AgentMantis

I've been looking forward to this one for a while!

The update many have waited years for and the community is currently crashing out as an unreleased character's 3d model looks slightly different from her 2d model.

I'm sick of all the whining. No amount of temper tantrums isn't going to change the fact that discs have become vestigial. The fact no major publishers have come out in defense of discs speaks volumes. In fact it's quite the opposite by publishing exactly how small disc sales are. Fan petitions have laughably low signatures in an ecosystem of 93m. Forums are filled with the same usernames repeatedly whining, its all coming across as what a sad life to lead.

DA1 was arguably the only one worth bothering with and that would need a massive glow up.

EA is where IP goes to die. The best we can hope for is the Saudi's to sell off the rights to IP they can't monetise to the high heavens.

@TheDarts give your head a wobble.

@hel105 HoYo's games are considered AAA live service. Their games are incredibly polished and are generally F2P friendly. Genshin is all about exploration in a primarily fantasy setting, HSR is strategic gameplay in a sci-fi setting, ZZZ is all about combat in an urban setting. Of the 3 ZZZ is my favourite, it's less demanding on your time or gacha pulls but requires higher player skill. It's free so pick your preference and give it a go. As for HoYo rivals, First Descendant is on life support, it's developers have been open about the unsustainability of losing 97% of its player base. NTE was hyped as the next big gacha but it's been met with a mixed response. Most of the criticism centres around it's lacklustre story and repetitive gameplay.

This entire thing is just sad. We've all seen the sales splits, while I still purchase physical the majority of gamers simply don't. There's been a lot of mobilisation in Xbox/PC forums to "kill" Sony by keeping up the pressure through false flag attacks. Some people need to desperately touch grass.

The biggest issue was it's weak writing, especially after 2 decent PoE games. It all felt incredibly safe.

People saying too much management and losing them is a good thing are missing the point. Talented, long standing members of the team are promoted into middle management roles as career progression, you end up with a padded management portfolio but you've retained crucial experience. Long term I don't think obsidian gets another crack at a release, they will exist as a support studio.

@SBBuds if it is the worst single layoff it'll be 2000 people, MS laid off 1,900 people off of the back of the Acti merger. What-abouting Sony's recent 200 is disingenuous.

I'm one of those who can't tell the difference.

The reveal killed any hype for me.

Sony will have signed manufacturing contracts but if I was them I'd be looking at eating the loss. Launching at that price will irreparably damage the brand, the Steam Machine hype died almost instantly online with the price reveal.

I played 1.1 on the PS5 it was nowhere near as bad as some made out. The PS4 version should have been yanked.

Lawyers incoming in 3..2..1

@awp69 Sony has closed 7 following it's disastrous live service push. Including these 3 Xbox will have also closed 7, they also all but killed Playground.

@RoomWithaMoose I wouldn't break an arm patting Nintendo on the back yet. There's a growing chorus of voices not happy with Nintendo's lack of big hitters. The WiiU remaster pipeline has dried up and it's showing in their empty release schedule.

Xbox needs PlayStation money, it's as simple as that. It makes the Gears decision look even more baffling. The hardware division is gone as soon as Helix launches, and there's no way they're selling it at a loss.

Been looking forward to this for a while

Lots to play this AUTUMN

@Juanalf Low stakes conspiracy. Xbox knows Gears won't shift on the Xbox either, in either sales or increased GP subs. It's a franchise that was last relevant in 2011. They can point to figures and say "look guys we tried" and carry on making money on PS5. Halo is guaranteed to shift copies and won't support that outcome.

Xbox is coming across like they have no idea what direction they want to move in. A will they, won't they strategy pleases no one on any side of the divide.

@IllusiveMan Sony allegedly tried to purchase them in 2019 and they are in a financial hole right now after AW2 broke even and FBC tanked hard. It might be just a bizarre one off exclusivity deal, it might be something more.

Looked like a lot of fun

Wow, daring today aren't we.

""A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its boots."

I really hope they manage to stick the landing on the concept.

It's pathetic how bent out of shape "real" gamers are getting over this. There's lots of criticism how Sony, big publishers and live service are destroying the industry but the toxic crowd who want to gatekeep gaming are doing as much harm. Anything that isn't aimed squarely at their (narrow) demographic is met with this kind of infantile nonsense.

Digital might be the better option on this one. It'll almost certainly be re-released for the PS6 then PS7. I'd be shocked of the base PS6 ships with a disc drive, it'll be an optional add on to keep the cost down. Physical sales will plummet to negligible and Sony will drop discs all together for the PS7.

The gen is almost over, if you've not upgraded by now, it's on you. You deserve to miss out.

The Crew Motorfest. It makes the wait for FH6 more bearable!

Somehow Sephiroth returned

NTE, like a lot of other F2P games, started off well but I'm already seeing complaints about shallow combat and a lack of content. It's the same kind of problems that sunk other games like Tower of Fantasy.

It's a title without significant mainstream appeal at a time when people are feeling the pinch.

The Outer Worlds was flawed but certainly not the Temu Fallout it is uncharitably described as.

I just can't see how it'll succeed. It's been nearly 10 years since Injustice 2 which was a solid, if not spectacular seller. MK1 tanked so they'll need to smash it out of the park to justify their continued existence to Paramount, who will be looking for some kind of return on the $111 billion they just dropped. PM is allegedly already looking at moving away from developing and publishing and into exclusively licensing their IPs as it is. On top of that superhero fatigue is real.

A shame. Their games were always flawed as their ambition always outstripped their budget but they had a rough charm. Greedfall should have been the game to propel them into bigger things, you had glimpses of what they could achieve with a little more resources, something Nacon was never going to give them.

Sure it was. 11/10.

If they did return to exclusives I can't see it playing out any other way than:

Xbox returns to exclusivity > Project Helix tanks as few people want to pay obscene money for what is seen as a dead format > Xbox releases on Playstation again > Xbox as a brand is dead and Microsoft looks like they have absolutely no idea what they are doing

How long until Gamepass Day 1 releases are on "case by case basis". PS+ gets a lot of criticism, not undeservedly in some cases, but they absolutely nailed the fact that day 1 subscription releases were terrible for the long term health of the platform.

Mario Galaxy was bad. The wife fell asleep halfway through.

The entire project was doomed. A studio with no experience making or running a modern live service game and who's primary audience is into single player games.

A bit of a filler month.

The entire project was in bad faith. The plans for the entire Digital storefront meta-verse they had promised investors is in ruins and people are furious at being misled. But it of course it wasn't them who pooped the bed, it was the mystery bad actor.

Why are you using suddenly using dollars when you're based in the UK?

They should have called it Turismo Gran and had old women racing each other on mobility scooters.

This is why this gen has been largely derailed and we've had comparatively few games. 60fps, 4k, ray-tracing, it all costs money to implement and it's just expected to be in AAA. Stuff like digital forge has fostered a sense of entitlement, anything less than the incredibly high benchmark is trashed. Studios can't experiment or make a game for a niche audience anymore, it has to be the broadest appealling game possible as success/failure is an absolute knife edge.

I'm completely burned out on Souls-likes but it's a decent choice.