I'm not a fan of Souls games but see the allure. Arduous with big kicks to the nuts when you die and have to trek miles to pick up your old gear. The euphoria of beating a boss doesn't mitigate the frustration of getting killed and losing all your stuff. A few games have gone down this path, Hollow Knight in particular is a good example. It's brilliant until you lose 800 in game credits trying to get back to your body.
They review well which is understandable. And for many the win after a struggle is massive. But for me the payoff isn't worth the time investment. The good thing is that these games have an audience and a developer keen to make them. I think that's a win for everyone.
I'm happy to wait. A bit jealous for sure but the storage is a big issue - hopefully a solution comes around and it's not an additional £200+ for the proprietary SSD. Combined with £70 games and yeah I can wait. See what the scene is like in March/April.
@gbanas92 only just seen the review. How does the game score you? In rhythm action you usually hit a button at the right time. If you are free-forming mixes it would surely need another method of scoring?
Or is the point of the game a toolkit for musicians?
@TG16_IS_BAE fair enough if you live in Country not in recession. I mentioned it was £140 for 2 games that clearly indicates I'm in the UK or a few satellite countries within our political orbit like Gibraltar or the Falklands.
It is the worst recession since the second world war. I'm unsure how safe in your job you personally are but things have got spikey here and taxes will inevitably rise to pay for the various schemes and expenditure incurred throughout the crisis. We have the highest unemployment since 2016 and it's being propped up by furlough schemes, without them it would be back to the 80s.
You equally compared a CEO to a stockholder. They are different. As a silent partner or public investor they do significantly less work than a worker. As they don't do a dot other than a financial transaction. I know I am one and it's spare cash other less fortunate people don't have.
Also game prices have changed. I keep hearing chuff of how games were £60 back in the day. This was an extreme price in the 90s. Most cartridges were under £40 usually less, until the heavy meg carts were introduced and Nintendo were taken to task for price fixing and rightfully fined. Disc based games were always cheaper - highlighted when the PS1 released and games were £30 for the latest games. Activision have less employees and less aftercare (shutting the Irish help centre as an example) than 5 years ago. Demon Souls is a remake - so the source material is already there, no need for researchers, writers, mechanic developers and character designers - just money for usually cheaper artists and graphical designers. Bluepoint has around 90 staff, if they all averaged £40,000 (way over the average UK employee) a year it would equate to 7.2million over 2 years. To make the money back they need to sell 120,000 copies at £60 a pop. That's it. If it goes on to sell a 3 million copies its grossly in profit to the sum of £172,800,000 at £60 a game.
@nessisonett The Vita was awesome but I don't understand why they want limited storage. I would have bought 200 games but due to my 8gb and 16gb cards bought maybe 25 altogether. I can see this happening with PS5 and that's not good.
I always look at game stands in Supermarkets and it's the same crap every time with the very odd adjustment. Such as a new Cod or Ass Creed. I am not surprised the charts are so skewed.
@TG16_IS_BAE sorry you sound like a mouthpiece for the gaming industry suits.
Games companies are making more than ever with billion pound takeovers, appalling crunch conditions and in many ways cheaper labour than in the 80s as more people have game making skills. The money isn't being used to fund development. It's used to buy a Ferrari for a stock holder who wouldn't know Aloy if she shot an arrow up their ass.
Console games were overpriced in the 80s and 90s, in part because carts were themselves expensive to produce. A fairer comparison are games shipped on floppy disc which were £10-£20 at release. Stop being an apologist £140 for 2 games is just insane during the biggest recession of our lifetimes.
PS4 has been an awesome generation. So much so that I am gamed out. Astrobot, Rocket League, Yakuza zero, HZD, Hotline Miami, The Witness, Tekken 7, Streets of Rage 4. Then my personal favourite Dreams.
What a generation after the grey and sombre previous gen.
@RedShirtRod and you've made me realise if MS are asking for additional money for any aspect of minesweeper this and more nonsense is coming. Flipping minesweeper with Ads? Jeez. I could play without Ads in 1995.
@get2sammyb it's the best game as a service yet ROFL.
Everyone is getting better and better at using Dreams. I mentioned it the other day and was scoffed at but genuinely some of my favourite gaming time has been in Dreams this year.
@Svark Why are you concerned? The people still using it are free talent with free game ideas. Just recently some of the best games I have played this year are on the dreamiverse (but take some finding).
Less idiots = better experience. I just hope they don't switch the servers off in the long run.
This updates great. This is what's achievable in Dreams these days;
@nhSnork @redd212 EA wound the microstransactions back with an apology shortly after release. The fallout was too much and the brand was in the dirt. It still is to a degree. The version Sammy reviewed was the publishers intended product. I'm guessing Redd you played it way after release?
@Richnj I receive the general stock holders information for Capcom and there are no plans on the company selling up that I've read. Currently focus is on the 2 Switch Monster Hunter games and a new e sports fighting tournament. I don't see the allure for Sony and it makes no sense for Capcom who have become more nimble within the industry and everyones made a ton of money the last 5 years and stocks have doubled in value the last 12 months.
I like taking punts on random games. Not going to do that with each costing £70. So less games get bought. It's too much of an increase during a recession in my eyes and a really bad call.
I have always strongly supported buying games at release to support the industry. I just can't see the benefit now, the microtransactions will still be pushed and prices drop quickly. FF7 remake is now only £36 as an example. I can buy 2 games within 6 months of release or 1 at release, it makes sense to wait.
You will see Nintendos snide time limitation being adopted across the industry to keep prices high, I'm calling it now. Horrendous practice but it works. Hey hum what a load of crap.
@Kienda I know exactly where you are coming from however, each new FF changes things. Key tenants of FF are gathering a crew, levelling, physical attacks, magical attacks, a variety of enemies, Boss fights, a world spannaning narrative, a new world each time, a new set of characters each time, wonderful locations, great music, chocobos and muggles. Everything else is up for grabs.
The major disappointment for FF13 and why its regularly disappointed long time fans; it was a boring slog and an average game.
No npcs, No towns, constant corridor walking, gated levelling, bizarre falcie lcie naming conventions and each new area had a rubbish implementation of gradually increasing enemy mobs which is hardly ever talked about. It was a by the numbers snooze fest with a bizarre story and hardly anything going on. The post game pulse stuff was fantastic but we weren't allowed that as we couldn't be trusted with the complex mechanics for the first 80% of the game, when the game for the most part played itself. 5/10.
FF15 on the other hand is really interesting and has some stellar ideas. I loved the world, cooking and the story was great (but really disjointed). It still has the FF soul.
£449 is decent. Now I need GT7 to be available at release with Spidey. Backwards compatibility was a good shout - Makes the transition easier with a backlog.
@themightyant Initially I thought it was OK. But the more you play, the more you improve. As @Liberty____1st wrote you do improve. Down in the lower levels you can have fun just trying to hit the ball which is harder that you rember. Once you are upto silver everyone can hit the ball so it's more about positioning and not ball chasing. In Gold you need to get good at aerials and guesstimating when you can run for boost. At Platinum you need tactics and a hell of a lot more as opponents Rob boost, tactically blow you up and have various points of attack. It's brilliant!
@Northern_munkey my vanilla PS4 had an issue, regularly crashing due to cpu load. I got really unlucky - one of the initial line PS4s I got in a bundle. It got so bad around 2 and a bit years after purchasing it was a gamble wherever games would work or fail, worse outright hard crash.
My PS4 Pro on the other hand has been amazing, I don't have any of the issues which have been reported. But let's be honest there have been a lot of issues reported.
So this news has me concerned about ordering a mark 1 PS5. I loved my vanilla PS4 but Im going to wait for the second or third batch - hopefully Easter 2021. That's a difficult decision as I have the money aside. Worth sitting it out when the consoles should last the next 6-7 years.
@banbrodrive on a controller it wasn't good to control in any way.
Maybe I missed the sweetspot but I gave it a shot and couldn't find the balance. As an aside I love racing games: Forza, GT Sport, Dirt, Burnout Paradise, Ridge Racer, F1, Mantis, Wipeout, Sonic Team Racing. Project Cars controlled terribly.
On the other hand it's meant to be a beast on a wheel. I will get one next gen.
@Smoolio I'm way out of touch man, if by out of touch you mean sensible, intelligent and against exploitation.
Ignore away smoolio you only entered the fray to promote awful business tactics like some wannabe pyramid scheme spokesperson. We have all met people like you before. I could never convince you of anything as you are actively promoting nonsense which clearly most of us are against.
Wherever it will prove popular only time will tell. I don't like it either way.
Comments 5,853
Re: Soapbox: Demon's Souls' Difficulty Shouldn't Deter You from Playing PS5's Best Game
I'm not a fan of Souls games but see the allure. Arduous with big kicks to the nuts when you die and have to trek miles to pick up your old gear. The euphoria of beating a boss doesn't mitigate the frustration of getting killed and losing all your stuff. A few games have gone down this path, Hollow Knight in particular is a good example. It's brilliant until you lose 800 in game credits trying to get back to your body.
They review well which is understandable. And for many the win after a struggle is massive. But for me the payoff isn't worth the time investment. The good thing is that these games have an audience and a developer keen to make them. I think that's a win for everyone.
Re: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gareth Bale Voice Objection to FIFA 21 Likenesses
Ibras been around so long he was in Sensible world of Soccer. To be fair his name was spelt funny and he was rubbish but still.
Re: PS5 Stock Drop Leads to Kohl's Cancellations
@Steve30000 or Poundland!
Re: Poll: Did You Get a PS5?
I'm happy to wait. A bit jealous for sure but the storage is a big issue - hopefully a solution comes around and it's not an additional £200+ for the proprietary SSD. Combined with £70 games and yeah I can wait. See what the scene is like in March/April.
Re: Spider-Man PS4 Allegedly Sells More Than 20 Million Copies
£50 X 20,000,000 = £1,000,000,000
A billion squid.
Now why are we having to pay £70 a flipping game?
Re: Claim Another Easy Platinum Trophy with My Name Is Mayo 2, Out Today on PS4
Get in. The first one was a breath of fresh air with awesome game mechanics. Press X and collect trophies. It doesn't get any better than that.
As long as you only do this type of game once a year it's all gravy.
Re: Dreams Is Backwards Compatible on PS5, Creations Will Get Performance Boost
What MM achieved with Dreams is staggering. The music creation suite is a full price game in its own right. Praise the lord Dreams is coming to PS5.
Re: Fuser (PS4) - A Bold New Frontier for Rhythm Games
@gbanas92 only just seen the review. How does the game score you? In rhythm action you usually hit a button at the right time. If you are free-forming mixes it would surely need another method of scoring?
Or is the point of the game a toolkit for musicians?
Re: Sony Considered Raising PS5 Game Prices Beyond $70, Says New Report
@TG16_IS_BAE fair enough if you live in Country not in recession. I mentioned it was £140 for 2 games that clearly indicates I'm in the UK or a few satellite countries within our political orbit like Gibraltar or the Falklands.
It is the worst recession since the second world war. I'm unsure how safe in your job you personally are but things have got spikey here and taxes will inevitably rise to pay for the various schemes and expenditure incurred throughout the crisis. We have the highest unemployment since 2016 and it's being propped up by furlough schemes, without them it would be back to the 80s.
You equally compared a CEO to a stockholder. They are different. As a silent partner or public investor they do significantly less work than a worker. As they don't do a dot other than a financial transaction. I know I am one and it's spare cash other less fortunate people don't have.
Also game prices have changed. I keep hearing chuff of how games were £60 back in the day. This was an extreme price in the 90s. Most cartridges were under £40 usually less, until the heavy meg carts were introduced and Nintendo were taken to task for price fixing and rightfully fined. Disc based games were always cheaper - highlighted when the PS1 released and games were £30 for the latest games. Activision have less employees and less aftercare (shutting the Irish help centre as an example) than 5 years ago. Demon Souls is a remake - so the source material is already there, no need for researchers, writers, mechanic developers and character designers - just money for usually cheaper artists and graphical designers. Bluepoint has around 90 staff, if they all averaged £40,000 (way over the average UK employee) a year it would equate to 7.2million over 2 years. To make the money back they need to sell 120,000 copies at £60 a pop. That's it. If it goes on to sell a 3 million copies its grossly in profit to the sum of £172,800,000 at £60 a game.
Now you tell me why I need to pay £70 a game?
Re: NBA 2K21 on PS5 Needs a Minimum 150GB of That Precious SSD
@nessisonett The Vita was awesome but I don't understand why they want limited storage. I would have bought 200 games but due to my 8gb and 16gb cards bought maybe 25 altogether. I can see this happening with PS5 and that's not good.
Re: UK Sales Charts: Watch Dogs Legion Slips and Racing Games Fall Behind in Quiet Week for PS4
@KingPev This 100%
I always look at game stands in Supermarkets and it's the same crap every time with the very odd adjustment. Such as a new Cod or Ass Creed. I am not surprised the charts are so skewed.
Re: Sony Considered Raising PS5 Game Prices Beyond $70, Says New Report
@TG16_IS_BAE sorry you sound like a mouthpiece for the gaming industry suits.
Games companies are making more than ever with billion pound takeovers, appalling crunch conditions and in many ways cheaper labour than in the 80s as more people have game making skills. The money isn't being used to fund development. It's used to buy a Ferrari for a stock holder who wouldn't know Aloy if she shot an arrow up their ass.
Console games were overpriced in the 80s and 90s, in part because carts were themselves expensive to produce. A fairer comparison are games shipped on floppy disc which were £10-£20 at release. Stop being an apologist £140 for 2 games is just insane during the biggest recession of our lifetimes.
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Want to Know About PS5?
@Medic_Alert thanks mate.
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Want to Know About PS5?
@get2sammyb Will Dreams be fully working on PS5?
Re: Cyberpunk 2077 Delay Is Due to Current-Gen Consoles After All
@get2sammyb Didn't they give the same reason when they delayed the game way back in April / May?
Re: PS5 vs Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S: Full Tech Specs Comparison
@danny281 cheers for the reply. But this article is from September!
Re: PS5, PS4 Architect Mark Cerny Is a Better Gamer Than You
He platted Astrobot and the Witness. What a legend.
Re: Fantastic PS4 Video Shows One Second of Every Game That Defined the Generation
PS4 has been an awesome generation. So much so that I am gamed out. Astrobot, Rocket League, Yakuza zero, HZD, Hotline Miami, The Witness, Tekken 7, Streets of Rage 4. Then my personal favourite Dreams.
What a generation after the grey and sombre previous gen.
Re: NBA 2K21 Is the Next Game to Include Unskippable Adverts After Launch
@RedShirtRod and you've made me realise if MS are asking for additional money for any aspect of minesweeper this and more nonsense is coming. Flipping minesweeper with Ads? Jeez. I could play without Ads in 1995.
Re: All Hallows' Dreams Is a Community Created Haunted House for You to Explore
@get2sammyb it's the best game as a service yet ROFL.
Everyone is getting better and better at using Dreams. I mentioned it the other day and was scoffed at but genuinely some of my favourite gaming time has been in Dreams this year.
Re: Dreams Update 2.18 Available Now, Enhances Music Making with New Instruments and More
@Svark Why are you concerned? The people still using it are free talent with free game ideas. Just recently some of the best games I have played this year are on the dreamiverse (but take some finding).
Less idiots = better experience. I just hope they don't switch the servers off in the long run.
This updates great. This is what's achievable in Dreams these days;
https://youtube.com/watch?v=HztnOaWf0RU&t=3s
Re: UK Sales Charts: Physical Crash 4 Sales Down 80% on N. Sane Trilogy
£55 is a bit much.
£70 next gen during the worst recession of our lifetimes amongst a pandemic is insane.
Re: Sony Abandons Decades-Old Japanese Controller Logic for PS5
They should add 2 more buttons. Nothing to do with this article but the 6 button megadrive/genesis pad was brilliant!
Re: Can You Name These PlayStation Launch Games?
12 out of 15.
Come on what a result!
Re: PS Plus October 2020 PS4 Games Announced
@nhSnork @redd212 EA wound the microstransactions back with an apology shortly after release. The fallout was too much and the brand was in the dirt. It still is to a degree. The version Sammy reviewed was the publishers intended product. I'm guessing Redd you played it way after release?
People have such short memories.
Re: Gallery: New Astro's Playroom PS5 Screenshots Are Gorgeous and Adorable
I'm not getting a launch PS5, I am so jealous of all you lucky, soon to be Astro fans.
Re: Football Manager 2021 Is Not on PS5, PS4 Because Sony Didn't Send Devkits
It's hard for Sony to agree as FM isn't a game, it's a tutorial for Microsofts Access and Excel.
Re: SEGA's Making a Live Action Yakuza Movie
I started Yakuza 4 on ps now last night and was thinking about how good a film would be. Sky finance let's go!!!
Re: Japanese YouTubers to Go Hands On with PS5 in Early October
@ApostateMage And don't forget to slam that like button!
Re: Japanese YouTubers to Go Hands On with PS5 in Early October
Youtubers are more important than Pushsquare?
Some time in 2019 I must have entered a portal to an alternate reality where everything goes bad.
Re: Reaction: Bethesda Acquisition Is a Kick in the Balls for PS5, But Sony's Goals Won't Change
@Richnj I receive the general stock holders information for Capcom and there are no plans on the company selling up that I've read. Currently focus is on the 2 Switch Monster Hunter games and a new e sports fighting tournament. I don't see the allure for Sony and it makes no sense for Capcom who have become more nimble within the industry and everyones made a ton of money the last 5 years and stocks have doubled in value the last 12 months.
Re: Gallery: Destruction AllStars Detonates Four PS5 Screenshots
I thought this looked alright until you realise it's £70.
£70 for the next On Rush. Yay.
Re: Soapbox: Screw Sony's PS5 Game Pricing, I'll Just Wait for Sales
I like taking punts on random games. Not going to do that with each costing £70. So less games get bought. It's too much of an increase during a recession in my eyes and a really bad call.
I have always strongly supported buying games at release to support the industry. I just can't see the benefit now, the microtransactions will still be pushed and prices drop quickly. FF7 remake is now only £36 as an example. I can buy 2 games within 6 months of release or 1 at release, it makes sense to wait.
You will see Nintendos snide time limitation being adopted across the industry to keep prices high, I'm calling it now. Horrendous practice but it works. Hey hum what a load of crap.
Re: Final Fantasy XVI Announced, PS5 Console Exclusive, Gameplay Trailer
@Kienda I know exactly where you are coming from however, each new FF changes things. Key tenants of FF are gathering a crew, levelling, physical attacks, magical attacks, a variety of enemies, Boss fights, a world spannaning narrative, a new world each time, a new set of characters each time, wonderful locations, great music, chocobos and muggles. Everything else is up for grabs.
The major disappointment for FF13 and why its regularly disappointed long time fans; it was a boring slog and an average game.
No npcs, No towns, constant corridor walking, gated levelling, bizarre falcie lcie naming conventions and each new area had a rubbish implementation of gradually increasing enemy mobs which is hardly ever talked about. It was a by the numbers snooze fest with a bizarre story and hardly anything going on. The post game pulse stuff was fantastic but we weren't allowed that as we couldn't be trusted with the complex mechanics for the first 80% of the game, when the game for the most part played itself. 5/10.
FF15 on the other hand is really interesting and has some stellar ideas. I loved the world, cooking and the story was great (but really disjointed). It still has the FF soul.
Re: Talking Point: Did the PS5 Showcase Event Deliver?
£449 is decent. Now I need GT7 to be available at release with Spidey. Backwards compatibility was a good shout - Makes the transition easier with a backlog.
Re: Final Fantasy XVI Announced, PS5 Console Exclusive, Gameplay Trailer
Looks good but FF has to drop the crystal gimmick, always blooming crystals.
Re: Rocket League Goes Free-to-Play on 23rd September, Gets Amazing CG Trailer
@themightyant Initially I thought it was OK. But the more you play, the more you improve. As @Liberty____1st wrote you do improve. Down in the lower levels you can have fun just trying to hit the ball which is harder that you rember. Once you are upto silver everyone can hit the ball so it's more about positioning and not ball chasing. In Gold you need to get good at aerials and guesstimating when you can run for boost. At Platinum you need tactics and a hell of a lot more as opponents Rob boost, tactically blow you up and have various points of attack. It's brilliant!
Re: Rumour: Sony Forced to Cut PS5 Production By 4 Million Units Due to Chip Troubles
@Northern_munkey my vanilla PS4 had an issue, regularly crashing due to cpu load. I got really unlucky - one of the initial line PS4s I got in a bundle. It got so bad around 2 and a bit years after purchasing it was a gamble wherever games would work or fail, worse outright hard crash.
My PS4 Pro on the other hand has been amazing, I don't have any of the issues which have been reported. But let's be honest there have been a lot of issues reported.
So this news has me concerned about ordering a mark 1 PS5. I loved my vanilla PS4 but Im going to wait for the second or third batch - hopefully Easter 2021. That's a difficult decision as I have the money aside. Worth sitting it out when the consoles should last the next 6-7 years.
Re: Project CARS 3 - A Somewhat Fun Arcade Racer Going Through an Identity Crisis
@banbrodrive on a controller it wasn't good to control in any way.
Maybe I missed the sweetspot but I gave it a shot and couldn't find the balance. As an aside I love racing games: Forza, GT Sport, Dirt, Burnout Paradise, Ridge Racer, F1, Mantis, Wipeout, Sonic Team Racing. Project Cars controlled terribly.
On the other hand it's meant to be a beast on a wheel. I will get one next gen.
Re: Poll: Did You Buy a PlayStation at Launch 25 Years Ago?
Ridge Racer. What a game that was.
And to think we were playing Super Hang on and Fzero the gen before. Which suddenly looked archaic.
Re: Sony's PSVR Reveals This Week Aren't Proving Popular
£425. Calling it now.
Re: PS5 Pre-Orders Open This Week... Starting at £7999 for a 24K Gold Console
8k for a 4k system with the most popular game by 2k. OK.
Re: Reaction: PS5 Price Under Scrutiny After Disruptive Xbox Series S Reveal
Best News Ever!!!!!
Microsoft saving me £250 this Christmas as my sons now getting this nerfed console. Well in MS.
I can then spend the saved money on games for my full phat PS5. Get in!
Re: Tennis World Tour 2 Adds Roland-Garros, But Only As Part of Annual Pass
Remember when we got 1 game with all of the stuff?
This business strategy is so horrid it makes me want to smash tennis balls at a line judge.
Re: Random: Is This the Luckiest Fall Guys Player Yet?
@LiamCroft this is way luckier
https://youtube.com/watch?v=9oG56-VtAcg
Can I get an article please
Re: Streets of Rage 4 Receives Huge Balancing Update Today on PS4
@Ashkorsair platinum?
Man I love SoR, I have like one S Rank on hard or above. Absolutely nails. You must have already got your moneys worth.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy With You PS Plus Games for September 2020?
You want GaaS everyone?
Hot stinking GaaS?
So much GaaS it gives a warm feeling in your trousers. With lumps.
Re: How Well Do You Know Final Fantasy IX?
I got a final fantasy 9 out of 20.
Re: Marvel's Avengers Has a Paid Battle Pass for Every Superhero After Launch
@Smoolio I'm way out of touch man, if by out of touch you mean sensible, intelligent and against exploitation.
Ignore away smoolio you only entered the fray to promote awful business tactics like some wannabe pyramid scheme spokesperson. We have all met people like you before. I could never convince you of anything as you are actively promoting nonsense which clearly most of us are against.
Wherever it will prove popular only time will tell. I don't like it either way.
Re: Marvel's Avengers Has a Paid Battle Pass for Every Superhero After Launch
@Smoolio
1) expansion packs.
2) Monthly set charge.
3) In game advertising.
4) Fan donations.
5) GOTY edition.
Just because you are small minded and happy with these ever increasing barriers to entree and pay to play mechanics doesnt mean we all are.
GaaS is a new thing, popular of course but that doesn't mean it's good.