theheadofabroom

theheadofabroom

Disabled Ex-Dev with shiny new PS5

Comments 1,564

Re: 'Flawless' New PS5 with Some Devs, Features Detachable Disc Drive

theheadofabroom

I'd be highly shocked if the disk drive didn't connect via USB - it's an incredibly flexible set of standards (for instance keyboards and mice still use the PS/2 protocol over USB, as it's part of the spec for HID).

That said there's nothing to say that the firmware will allow it to talk to anything but a Sony device, and I'd expect all traffic between the console and the disk drive to be encrypted so it's not a vector for piracy. I'd be shocked if you could plug it into your laptop to read 4k Blu-ray discs, for instance.

Re: Both Moss Games Receiving PSVR2 Versions, Out on Launch Day

theheadofabroom

@Flaming_Kaiser when did I say they should work for free? In what way would making more money due to more sales mean people work for free?

I said it's a misstep because they've taken it from a price point that for many would be in impulse buy territory, and placed it at a price point which is not in that realm. This means that much fewer people who own the games already on PSVR will buy the next generation version than otherwise, especially with the psychological effect of "I already own this, why buy it again?" versus "I enjoyed this, let's see what the upgrade brings", which harms the studio's reputation and decreases sales both for these two games, but also for future titles.

But sure, I'm checks notes asking people to work for free (people who have already been paid by the time the game releases, I might add)

Re: Horizon Forbidden West DLC Takes Aloy to the Burning Shores Only on PS5

theheadofabroom

@Dezzy70 the thing is that back then there was a much greater difference between hardware generations (to the point where backwards compatibility was often done by including previous generation silicone within the new generation hardware) and so much more effort needed to be put into porting between generations (even more than porting between PSVR and PSVR2). Meanwhile there was no digital store so you couldn't check whether someone had a license for one version and offer a paid upgrade to the new one. The benefits we see now are because the technological improvements we've made since then have followed a path chosen to enable them.

Things were worse back then, but having made such progress in terms of both developer experience and customer expectations then "things used to be worse" isn't really a valid excuse to roll back what we've gained through technological innovation.

All of this said: I'm sure there's good reason why the DLC won't be coming to previous generation hardware, but we'll have to wait until April to find out what they're bringing us which wouldn't be possible on decade old hardware.

Re: Both Moss Games Receiving PSVR2 Versions, Out on Launch Day

theheadofabroom

@Flaming_Kaiser the marginal cost of a digital game is precisely £0, so any sales made at a discount which wouldn't have been made at the usual price are (minus the platform-holder's take and taxes) extra money the studio wouldn't have seen. Obviously you have to take into consideration the money lost from people who would have bought it anyway without the discount, but if you consider that Moss is £19 (currently £17 with the 10% discount) then if they'd sell twice as many units at £10 then they're already £1 per sale ahead. A £10 upgrade seems fair enough, right?

Re: Hands On: Is Marvel's Midnight Suns Any Good on PS5?

theheadofabroom

This is roughly what I was hoping for:

Graphics have never been Firaxis' strong point, and are arguably a waste of performance budget in a complex tactical game. The thing which made me nervous was the state Xcom2 released in, which was fun enough to be worth it, but laden with performance issues, hitches, crashes, and the sort of bugs that would end an Ironman run through no fault on the player's part. War of the Chosen (the expansion) was a vast improvement and it seems like they've learned their lesson as a studio.

Re: The Upcoming Splinter Cell Remake Can Be Enjoyed by Pacifists As Well

theheadofabroom

On top of @Jaz007 's statements which I agree with, I'm not sure that clubbing people over the back of the neck after interrogating them with a gun to their head counts as nonviolent? It's great to have clean hands options, but it feels like it's easy to overstate things.

this fresh take on Sam Fisher's origin story can also apparently be completed without violence

Re: PS Plus Black Friday Deals Begin This Week

theheadofabroom

@Pandalulz yeah I think it's an attempt to prevent cheating with save editors. Honestly though multiplayer stuff should be saved on the server and never trust client-side data, and if people want to cheat on single player games I don't see why anyone should stop them

Re: Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong PS5 Upgrade Box Listing Was a 'Mistake', Says Publisher

theheadofabroom

I'm pretty sure that in the UK this would fall under the Sale of Goods Act, entitling the customer to receive what was advertised. A bit like how if a shop mislabeled the price of an item them have to offer it at the advertised price. (I know about 7 people who got a Sony Bravia entertainment system (TV, stand, speakers, VHS) for £199.99 back in the late 90s because there was a typo on an advert (was supposed to be £1999.99 which was already a bargain)

Re: God of War Ragnarok PS5, PS4 Spoilers Rife As Retailers Break Street Date

theheadofabroom

@andy24king seems pretty simple, implement an allowlist (aka whitelist) of available games on the console which is updated every time you're online. If you put in a disk that's not on the list then it tells you that you can't play it, and if you're offline it prompts you to connect to the server. The whole thing could be implemented in the part of the OS which deals with installing and launching games without being active at any other time.

While toying with the idea as a thought exercise I considered allowing an entry with a date in the future when it becomes available, but without verifying against a server then it becomes vulnerable to people messing with the system clock. As proposed it would still be vulnerable to people with hacked consoles, but you'll never fully deal with that, and people who haven't installed the update that added the allowlist feature.

It sucks that it forces you to connect to servers to play a physical game, but you should be installing firmware updates anyway, and you can play anything that was released prior to the last time you connected without issue.

Re: Fallout 4 PS5 Version Confirmed for 2023 Release, Includes Creation Club Content

theheadofabroom

The update I was is for Sony to allow custom models from mods, the availability of mods for PlayStation is so much lower than other platforms.

@UltimateOtaku91 @ShogunRok It says on the link at the bottom of the article that it'll be a free upgrade.

Emphasis mine:

Prepare for the future: A next-gen update is coming to Fallout 4! Coming in 2023, this free update will be available for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and Windows PC systems, including performance mode features for high frame rates, quality features for 4K resolution gameplay, bug fixes and even bonus Creation Club content!

Re: Poll: Do You Care About 60fps on PS5?

theheadofabroom

Someone call Sony and let them know that 68% of this poll's recipients are happy to buy a £3000-5000 games console.

I was about to comment that as long as you can maintain fidelity I'll take the highest stable frame rate you can manage but honestly some games are far more relaxing to play at 30fps than 60fps. Others feel like crap at anything under 60fps. Anything is better than an unstable frame rate.

Console gaming has never been able to keep up with PC but it's a helluvalot cheaper over the period of a generation, and much more convenient. If you don't like the tradeoffs then PC is right there, and nowadays you can even buy a graphics card.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 449

theheadofabroom

Someone mentioned Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines so I'm taking a break from AC: Valhalla to play that again. The 00's jank is real, but it's just such a good game with such a well realised world and characters, I don't think there's much that comes close, let alone doing things better, and I really hope the sequel delivers whenever it resurfaces (I was going to say when it sees the light of day, but let's not)