isn't Calling the New PS5 Model 'Slim'

sanderson72

@Flaming_Kaiser Never had a 'slim' PS2 as my motorised disc drive version original fatty (GT3 pack) just kept working.

Yes, the PS3 had things stripped away. The OG 60GB had the PS2 Emotion Engine chip, 4 USB sockets, and the multi-format card reader. However, the 40GB fat one that replaced it stripped most of these away having no EE chip, 2 USB sockets and the card reader had gone. The Slim was on a par with those post-launch models. Personally I think the Slim was better looking than the later fatties as not only had all the internal gubbins been removed, but so had the exterior chrome trim, replaced by naff painted plastic.

@Maddie47 @HammerKirby3 "Oh yes they have!" (getting into panto season...)
The PSP 2000 and later 3000 series were designated "Slim & Lite". Even says so on the box.

Re: It's Clear to See Why Sony Isn't Calling the New PS5 Model 'Slim'

sanderson72

@jorel262 PS3 Slim was a lot smaller than the original or subsequent fatties (60GB, 40GB, 80GB).
I think we can ignore the PS3 Super Slim as that was smaller again but tacky in every way.

As for the PS4, the Pro was about the same size as the original, not that the stylish 4 was particularly massive to start with. The Slim WAS slim being about half the height of the Pro.

I think they've kept the PS5 the same (vile) design as the innards of the new one are effectively the same as the 1216 version (the last full FAT revision)

Re: The Latest PS5 Firmware Update Is Available to Download Now

sanderson72

@Pranwell We've got a Sony Bravia 1080p and it does the same with that. Recently upgraded to a LG 4K TV and the same thing happens.
PS4 Pro connected to the same TVs just works properly.

@NeonPizza Yes, the 'music' is just dire. But it's all or nothing if you turn it off as then you don't get the game music when you drift over the game icons because at least that cuts out the funeral dirge.

@Panic_Attache Yes, I've found that if the TV has been left on the PS5 HDMI when it's powered off, restarting the TV causes the PS5 to start up so you have to wait for it to start, get depressed by its miserable UI before shutting it down again!
I've taken to changing the TV's HDMI input back to the Freesat box that we have after closing The Tub o' Lard down.

Re: The Latest PS5 Firmware Update Is Available to Download Now

sanderson72

@NeonPizza Yes, that broken TV HDMI 'kick' is so annoying - I mean how can they get something that basic wrong? Turn off TV obviously means turn on the PS5 and switch the TV back on again! Gaaah!

The sparkles is the PS4's friendly and useful UI burning up to be replaced by the slab of drab that is the PS5 dash!

Re: The First Photos of the PS5 Slim Are Circulating Online

sanderson72

Original Playstation was nicer than the PS1.
PS2 fat with motorised drive was nicer than the PS2 Slim.
PS3 fat was nicer than the (still attractive) Slim which was nicer than the vile Super Slim (shudders in horror).

Only weird one is the PS4 which (IMHO) the Pro looked better than the original. Both OG and Pro looked better than the irregular depth plates of the Slim. What was that about?

And now the PS5 - disgusting in all its variants. Thankfully my TV unit is deep enough to hide the monstrosity behind and I can just access its disc drive without having to look at it.

Re: Former PlayStation Boss Shawn Layden Says It's 'Criminal' Industry Isn't Properly Preserving Games

sanderson72

@InsaneWade Unfortunately I think the (archaic) x86/x64 processor in the PS5 would melt if it tried to simulate the Cell architecture and its SPEs. Maybe Sony has something cleverer in mind? On raw horsepower alone, the PS5 would break.

@nomither6 @zekepliskin The PS3 was an overpriced mess when it came out but after many iterations of the OS, it matured into something rather special. My fat 60GB corrupted the hard drive when the PS Store update was launched and finally died after 5.5 years with the YLOD. Still got my 320Gb Slim 25xx series and it still gets used a lot. Hey, it even has themes!

Incidentally, I have seen screen tearing on it - Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga is a major culprit but eventually they implemented a VSync option, certainly in later Lego games.

As for the PS5? Well, it's a soulless fridge isn't it? As someone who also still owns a 72xx series PS4 Pro with a 6GB/s Crucial SSD inside, it isn't a major jump.

Re: Former PlayStation Boss Shawn Layden Says It's 'Criminal' Industry Isn't Properly Preserving Games

sanderson72

@InsaneWade Actually all PS3 discs are Blu-ray (can't think of one that isn't?) so in theory the PS4 and 5 can read them - they just don't know what to do with them.

The only ones that don't work are the PS1 and very early PS2 titles which were on black disc CDs.
PS4 and PS5 can both read DVDs so the later PS2 titles on shiny discs would be fine but again neither console knows what to do with the contents.

Re: Former PlayStation Boss Shawn Layden Says It's 'Criminal' Industry Isn't Properly Preserving Games

sanderson72

Give Layden a large cheque and get him back as head of Playstation. Someone who actually gave a toss about the console and its heritage would be a refreshing change from Mr Accountant.

As for the ongoing rage against the PS3, that console gave us the most original line up of innovative and engaging titles of any PS console, from LBP to Uncharted, much as I loved the PS4 era. Certainly better than the rehashed, 'oooh, isn't it shinier' PS5 ongoing farce.