Comments 1,538

Re: Sony Comments on Concord Disaster, Says Game Should Have Been Tested Earlier

thedevilsjester

@PuppetMaster Currently Fortnite makes $26 BILLION a year (as of 2023). Thats $71 million per month. When taken into context, a $200+ million failure (over multiple years)? That's barely a blip. Sony can easily eat a dozen Concords for the chance at a single Fortnite. This is the golden goose they are chasing.

They do risk devaluing their reputation; but they are trying to buffer this with AAA single player games.

To be clear, I am not excusing what they are doing, just putting it in context.

Re: Sony Comments on Concord Disaster, Says Game Should Have Been Tested Earlier

thedevilsjester

@PuppetMaster While I agree with you completely as a consumer, the reality is that with a live service game, they can fail multiple times, and have just one success, and still make a lot more money at the end of the day than if they had many single player successes.

The only way this live service craze ends is when the cost of the failures far exceeds the theoretical profit from success. In a real way, Sony (and similar) are playing a game akin to the loot boxes they adore. As long as every now and then they get something decent, they will keep rolling for that big prize.

Re: Hypnotic PS5 Pro Boot Screen, Background Worth the Upgrade

thedevilsjester

@Cerny But those 10 new devices are less different year over year than the PS5 to PS5 Pro. I agree that there are way too many PS5 Pro articles; but comparing a mid generation refresh (the second one Sony has ever done) to a company that releases minor incremental changes in a yearly cadence is unfair at best.

Re: Hypnotic PS5 Pro Boot Screen, Background Worth the Upgrade

thedevilsjester

@Cerny The difference there is that Apple releases a LOT of new hardware; and each OS has new wallpapers, so its not a rare or unique event; where as the console manufactures do not do this kind of thing nearly as often, so its notable when they do.

And for what its worth, there used to be a lot of discussion about new Mac OS version wallpapers. If there isn't anymore, its probably because it has become boring and routine.

With that said, I am not a fan of this wallpaper, its too colorful and busy, it feels like clutter.

Re: Poll: Did You Buy a PS5 Pro?

thedevilsjester

I felt that the PS4 Pro was a complete waste of money, it was worse than the base PS4 (considerably louder and hotter) and I couldn't notice any improvement in performance or fidelity in the games I played.

I am hopeful that the PS5 Pro will fare better; but only time will tell.

Re: Xbox Appears to Be Readying More Releases for PS5

thedevilsjester

@captainsandman Not sure. There have been RTS games on consoles as long as the genera existed, from Dune 2 (Genesis) to C&C and Warcraft/Starcraft on PS1 and N64, to the most recent (in my memory) C&C RA3 on PS3? And all of them (other than Dune 2) played terribly compared to their PC counter parts. I wonder if its just people buying them hoping that someone has done the impossible and made a great controller interface (like FFXIV did for MMORPGs) only to realize that no, no they haven't.

Re: Xbox Appears to Be Readying More Releases for PS5

thedevilsjester

@Vaako007 I prefer console for nearly everything (I usually just avoid PC only games entirely); but RTS games (and their ilk) are the one exception I make.

As for C&C Generals; I felt it was the start of the decline of C&C. It wasn't terrible but it certainly wouldn't be anywhere on my top list. RA2 for me being "peak C&C".

Re: Xbox Fans Really Want a Port of PS5, PC Hit Helldivers 2

thedevilsjester

@Medic_alert While I agree that currently one of the big distinguishing factors for a console is its library and "spreading the love" would dilute that, it doesn't mean that there are not viable solutions to this problem.

This is a pipe-dream (and not going to happen); but it is an example of a win-win scenario: Sony and Microsoft form a coalition where there is one storefront that they both have equal stake in. That 30% cut gets split between them but with a larger portion of that share going to the platform holder that made the sale. A utopia.

Re: Microsoft Is Investigating Why Devs Are Prioritising PS5 Over Xbox

thedevilsjester

@Neither_scene

The graphics SDK is only one of many components of a platforms dev tools; its the highest profile (most visible) to end-users but it is only one part of the package. Many game engines, either third party, or in-house, abstract the graphics SDK (even PC only titles because there is more than DirectX, like OpenGL, Vulkan, and Metal to name a few), so from a developers perspective this is often irrelevant unless they are building a new engine from scratch.

Re: PSN Was Down But Has Now Been Resolved

thedevilsjester

@tpepper1985 If you have offline games that seem to be impacted; you might try disabling internet on your playstation and seeing if they work.

Sometimes games will check for a valid internet connection and IF one exists, try and connect to remote servers for some reason (telemetry?) and will fail if the connection to the server fails, rather than fall back to the no internet mode. The same games might work when there is no internet connection to begin with.

I have had this experience with games on the PS3 that lost their servers and would just crash when they were started and had to be played with internet off.

Re: How to Pre-Order PS5 Pro

thedevilsjester

@ThunderFunk I couldn't agree more; however I like to think of it (and any purchase) in a slightly different way:

If you make $X per hour; and a product costs $Y; simply take ($Y / $X) and ask yourself if the product will provide you value that is greater than the effort you spent for those hours.

This is a personal equation, and will change dramatically depending on what your income is. If you make $15/hr, its a hard sell for nearly 48hrs of work. If you make $30+/hr, it becomes a much better value proposition.

Re: Rumour: Xbox to Announce a 'Big' Game Coming to PS5 at Gamescom

thedevilsjester

@AverageGamer Studios close and are closed all of the time and whether or not a platform specific game is better or worse than a different similar game on another platform; will rarely enter into the equation.

Even sales numbers cannot be compared as a representation of how much better one game is over another, not when talking about different platforms that have different audiences and different ecosystems.

I thought that Drive Club was one of the best racers I have ever played; and Forza doesn't interest me at all.

Its not fanboy-ism, I love the idea of some Microsoft exclusives coming to the PlayStation; and there are plenty of games on other platforms that I wish were on my platform of choice; but Forza just isn't one of them.

Re: Players Reporting PSN Account Bans in Seemingly Widespread Issue

thedevilsjester

@Northern_munkey But it doesn't. Not really. I (and many others like me) have a large physical collection and don't really play online games; which means it doesn't have any impact. However if I had digital copies of those games, it would have a serious impact.

In my personal experience, those that prefer physical titles also tend to prefer offline games; which means that even if it impacts a few titles they own, it has very little overall impact.

Re: Players Reporting PSN Account Bans in Seemingly Widespread Issue

thedevilsjester

@Northern_munkey It doesn't have much of an impact on those who buy physical games. Physical libraries are still playable even with an account ban, since they are not tied to your account in any way. Where-as you can be locked out of your digital libraries depending on the type of ban. The only shared downside is for online focused games, since you need a valid account to play them either way.

Re: Unity's Newly Announced Install Fee Policy Already Causing Disharmony Amongst Devs

thedevilsjester

@IAmAshCohen17 Probably; but by that point the damage will be done. If they are willing to try this once, what makes you (the general you) think they are not willing to try something similar next time? And the time after that? This will hopefully be an eye opener for those using Unity, and a considerable number will likely abandon ship even if everything is rolled back, because they fear something similar happening again. Fool me once and all that.

Re: Unlike Recent Assassin's Creeds, There'll Be No DLC or Microtransactions in Mirage

thedevilsjester

@thefourfoldroot1 While I mostly agree with that, understand that some games go gold (and are complete) months before they are released, and instead of laying off the extra team members (that wont be re-hired until the next game reaches a certain development point) they instead pay them to design new, additional content that can sometimes be done before the official launch day (especially if they delayed launch to not collide with another big title).

If this wasn't a separate purchase, then most studios would just not make it since they wouldn't recoup the cost of the 3+ months of the studios resources that it took, in addition to the cost to develop the game. This would result in the team being downsized until they ramped up production again (a vicious rollercoaster that development studios go through). As a software engineer and game developer myself, I tend to want to support these studios (that make games that I enjoy) as much as I can, to reduce that churn as much as possible.

Not sure how much Ubisoft, EA, and other goliaths deserve that consideration, to be fair, but most studios are not as bad and could use that support.

Re: VR Skater Delayed Due to PS5 Approval Issues, But 'Sony Has Been Amazing'

thedevilsjester

@RobN You miss the third option. The team couldn't think of anything more clever, and reached the limit of their creativity with a generic name. This is what I find, most often, to be the case, so as a general rule, I avoid games with names like Shooter or Skater. Adding generic modifiers like, Mobile, VR, etc... doesn't make the titles any more interesting.

To each their own, of course, but if they had mashed the keys on the keyboard, I would be more interested in the game then just naming it "${PLATFORM} ${GENRE}"

Re: VR Skater Delayed Due to PS5 Approval Issues, But 'Sony Has Been Amazing'

thedevilsjester

@BlueWeezer I don't think Dark Souls falls into the category of generic names (mostly talking about ones that just describe the genre); though to be fair thats only one out of three of your examples.

I find that the name of a game, or book, or movie (or any other form of art) is a good indicator of the level of creativity that you can come to expect from the rest of the product; and while you can have a good product with a generic name (these tend to come from major developers though), the vast majority of them are shovel-ware.

Re: "We've Lost the Console Wars," Says Trillion Dollar Underdog Xbox

thedevilsjester

@WizardJ To be fair, they did sell roughly the same amount of 360s as PS3s over its life, though if we factored in the number of people that bought 2, 3, or even 4 to replace RROD failed units outside of warranty, I am sure the numbers of active consoles was a lot lower. Every other generation had Sony easily ahead of MS though.

Success means that there are a lot of studios that will exclusively target that system (even without deals) which conversely means being in last place will reduce the likelihood of a game being released on your system of choice. This is the main reason that console wars are a thing. We are fighting to be the platform of choice for developers/publishers.

It would be nice if you could install the Xbox runtimes on Playstation, and vise versa, and enjoy the games on your platform of choice.

Re: Xbox Had Embargoed Persona Dev's Metaphor: ReFantazio After All, as Fantasy RPG Is Confirmed for PS5, PS4

thedevilsjester

@Deityjester There are a lot of reasons that could explain it, and without being privy to their private agreements, we can only speculate.

Remember that FFXIV is also not on Xbox, and not because Sony blocked it; but because of Microsoft policies. There are also many Square Enix games exclusive to Nintendo consoles and even a few exclusive to Xbox, so it's not a given that all Square Enix games, or even all FF games will be on all platforms.

With that said, I am not claiming that Sony didn't buy the rights, just that there are many explanations and not all of them are nefarious.

Re: Xbox Had Embargoed Persona Dev's Metaphor: ReFantazio After All, as Fantasy RPG Is Confirmed for PS5, PS4

thedevilsjester

@Deityjester Thats not really how it tends to go down.
More often than not, developers or publishers will approach the platform holder for additional funding or development resources, and what the platform holder gets out of that deal is usually some form of exclusivity, depending on the level of funding or involvement.

What everyone seems to think is that the platform holders (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo?) go out of their way to lock down exclusivity, and while that does happen, you would be surprised at how often it is the developer/publisher that starts that conversation.

Re: Poll: What Do You Think of the Final Fantasy 16 PS5 Demo?

thedevilsjester

@Hurblyburbly To be clear, this game is a drastic departure from the typical Final Fantasy game, so love it or hate it, its not really representative of the franchise as a whole.

I tried to get past my knee jerk reaction of hating it because its an action RPG now, so I watched videos and trailers trying to psych myself up, and other than the summons, it doesn't look all that good. Sure there are lots of pollys, but it just looks bland. Maybe the demo will change my mind; but I am not at all excited for this, and will probably wait until I can find a used copy for cheap.

Re: Square Enix Allegedly 'Slightly Panicking' About Final Fantasy 16 PS5 Pre-Orders

thedevilsjester

@Buckeye4Life2015 There is no reason to pre-order a digital copy, for sure (I don't understand why this was ever a thing). But physical copies are still sold and stocked in limited batches.

To the topic at hand, I have loved FF since my first experience on the NES in the late 80s; and this is the first FF that I have no interest in. I do not want a FF action RPG; and except for the summons, I am not a fan of the visual style of this entry. Clearly I am not in the vocal majority on this; but I wonder if there are enough out there that feel the same, to impact pre-order sales?

Re: Resident Evil 4 Remake on PS4 Is Why Cross-Gen Needs to End

thedevilsjester

@eltomo

that's sales data. You wouldn't look at 70m PS4 users and 30m PS5 users and think to release on PS5 only.

Sure you would.

As a thought experiment, what type of gamer is still playing on a last gen console without access to a current gen console? For the most part, a budget or frugal gamer. These are not the type of gamers to go out and buy a new game (especially a remake) within its profitable launch window, they will buy it used, or wait for a sale.

Publishers know this, they have many console generations worth of data to analyze. This is why most of these ports are lazy. There isnt a big enough market to put much effort into the port for the handful that will buy it; but it is just big enough that its still profitable to adjust a few sliders and hope for the best.

Re: Final Fantasy 16 Fans Divided as Squeeze Gap Discourse Begins Anew

thedevilsjester

while others point out you can clearly see through the gap

That doesn't mean that its not hiding a loading screen. Most of these gaps don't hide the section immediately in front of the player, they hide the next section.

While I prefer these over loading screens, they have been too heavily abused in more recent games (like the God of War games) and its just disappointing to see them on a current generation title.

Re: Sony Wants You to Sit Up Straight While You're Playing PS5, PS4

thedevilsjester

@NEStalgia The Steam Deck controller layout does look awful, but it is surprisingly good. I mention it only because I don't just like the Playstation style because I am somehow stuck in the past like your post implies, I like it because it feels more comfortable and natural in the games I play. Retro games, turn based RPGs, tactics, etc... Games that benefit from the accuracy of a DPad vs an Analog. I do play many titles that primarily use the analog; but its a healthy mix, so having a controller thats good at both, rather than great at one, and mediocre at the other, fits my gaming style.

While XBox does have some of these types of titles, it has historically been an FPS platform, which benefits from a priority on the analog stick, so I understand the why; but it is also the biggest contributing factor to me not owning an Xbox, and if Playstation went that way, gaming would no longer be fun for me.

Re: Sony Wants You to Sit Up Straight While You're Playing PS5, PS4

thedevilsjester

@NEStalgia
First, I agree that the primary control should be in the upper position, I disagree; however, that the analog stick is that primary control. I play a pretty good mix of modern and retro games and I find that I use the DPad far more often (in fact the game I have been putting many many hours into recently, Slay the Spire, I haven't touched the left analog once). When I do actually use the left analog its almost exclusively just holding it in the up direction to move a character forward.

Secondly, for the sake of argument, lets say that the analog is the primary control, and that it should be given the optimal placement. The XBox style controller has the left analog too high, so to have the best throw on the stick when pressing up (what 99% of the left analog is used for!) you have to shift your hand up on the left side (making the DPad even worse to access). When I have said this to people in real life, they have almost always replied with "No I don't do that" but then watching them use a controller (without them actively trying to not do that to prove me wrong) shows that they do indeed do just that.

Lastly, Playstation not having the analog in the right spot, doesn't automatically mean that the competing style has it in the right spot. They can both be wrong. I find (oddly enough) the best controller style to be the Steam Deck style (and I thought I would hate it when it was originally shown)

Re: Sony Wants You to Sit Up Straight While You're Playing PS5, PS4

thedevilsjester

@NEStalgia By offset sticks, do you mean asymmetrical controllers? I sure hope not. It may sound like hyperbole; but I would stop playing games on the Playstation in an instant, without hesitation, if they were to move over to that controller style. Its not optimal where its located on the Playstation controller, certainly, but its far, far worse on the asymmetrical controllers.

On to the topic, I can't imagine how they would monitor it (six axis?) or what feedback they would give the player (on screen prompts?) unless they are monitoring your position with a camera, I cant imagine it would be accurate enough to know if I am slouching or not.