@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.
@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.
@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.
@PuppetMaster When one company uses another companies game engine, it usually involves royalty fees, for example Epics Unreal Engine is 5% of the profit. I would assume that a similar deal exists here, which would mean that Sony would still make money on every unit sold, no matter where its sold.
@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.
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.
@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.
@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".
@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.
@PerpetualBoredom Good to know, I was wanting to get the collection physically; but unwilling to pay outrageous scalper prices for it.
@Melee_Ace They are 30+ year old games; but its not just the ROMS wrapped up in a nice package. They were all completely rebuilt from scratch (in Unity IIRC) so its a considerably more effort than most retro bundles.
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.
@Deljo Thats a bit disingenuous, they are not simply buying something and selling it for a profit; they preventing legitimate buyers from getting an item (intentionally) so that they can sell it for considerably more.
@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.
@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.
@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.
@Mikey856 Standing up? Do you mean vertically? (I was only referring to its horizontal orientation) It is definitely a lot more stable vertically; but that is not viable for many setups.
I wish it were, since its clearly designed with a vertical orientation in mind; but I can't think of many setups where vertical would be a good choice.
The launch model of the PS5, on its stand horizontally is very sketchy. The only reason I am looking forward to a PS5 Pro is that it is another opportunity for them to fix that mistake; but I am not holding my breath.
While I would prefer that they leave the content in and didn't have a disclaimer, I know that there are those on the outside that would have an ignorant take on it, so if this is the price to pay to keep the integrity of the game as it was designed (not as we would design it now), I say its worth it.
@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.
@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.
I think if Sony were interested in negotiating a better deal (for example the API costs) they would have approached X before announcing this removal. The fact that they have already publicly announced this means that they are likely beyond the negotiation phase.
@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.
@PorkYoself This. You can optimize it, sure. But you will have to make sacrifices that are so extreme (smaller levels, less detail, more frequent loading areas, etc...), that it may as well be a different game.
Not quite there yet. I have played through the Liberl and Crossbell arcs, and just finishing up the first game in the Erebonia arc. I am glad that most outlets and fans seem to be giving it pretty good reviews though and I look forward to eventually getting there.
@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.
@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}"
@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.
While this is a great stance (on Sony and the Developer) I hesitate to buy a game with such a generic title as "VR Skater", its like buying a game called "First Person Shooter".
@Fiendish-Beaver While everything you said is true, keep in mind that its not always the platform holders approaching the developers/publishers. Often its the other way around with publishers or developers actively looking to get a round of funding, or secure a better deal, or a marketing push.
@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.
@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.
@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.
@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.
@Buckeye4Life2015 That might be the case; but I sincerely hope it isn't. I see these articles and it gives me a little hope that maybe there are enough with the same opinion that SE will notice and will rethink their direction for the next installment; but it might just be a simple matter of pre-order hesitancy.
@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?
@Jaz007 This is an often overlooked point. TV Streaming solved a myriad of problems that just don't exist in games; and the few problems that game streaming does solve, are overshadowed by the new problems it creates in their place.
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.
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.
I have not yet caught up on the franchise to that point (still finishing Trails in the Sky SC); but I am working on it, and hope to eventually get to this one.
@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.
@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)
@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.
Not really. The PS5 is about the same as the PS4 in this regard. Very, very rarely there will be an advertisement in the form of a game icon; which you can select and delete and then it will be gone until the next one shows up (a few months later).
Comments 1,538
Re: Sony Comments on Concord Disaster, Says Game Should Have Been Tested Earlier
@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
@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
@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: Death Stranding Gets a Surprise Xbox Series X|S Port, Out Now
@PuppetMaster When one company uses another companies game engine, it usually involves royalty fees, for example Epics Unreal Engine is 5% of the profit. I would assume that a similar deal exists here, which would mean that Sony would still make money on every unit sold, no matter where its sold.
Re: Hypnotic PS5 Pro Boot Screen, Background Worth the Upgrade
@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?
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
@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
@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: Poll: What Did You Think of the Monster Hunter Wilds Beta?
I thought it was an overall decent showing, though the multiplayer aspect when trying to play with a group of friends was atrocious.
Re: Xbox Fans Really Want a Port of PS5, PC Hit Helldivers 2
@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: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered Reveals Baddies in PS5, PS4 Trailer
I love the Legacy of Kain series; but there doesn't seem to be a physical version announced yet.
Re: Get Back to JRPG Basics with Physical Final Fantasy 1-6 Collection Anniversary Edition on PS4
@PerpetualBoredom Good to know, I was wanting to get the collection physically; but unwilling to pay outrageous scalper prices for it.
@Melee_Ace They are 30+ year old games; but its not just the ROMS wrapped up in a nice package. They were all completely rebuilt from scratch (in Unity IIRC) so its a considerably more effort than most retro bundles.
Re: Get Back to JRPG Basics with Physical Final Fantasy 1-6 Collection Anniversary Edition on PS4
Is this just the same collection that released a couple of years ago that was being scalped for $1000-$2000 USD or is it different in some way?
Re: Microsoft Is Investigating Why Devs Are Prioritising PS5 Over Xbox
@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: Sony Fights Scalpers in Japan By Demanding PS5, PS4 Playtime
@Deljo Thats a bit disingenuous, they are not simply buying something and selling it for a profit; they preventing legitimate buyers from getting an item (intentionally) so that they can sell it for considerably more.
Re: PSN Was Down But Has Now Been Resolved
@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
@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: Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions' Snitch Has Been Dramatically Nerfed on PS5, PS4
@NEStalgia This; but then add in a meta game where spectators can cast magic to disrupt the game.
Re: Rumour: Xbox to Announce a 'Big' Game Coming to PS5 at Gamescom
@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: PS5 Pro Still Likely to Launch This Year, Tokyo Game Show Reveal Possible
@Mikey856 Standing up? Do you mean vertically? (I was only referring to its horizontal orientation) It is definitely a lot more stable vertically; but that is not viable for many setups.
I wish it were, since its clearly designed with a vertical orientation in mind; but I can't think of many setups where vertical would be a good choice.
Re: PS5 Pro Still Likely to Launch This Year, Tokyo Game Show Reveal Possible
The launch model of the PS5, on its stand horizontally is very sketchy. The only reason I am looking forward to a PS5 Pro is that it is another opportunity for them to fix that mistake; but I am not holding my breath.
Re: Crystal Dynamics Warns Racial, Ethnic Stereotypes Remain in Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered
While I would prefer that they leave the content in and didn't have a disclaimer, I know that there are those on the outside that would have an ignorant take on it, so if this is the price to pay to keep the integrity of the game as it was designed (not as we would design it now), I say its worth it.
Re: Players Reporting PSN Account Bans in Seemingly Widespread Issue
@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
@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: Elon Musk May Try to Stop PS5, PS4's Twitter Integration Removal
I think if Sony were interested in negotiating a better deal (for example the API costs) they would have approached X before announcing this removal. The fact that they have already publicly announced this means that they are likely beyond the negotiation phase.
Re: Poll: Are You Playing Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1?
I have never played these games; but have always wanted to and waited for a collection like this to jump in.
Re: Unity's Newly Announced Install Fee Policy Already Causing Disharmony Amongst Devs
@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: Told You So! Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Really Wouldn't Have Worked on PS4
@PorkYoself This. You can optimize it, sure. But you will have to make sacrifices that are so extreme (smaller levels, less detail, more frequent loading areas, etc...), that it may as well be a different game.
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Trails into Reverie?
Not quite there yet. I have played through the Liberl and Crossbell arcs, and just finishing up the first game in the Erebonia arc. I am glad that most outlets and fans seem to be giving it pretty good reviews though and I look forward to eventually getting there.
Re: Unlike Recent Assassin's Creeds, There'll Be No DLC or Microtransactions in Mirage
@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'
@Nepp67 It would certainly be interesting with a controller like that playing in VR.
Re: VR Skater Delayed Due to PS5 Approval Issues, But 'Sony Has Been Amazing'
@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'
@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: VR Skater Delayed Due to PS5 Approval Issues, But 'Sony Has Been Amazing'
While this is a great stance (on Sony and the Developer) I hesitate to buy a game with such a generic title as "VR Skater", its like buying a game called "First Person Shooter".
Re: "We've Lost the Console Wars," Says Trillion Dollar Underdog Xbox
@Fiendish-Beaver While everything you said is true, keep in mind that its not always the platform holders approaching the developers/publishers. Often its the other way around with publishers or developers actively looking to get a round of funding, or secure a better deal, or a marketing push.
Re: "We've Lost the Console Wars," Says Trillion Dollar Underdog Xbox
@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
@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
@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?
@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
@Buckeye4Life2015 That might be the case; but I sincerely hope it isn't. I see these articles and it gives me a little hope that maybe there are enough with the same opinion that SE will notice and will rethink their direction for the next installment; but it might just be a simple matter of pre-order hesitancy.
Re: Square Enix Allegedly 'Slightly Panicking' About Final Fantasy 16 PS5 Pre-Orders
@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: Soapbox: I No Longer Think Subscriptions Like PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Are the Future of Gaming
@Jaz007 This is an often overlooked point. TV Streaming solved a myriad of problems that just don't exist in games; and the few problems that game streaming does solve, are overshadowed by the new problems it creates in their place.
Re: Resident Evil 4 Remake on PS4 Is Why Cross-Gen Needs to End
@eltomo
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
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: Poll: Are You Playing Trails to Azure?
I have not yet caught up on the franchise to that point (still finishing Trails in the Sky SC); but I am working on it, and hope to eventually get to this one.
Re: System Shock Remake Gets Hit with Delay, SHODAN Vows Revenge Post 30th May
I have always wanted to play the original; but the clunky controls put me off. Hopefully this is a faithful remake.
Re: Sony Wants You to Sit Up Straight While You're Playing PS5, PS4
@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
@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
@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.
Re: Huge PS5 Firmware Adds Discord Voice Chat, VRR at 1440p, Much More
@jrt87 "But PS5 has ads on the homescreen too?"
Not really. The PS5 is about the same as the PS4 in this regard. Very, very rarely there will be an advertisement in the form of a game icon; which you can select and delete and then it will be gone until the next one shows up (a few months later).