@Shepherd_Tallon Wait, I thought these comments were all supposed to be 101 variations on “Sony is greedy” , mostly copied directly from the last article. You’re really mixing things up here by being reasonable.
It’s definitely a nice to have, not a need to have. Then again, everything gaming related is a nice to have, isn’t it.
@Shepherd_Tallon I’m usually of the same mind when it comes to horror games, but I actually managed to play through Silent Hill 2 back in the day and enjoyed it quite a bit.
@nessisonett Couldn’t agree more. Just about everything Brian K Vaughn wrote back in the early aughts was gold, but Runaways was really something special.
@nessisonett It does make you wonder if Italian history books don’t cover anything beyond 1921. Or maybe not enough of the electorate has seen Amarcord. That giant Mussolini head is quite the scene stealer.
@thefourfoldroot1 The VR task was pretty fun. It got me to hop back into Wipeout Omega for the first time in quite a while, and good lord what a game that is. I’m also finding that the trophy requirements to level up are getting me to revisit old games and clean up some of the trophies I skipped over before. I like being incentivized to enjoy things I already own.
Feels a bit like how I wound up with three copies of Citizen Kane, with each version slightly improved by the leap from DVD to BluRay to 4k. Is it necessary? No, but it’s nice to have it available.
@Jeaz You’re fighting the good fight with your airline analogy, but I would gladly pay 44 more bucks for a seat if they’d rip out those 20 space wasting first class loungers and give me just a bit more legroom. Also, who decides how much revenue a plane should bring in? Most likely a boardroom full of people whose wealth protects them from the terrible experience that air travel has become. But I digress. I agree with your point about tiered service. For better or worse, it already exists just about everywhere and there’s not much that can be done about it. It probably shouldn’t be a marketing bullet point, though. That’s just rubbing it in.
They have a whole section of PS Plus dedicated to “exclusive packs” for online games. It’s a nice little bonus for plus members and they refresh it fairly regularly.
@BlackMayge Although it's a bit snarky, it's not really the article's fault. It's mostly the folks who take pleasure in dumping on things that others enjoy. You know the type. As soon as a new headline pops up, they see it as their sworn duty to post a reductive, negative comment. I skip over those as best I can which makes this site much more pleasant, since there are still plenty of thoughtful and interesting comments to balance things out.
@Art_Vandelay I hear you. I lost most of spring to playing GT7, and it remains one of my favorite games of the year. The only downside for me has been reading the endless streams of bile that seep into every GT7 post from the perpetually negative who see even a free update a source of indignation.
I have a love/hate relationship with the trombone. I hated being assigned to play it in band class and my classmates loved to make fun of me for it. Emotional scars aside, if this gets a PS5 release I’ll definitely pick it up. Maybe I can write it off as video game therapy.
I always wonder if things like this are the evolution of the crazy letters people used to send complaining to newspapers and TV stations back in the pre-internet days. There have always been cranks out there, they just don’t need to use a stamp or a provide a return address anymore.
@stvevan This is a good point. If I was really invested in the original and just wanted a remaster, I'd be annoyed at any changes. For those folks, the best option is probably the SC HD collection released a while back. But to me, a remake opens the door to more changes. Also, I'm not big on disclaimers. They tend to age worse than the media they're trying to warn people about. Let things stand on their own two legs and be judged for what they are. The discussion on remakes has me thinking of old movies because there are so many great examples. His Girl Friday is an absolute classic, but also a remake of an earlier, middling film called The Front Page. It got a rewrite where one of the leads was switched from a man to a woman. Somehow, nobody got bent out of shape over the changes, but then maybe we were more enlightened in the 1940's.
@Kienda I've never understood why people use the phrase "force fed" when it comes to entertainment. You could go through your whole life and only engage with apolitical media if you chose to. That is, unless that red cap Mario wears has more meaning to it than I thought...
@tallythwack You know, I would play a reboot with Samantha Fisher. But I’m one of those people that only played the first one because the night vision goggles looked cool on the cover.
@Would_you_kindly I’m being a bit facetious, but it’s annoying that the rabble has been roused by their own imaginings about how a game’s story may be modernized for a remake. Films are remade and updated all the time and the results vary depending on the quality of the material. Games do it too, fixing errors, improving quality of life, and sometimes heading in new directions entirely as with FF7. When did this become such a problem?
@Would_you_kindly Judging from the comments, “the perpetually offended” seem to be people who’ve been triggered by a job posting to update a video game script.
@Rob_230 Even with the bizarre comments from Square Enix’s management, we still got three rather good Tomb Raider games. I was fairly blown away by the first one when it came out, and although there were some diminishing returns with the sequels, I found them all enjoyable.
I guess what I’m saying is that poor management often gets in the way of good games, but not always!
Seeing this makes me want another good old-fashioned Hatsune Miku rhythm game. Not whatever they tried to do in VR, and not a free to play thing. I appreciate them trying new things, but sometimes it’s just nice to push buttons in time to music.
@BartoxTharglod Some deep cuts there! Shatter is a stone cold classic and I can’t wait to pick up the remaster. X-blades is…not a classic, but I remember playing it and its sequel, Blades of Time. They’re like B-movies - good dumb fun when you need it. Caligula 2 and Sonic Forces I have, but embarrassingly, have not tried yet. This just gives me more incentive to give them a go.
@BartoxTharglod That’s an interesting take on soundtracks. It makes me think of the early days of the PS1 when games started to release with red book audio which made for spectacular soundtracks. It made a lot of games feel epic even if the gameplay wasn’t always top notch. Any examples of a game that you bumped up because of the audio?
@Royalblues Nice - I have the PS2 import of the first one but have never even seen the second. I remember the first having really impressive character animations compared to other fighters at the time. Really looking forward to playing the sequel.
I wish Clap Hanz nothing but the best. They somehow provided me with countless hours of entertainment playing a sport I don’t actually like. I do hope that their latest makes its way to Playstation eventually, since my Switch has been mostly decorative for a very long time.
Ohhh, hunting like in Monster Hunter or Toukiden. I was really confused for a second as to why Koei Tecmo was involved in a game where you dress in camouflage with bright orange accents and attempt to vanquish the mighty white tailed deer.
@Gloamin That makes sense. Still, I like to leave a little wiggle room to the author since what seems natural is dependent on the reader. And while it's true that there are quite a few bad writers out there, they will always be vastly outnumbered by bad readers.
@Gloamin You make some good points, but your first sentence is killing me. What on earth does it mean to naturally include something in a work of fiction cut from whole cloth? Surely anything included by the author is natural if they intend it to be there.
Just wait until it gets a Switch port and the good folks at DF will write an article about what a miracle of coding it is. EG will probably retroactively recommend it as well.
@themightyant To echo @XOF, you make an excellent point. It takes some real heavy lifting to make an overpowered character compelling. It’s so much easier to relate to protagonists who are relatively weak compared to what they struggle against. Still, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, and plenty of others have managed to make near omnipotence very engaging over the years.
The comments seem evenly divided between those who want the PS4 UI and those that want a Windows desktop. At least the two sides can agree that petulance and vitriol are the appropriate responses to not liking the home screen on a game console.
@Ralizah I’m definitely hopeful, especially since I have fond memories of Wild Arms (still one of the best opening themes in gaming) and Shadow Hearts. My only gripe with Kickstarter is that it shifts risk directly to the consumer by crowdfunding the traditional role of a producer. Still, there are a lot of things that wouldn’t exist without it, so while I’m still antsy, I’m also glad that its available as a funding option.
Kickstarter makes me antsy, but I’m glad to see these two games get funded. I do wonder why Sony hasn’t combed through some of the old gems from past generations to see what’s worth reviving through a developer partnership. It seems like there’s a lot of interest there.
@Amnesiac Hi me from a year ago! You did indeed buy Toem and you really enjoyed it. There was a bit of annoying backtracking, but overall it was excellent and more than worth the asking price.
@Northern_munkey It’s entirely possible that adding the pride face paint was a small but important gesture for some of the folks who work at Guerrilla. Not sure why its assumed that every instance of outreach is cynical and doesn’t represent people who work for the companies behind it. Then again, maybe Guerrilla only employs white heterosexual males.
Finally picked up the PS5 version of Devil May Cry 5. Receiving a notice that something long buried on my wishlist is finally on sale is a nice way to start the day. Except for Sonic Origins. That price is still not nice.
@Royalblues Exclusivity is the reason some of these games get made in the first place as the deals often cover part of development costs. It’s likely not the case with FF, but SFV, Bayonetta 2, and a host of other games leveraged exclusivity to get development off the ground.
Also, if all games were available on all systems, it would obviate the need for a killer app. I’m sure there would still be plenty of good stuff to play, but a game would just need to be good enough to turn a profit, not sell a system. As with most things, exclusivity has its pros and cons.
Sometimes the best option is to go ahead and miss your targets. It may cause short term pain and a stock dip, but why continue to associate the brand with negativity?
@Wolfie_Pie Thanks for the dose of nostalgia. I played that game so much that more than 20(!) years later the lyrics “Nobody knows me ‘til I say Hi I’m Kelly” are still burned into my brain.
Comments 935
Re: PS5 Users Unimpressed with DualSense Edge Controller's Premium Price Tag
@Shepherd_Tallon Wait, I thought these comments were all supposed to be 101 variations on “Sony is greedy” , mostly copied directly from the last article. You’re really mixing things up here by being reasonable.
It’s definitely a nice to have, not a need to have. Then again, everything gaming related is a nice to have, isn’t it.
Re: Gotham Knights (PS5) - It's Actually Pretty Good
@naruball Yes, it seems that a number of folks have their ability to enjoy games locked at 60 fps.
Re: Silent Hill 2 PS5 Remake Announced as a Console Exclusive
@Shepherd_Tallon I’m usually of the same mind when it comes to horror games, but I actually managed to play through Silent Hill 2 back in the day and enjoyed it quite a bit.
With the lights on, of course.
Happy to see it, and the series make a comeback.
Re: Nico Minoru Doubles Down on Random Elements in Marvel's Midnight Suns
@nessisonett Couldn’t agree more. Just about everything Brian K Vaughn wrote back in the early aughts was gold, but Runaways was really something special.
Re: As Energy Prices Soar, Consider an Alternative to Video Streaming on PS5, PS4
@nessisonett It does make you wonder if Italian history books don’t cover anything beyond 1921. Or maybe not enough of the electorate has seen Amarcord. That giant Mussolini head is quite the scene stealer.
Re: Reminder: PS5, PS4 Loyalty Scheme PS Stars Arrives in Europe This Week
@thefourfoldroot1 The VR task was pretty fun. It got me to hop back into Wipeout Omega for the first time in quite a while, and good lord what a game that is. I’m also finding that the trophy requirements to level up are getting me to revisit old games and clean up some of the trophies I skipped over before. I like being incentivized to enjoy things I already own.
Re: Mass DDoS Attack Unplugs Overwatch 2's PS5, PS4 Servers at Launch
Removed
Re: Talking Point: We Need to Discuss This Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 Remaster
Feels a bit like how I wound up with three copies of Citizen Kane, with each version slightly improved by the leap from DVD to BluRay to 4k. Is it necessary? No, but it’s nice to have it available.
Re: PS Stars Appears to Have a Secret, Invite-Only Diamond Tier
@riceNpea There isn’t a groan button so I gave you a like instead.
Re: Hands On: Side-Scrolling Multiplayer Shooter SquadBlast Is Like 2D Overwatch
Reading about this brought back memories of Crash Commando on the PS3, which I'm just realizing came out 14 years ago. My god I'm old...
Re: Sony Gates Customer Service Priority Behind New PS Stars Program
@Jeaz You’re fighting the good fight with your airline analogy, but I would gladly pay 44 more bucks for a seat if they’d rip out those 20 space wasting first class loungers and give me just a bit more legroom. Also, who decides how much revenue a plane should bring in? Most likely a boardroom full of people whose wealth protects them from the terrible experience that air travel has become.
But I digress. I agree with your point about tiered service. For better or worse, it already exists just about everywhere and there’s not much that can be done about it. It probably shouldn’t be a marketing bullet point, though. That’s just rubbing it in.
Re: PS Plus Fall Guys Pack Gives You Free Money
@huyi The same thing all forms of money gets you: fleeting happiness. ヾ(๑╹◡╹)ノ"
Re: PS Plus Fall Guys Pack Gives You Free Money
They have a whole section of PS Plus dedicated to “exclusive packs” for online games. It’s a nice little bonus for plus members and they refresh it fairly regularly.
Re: HD-2D Art Style on PS5, PS4 Must Wait as Tactics Ogre Reborn Team Turns It Down
@Flaming_Kaiser You seem to have misread “a lot of effort” as “bare minimum.”
Re: Ubisoft Seems to Think Far Cry 6 Was Game of the Year
@BlackMayge Although it's a bit snarky, it's not really the article's fault. It's mostly the folks who take pleasure in dumping on things that others enjoy. You know the type. As soon as a new headline pops up, they see it as their sworn duty to post a reductive, negative comment. I skip over those as best I can which makes this site much more pleasant, since there are still plenty of thoughtful and interesting comments to balance things out.
Re: Magik Will Have You Thinking with Portals in Marvel's Midnight Suns
@riceNpea Ah, but do they get to take in the sights of Limbo every time they teleport?
I know I’m spoiled getting Magik in a console game, but it kind of makes me want a Claremont era based New Mutants game.
Re: Gran Turismo 7's Spectacular Support Continues with Three New Cars Next Week
@Art_Vandelay I hear you. I lost most of spring to playing GT7, and it remains one of my favorite games of the year. The only downside for me has been reading the endless streams of bile that seep into every GT7 post from the perpetually negative who see even a free update a source of indignation.
Re: Random: PS5, PS4's Pad Was Made for Viral Sensation Trombone Champ
@PegasusActual93 Yeah, saxophone is quite a bit higher up on the instrument dignity scale.
Re: Random: PS5, PS4's Pad Was Made for Viral Sensation Trombone Champ
I have a love/hate relationship with the trombone. I hated being assigned to play it in band class and my classmates loved to make fun of me for it. Emotional scars aside, if this gets a PS5 release I’ll definitely pick it up. Maybe I can write it off as video game therapy.
Re: Spider-Man: Miles Morales Drops Teaser Trailer for PC Version
This game has charm to spare. That holiday dinner scene is one of my favorite moments in gaming.
Re: Apex Legends Studio Respawn Speaks Out Against Ongoing Dev Harassment
I always wonder if things like this are the evolution of the crazy letters people used to send complaining to newspapers and TV stations back in the pre-internet days. There have always been cranks out there, they just don’t need to use a stamp or a provide a return address anymore.
Re: Splinter Cell Remake's Story Is Being Rewritten and Updated for a Modern-Day Audience
@stvevan This is a good point. If I was really invested in the original and just wanted a remaster, I'd be annoyed at any changes. For those folks, the best option is probably the SC HD collection released a while back. But to me, a remake opens the door to more changes. Also, I'm not big on disclaimers. They tend to age worse than the media they're trying to warn people about. Let things stand on their own two legs and be judged for what they are.
The discussion on remakes has me thinking of old movies because there are so many great examples. His Girl Friday is an absolute classic, but also a remake of an earlier, middling film called The Front Page. It got a rewrite where one of the leads was switched from a man to a woman. Somehow, nobody got bent out of shape over the changes, but then maybe we were more enlightened in the 1940's.
Re: Splinter Cell Remake's Story Is Being Rewritten and Updated for a Modern-Day Audience
@Kienda I've never understood why people use the phrase "force fed" when it comes to entertainment. You could go through your whole life and only engage with apolitical media if you chose to. That is, unless that red cap Mario wears has more meaning to it than I thought...
Re: Splinter Cell Remake's Story Is Being Rewritten and Updated for a Modern-Day Audience
@tallythwack You know, I would play a reboot with Samantha Fisher. But I’m one of those people that only played the first one because the night vision goggles looked cool on the cover.
Re: Splinter Cell Remake's Story Is Being Rewritten and Updated for a Modern-Day Audience
@Would_you_kindly I’m being a bit facetious, but it’s annoying that the rabble has been roused by their own imaginings about how a game’s story may be modernized for a remake. Films are remade and updated all the time and the results vary depending on the quality of the material. Games do it too, fixing errors, improving quality of life, and sometimes heading in new directions entirely as with FF7. When did this become such a problem?
Re: Splinter Cell Remake's Story Is Being Rewritten and Updated for a Modern-Day Audience
@Would_you_kindly Judging from the comments, “the perpetually offended” seem to be people who’ve been triggered by a job posting to update a video game script.
Re: Embracer CEO Doesn't Expect a Great Return on Investment from Saints Row
@Rob_230 Even with the bizarre comments from Square Enix’s management, we still got three rather good Tomb Raider games. I was fairly blown away by the first one when it came out, and although there were some diminishing returns with the sequels, I found them all enjoyable.
I guess what I’m saying is that poor management often gets in the way of good games, but not always!
Re: Hatsune Miku the Latest to Join Fall Guys in Upcoming Event
Seeing this makes me want another good old-fashioned Hatsune Miku rhythm game. Not whatever they tried to do in VR, and not a free to play thing. I appreciate them trying new things, but sometimes it’s just nice to push buttons in time to music.
Re: Mini Review: Hardspace: Shipbreaker (PS5) - Slow But Satisfying Ship Scrapping
@BartoxTharglod Some deep cuts there! Shatter is a stone cold classic and I can’t wait to pick up the remaster. X-blades is…not a classic, but I remember playing it and its sequel, Blades of Time. They’re like B-movies - good dumb fun when you need it. Caligula 2 and Sonic Forces I have, but embarrassingly, have not tried yet. This just gives me more incentive to give them a go.
Re: Mini Review: Hardspace: Shipbreaker (PS5) - Slow But Satisfying Ship Scrapping
@BartoxTharglod That’s an interesting take on soundtracks. It makes me think of the early days of the PS1 when games started to release with red book audio which made for spectacular soundtracks. It made a lot of games feel epic even if the gameplay wasn’t always top notch. Any examples of a game that you bumped up because of the audio?
Re: Square Enix Showcases 20 Full Minutes of Octopath Traveler 2 Gameplay
@IonMagi What you do in bed with your Switch is your own business…
Re: Cult Fighter The Rumble Fish 2 Combos to PS5, PS4 in December
@Royalblues Nice - I have the PS2 import of the first one but have never even seen the second. I remember the first having really impressive character animations compared to other fighters at the time. Really looking forward to playing the sequel.
Re: Hot Shots Golf Dev Whiffs on PS5, PS4 with Successor's Console Port
I wish Clap Hanz nothing but the best. They somehow provided me with countless hours of entertainment playing a sport I don’t actually like. I do hope that their latest makes its way to Playstation eventually, since my Switch has been mostly decorative for a very long time.
Re: EA Publishing AAA Feudal Japan Title from Koei Tecmo's Omega Force
Ohhh, hunting like in Monster Hunter or Toukiden. I was really confused for a second as to why Koei Tecmo was involved in a game where you dress in camouflage with bright orange accents and attempt to vanquish the mighty white tailed deer.
Re: Round Up: Forspoken Previews Prove It's More Than a Meme
@Gloamin That makes sense. Still, I like to leave a little wiggle room to the author since what seems natural is dependent on the reader. And while it's true that there are quite a few bad writers out there, they will always be vastly outnumbered by bad readers.
Re: Round Up: Forspoken Previews Prove It's More Than a Meme
@Gloamin You make some good points, but your first sentence is killing me. What on earth does it mean to naturally include something in a work of fiction cut from whole cloth? Surely anything included by the author is natural if they intend it to be there.
Re: Assassin's Creed Mirage May Be Rated Adults Only Due to Real Gambling
@Smiffy01 You deserve infinite likes for the amazing Ramones reference.
Re: Assassin's Creed Mirage May Be Rated Adults Only Due to Real Gambling
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the AO symbol before, and for some reason it looks rather pleasant. Not like that stern looking M for mature.
Fun to say out loud too. Makes you sound like a New Yorker. Ay-oh, watch it, I’m walkin’ here!
Re: Soul Hackers 2 Technical Issues Taken to Task in Digital Foundry Analysis
Just wait until it gets a Switch port and the good folks at DF will write an article about what a miracle of coding it is. EG will probably retroactively recommend it as well.
Re: The Witcher 4 Will Kick Off a Multi-Game Saga, Says CD Projekt RED
@themightyant To echo @XOF, you make an excellent point. It takes some real heavy lifting to make an overpowered character compelling. It’s so much easier to relate to protagonists who are relatively weak compared to what they struggle against. Still, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, and plenty of others have managed to make near omnipotence very engaging over the years.
Re: The Witcher 4 Will Kick Off a Multi-Game Saga, Says CD Projekt RED
That sounds very ambitious. Thank goodness CDPR is a company that never gets out over their skis…
Re: Latest PS5 Firmware Available Now, Adds Folders, 1440p Support, Much More
The comments seem evenly divided between those who want the PS4 UI and those that want a Windows desktop. At least the two sides can agree that petulance and vitriol are the appropriate responses to not liking the home screen on a game console.
Re: Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood Smash Kickstarter Stretch Goal, Officially Coming to PS5
@Ralizah I’m definitely hopeful, especially since I have fond memories of Wild Arms (still one of the best opening themes in gaming) and Shadow Hearts. My only gripe with Kickstarter is that it shifts risk directly to the consumer by crowdfunding the traditional role of a producer. Still, there are a lot of things that wouldn’t exist without it, so while I’m still antsy, I’m also glad that its available as a funding option.
Re: Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood Smash Kickstarter Stretch Goal, Officially Coming to PS5
Kickstarter makes me antsy, but I’m glad to see these two games get funded. I do wonder why Sony hasn’t combed through some of the old gems from past generations to see what’s worth reviving through a developer partnership. It seems like there’s a lot of interest there.
Re: Mini Review: Toem (PS5) - Photography Puzzler Is a Picture Perfect Adventure
@Amnesiac Hi me from a year ago! You did indeed buy Toem and you really enjoyed it. There was a bit of annoying backtracking, but overall it was excellent and more than worth the asking price.
Re: Horizon Forbidden West Patch 1.18 Is Out Now on PS5, PS4
@Northern_munkey It’s entirely possible that adding the pride face paint was a small but important gesture for some of the folks who work at Guerrilla. Not sure why its assumed that every instance of outreach is cynical and doesn’t represent people who work for the companies behind it. Then again, maybe Guerrilla only employs white heterosexual males.
Re: Latest PS Store Sale Reduces Prices on PS5, PS4 DLC, Special Editions, More
Finally picked up the PS5 version of Devil May Cry 5. Receiving a notice that something long buried on my wishlist is finally on sale is a nice way to start the day. Except for Sonic Origins. That price is still not nice.
Re: PS5 Price Increase Has Some Japanese Players Praying for PC Port of Final Fantasy 16
@Royalblues Exclusivity is the reason some of these games get made in the first place as the deals often cover part of development costs. It’s likely not the case with FF, but SFV, Bayonetta 2, and a host of other games leveraged exclusivity to get development off the ground.
Also, if all games were available on all systems, it would obviate the need for a killer app. I’m sure there would still be plenty of good stuff to play, but a game would just need to be good enough to turn a profit, not sell a system. As with most things, exclusivity has its pros and cons.
Re: Why the PS5's Price Hasn't Changed in USA
Sometimes the best option is to go ahead and miss your targets. It may cause short term pain and a stock dip, but why continue to associate the brand with negativity?
Re: Rythym Fighting Game God of Rock Lays Down a Beat This Winter
@Wolfie_Pie Thanks for the dose of nostalgia. I played that game so much that more than 20(!) years later the lyrics “Nobody knows me ‘til I say Hi I’m Kelly” are still burned into my brain.