@nessisonett I have close to 400 hours in GT7, and more that 90% of it is in single player. Sure, you must be connected to the internet, but that has never been an issue for me. There's endless "offline" content and the cafe menus are very engaging for car lovers.
@DennisReynolds If by "grind" you mean "race" well, that's the whole point of the game. Earning credits is a mere consequence and, buying cars, a nice distraction. And to be honest, I find the rewards to be pretty generous.
The game was already great at launch, and they've given us years of free updates. The physics model has been adjusted to perfection, the AI is night and day where Sophy is available, VR support is sublime, PS5 Pro support is stellar both inside and outside of VR, and so on and so forth.
Spider-Man 2 must be up because of its aggressive recent sale. I just picked it up for 62% off and it is fantastic. But dear God, is it preachy. The writing is unbearably bad in absolute contrast to the top-notch gameplay and visuals.
@Kairuuu Right, must be an updated model, then. The current one is already leaps and bounds better than the traditional AI, but it's limited to 'quick races' and it's not available in all tracks.
I hope they expand it significantly. I don't think it will happen just yet, but there will be the day when Sophy will be the default AI model. And the days when AI opponents were oblivious to your presence on the track will be a thing of the past.
@Kairuuu What do you mean by "new" Sophy? Are they updating the model? The current Sophy is pretty good in my opinion. It definitely makes the AI a lot more human-like.
@Dogbreath If you're referring to the PSVR2 version, I heard there's an issue with foveated rendering. So you could try disabling eye tracking for this one.
"Microsoft has allegedly already started to warn partners that it will be increasing the price of the Xbox Series X|S again, as it didn’t have the foresight to stockpile inventory in advance."
Not a lack of foresight, but a lack of focus. Microsoft does not give the slightest f* about Xbox Series sales.
@rjejr You conveniently call the Switch a handheld to support your argument, but it's still a console. A hybrid, for that matter. In fact, it is the closest ecosystem of the bunch, and it proves beyond doubt that consoles and exclusives are not "antiquated". I'm not arguing about the form factor, I'm arguing that the business model will keep working for the foreseeable future for Sony if it sticks to its guns.
We've been having this conversation for decades at this point. "The next generation will be the last generation". Sure, some day it might, but Sony doesn't have to work actively to facilitate it. That's the mistake I think it's making. Short-term small profits over long-term sustainability.
@cragis0001 You assume every PlayStation gamer has no Steam library, which isn't true. The intersection could be significantly larger than you think.
You also assume that every gamer is strongly attached to their library. That is also false for many people, as casual gamers just play the latest hot game and move on.
If there's enough incentive, people will jump ship. And again, these trends could take decades, but the time eventually comes if short-term thinking takes over corporations.
@Max_the_German I mostly agree with you on that. I have this running theory that VR enthusiasts are sort of ruining the medium. And one of the reasons is this obsession with immersion, of VRAF (VR as f*ck) as they like to call it. The problem is that many of these interactions are not immersive at all, as they tend to be janky and end up creating this disconnection between your physical body and the in-game avatar.
Even though Hitman can be very entertaining in VR, it wears off much more quickly that when playing flat. I tend to think that current VR works better with games such as Tetris Effect and Thumper, or GT7 where the physical interaction is one-to-one (if you own a racing rig, of course).
@invictus4000 I mostly agree with your list, but you missed one of the only PSVR2 true exclusives: Synapse. It's an exception to the argument I've just made, where motion controls work together with eye tracking for an experience that actually feels like a superpower. It's truly mind blowing and one of the best games on the platform.
@Steeleye25 Totally agree. Another thing that VR enthusiasts do that get in the way of wider VR adoption is focusing too much on specs when VR's true Achilles heel is comfort/convenience. No matter how high the resolution gets, or how high the framerates go, VR will never get to the mainstream until it is as comfortable and convenient as picking up a gamepad and pressing 'on' while sitting back on a couch. This is where all the hardware evolution effort should be going to. In fact, Meta's rumored next headset seems to be heading in this exact direction.
@rjejr "I doubt there are that many people not buying a PS5 b/c of the late ports."
That's nearly impossible to know, but I think it's where your logic faults. This kind of shift doesn't happen overnight, but changing momentum can have catastrophic effects over the course of many years, even decades.
By releasing their games on PC, Sony is undoubtedly subtracting value from its platform and transferring it over to PC. The real question is "by how much". The younger generation is already more prone to buying PCs over consoles, so it all compounds.
Microsoft has been on this path for longer, and its console ecosystem has eroded to the point of an existential crisis. Sure, day-and-date PC releases is not the only reason, but it's obviously a major one.
@Dogbreath You pretty much said everything I was about to say. The Avatar comparison is so commonplace because it is strikingly precise. These two IPs have no cultural relevance at all despite their popularity. Their iterations are good or even great, but lack the depth and weight of much less popular franchises. It sounds illogical at first glance, but it's really not.
@Rich33 lol no worries, these are just opinions and I'm glad we agree on many points.
And yes, this 2027 launch rumor is either absurd or a massive mistake by Sony. Most performance gains gen-on-gen comes from node shrinks. PS5 Pro is produced on 4nm, so a 2027 PS6 would have to be based on 3nm. Not much to be gained here.
Sure, new fixed function hardware as Mark Cerny has commented on could do wonders, but those need to be explicitly developed for and that is a problem in a multiplatform world where scalability is the priority for most publishers.
And this brings us back to the importance of exclusives. No wonder Demon's Souls and GT7 are two of the best looking and performing games on the PS5.
@Rich33 Thanks, but you make some good additional observations, especially Xbox's downfall as a warning.
People often refer to Sony's good numbers this generation as a sign of PlayStation's health, but they completely ignore a stark reality: the hardcore console player base may have actually shrunk if you consider PS5 + Xbox Series owners.
'Oh, PS5 is selling in line with PS4 for the most part'. Well, that may actually spell catastrophe when Xbox Series have sold a fraction of Xbox One. Where have most of these players gone?
There may not be an obvious trend within PlayStation just yet, but there's a clear trend in the games industry as a whole that will eventually swallow Sony if they don't play their cards well.
@TrollOfWar "There is no evidence of a larger trend for the risk of PlayStation players switching to PC"
Looking at the rearview mirror won't help you here.
Firstly, this sort of trend happens gradually over the course of several generations. Secondly, the Steam Machine along with the Xbox PC will change the landscape entirely.
Hermen Hulst has also recently hinted at this 'scaling back from PC' change of strategy. Something along the lines of being 'very careful' with the selection of titles that would be ported.
And it makes sense. Sony should approach PC as they approach VR. That is, have one foot there as a possible future alternative for growth, but keep the focus on the PlayStation console.
@themightyant Yeah, I've been following. Look, most performance gains over the last 20 years or so have resulted from node shrinks. Architectural gains are fine, but they don't matter as much as you might think. This is even more true for power restricted devices such as consoles (PCs can brute force to a point).
The problem is that there's just no major node shrink available for a 2027 release. A theoretical PS6 in that year could offer cool new features derived from new fixed-function hardware, but games would need to explicitly support it for the most part.
To me, that "2.5x increase in pure raster performance" is the telltale that those leaks are not 100% accurate.
Don't get too attached to dry specs. RDNA-this, Zen-that, GDDR-X, Y FLOPS, and so on. They don't tell the whole story.
@themightyant "2.5x increase in pure raster performance"
Considering the PS5 Pro is about 30% faster than base PS5 at $750, do you really believe Sony can produce that kind of leap at a reasonable price in 2027?
We have Mark Cerny saying it should be "a few more years" until the PS6 comes out. And now, Sony's CFO hints at a longer generation. And then, there's common sense. Hardware technology has not advanced enough to justify a new generation soon.
But people will just run with whatever internet leakers say. 2027 it is, then.
@invictus4000 Oh, and one more thing since you mentioned Quest: Meta seems to get it, as their upcoming rumored headset will be laser focused on the ergonomics. How the market will react is another story, but it's a step in the right direction if they execute it well.
And honestly, I don't think price is a major factor either. People have no problem paying $1,000+ on tech when it's compelling enough.
@Northern_munkey Got it. Yeah, rally is bit much for me. I prefer the more surgical style of GT. Even the rally adjacent races in GT are more contained.
@invictus4000 Exactly. One thing that bothers me is how VR enthusiasts behave as if motion sickness wasn't a thing anymore. It totally is and it's a massive roadblock for wider VR adoption. Ignoring motion sickness doesn't help move the industry forward because people won't invest in solving or at least mitigating it further.
@invictus4000 I get the frustration, but the criticism isn't totally fair on Sony. Look, VR hasn't caught on as Sony would have hoped. They've made massive investments to bring this platform to market and it just hasn't panned out.
At this point, Sony could have killed PSVR2 completely but clearly they haven't. Call of The Mountain is far from the only game or VR port Sony funded. They definitely funded the amazing RE ports and a lot of work has been done to bring GT7 to VR. Polyphony has even recently extended the support to take advantage of the PS5 Pro.
Looking ahead, Flight Simulator VR is a very big deal and Sony has definitely something to do with it coming to PSVR2. I'd even go as far as saying that Sony makes these investments with little hope to make its money back. It sees PSVR2 as an accessory that adds value to the ecosystem, but doesn't make enough money directly to justify its existence. Because it doesn't, and it's not Sony's fault in my opinion. VR has a looong way to go until it has any chance to actually get into the mainstream. Mark these words: comfort and convenience. It'll take from years to decades, unfortunately.
I say this with a heavy heart as a VR enthusiast. But one has got to be realistic. BTW, regarding your list of games: you forgot Tetris! 😉
"we have questions about how it’s going to effectively combine PC and console without completely undermining its own business model"
You're looking at it from the wrong perspective. The traditional business model is a catastrophic failure for Microsoft. The new console/PC hybrid is nothing but an exit strategy.
Microsoft is out of the videogame hardware business, but it needs a bridge. It can't eviscerate its brand with gamers by simply walking out.
Well, the irony is that, if Sony keeps porting its games to PC, most PlayStation releases will also be available on the next Xbox. Which means both Sony and Microsoft are technically following the exact same trajectory, just by different means.
This poses quite the conundrum for PlayStation: keep heading this direction and risk breaking its closed walled garden, or pump the brakes and revert back to a more Nintendo approach.
Nintendo seems to be doing quite well for itself, and PlayStation's strengths are much more aligned with the traditional model, so I know which route I'd choose.
This 30% profit target is not the reason Xbox went multiplat. It's merely a symptom. It derives from the fact that Microsoft has never managed to be truly competitive in the gaming industry apart from a couple of years during peak 360 era.
And now that the younger generation doesn't seem so interested in gaming, the market has saturated. Which, in turn, puts a lot of pressure on game studios.
More importantly, it forces the trailing market player - Microsoft - to take increasingly riskier (and dumber) decisions and double down with every failed bet. "TV TV TV", DRM, Kinect, Game Pass, the Activision M&A, and so on.
This has been ongoing for about a decade, even if covid muddied the waters for a while. There just doesn't seem to be space for all current players in hardware (or closed ecosystems to be more precise).
Double the price for a rumored 30% higher performance will be a really hard sell. Yes, it will consolidate your Xbox and PC library, but still...
It all sounds like a super niche, low volume product.
Also, the next-gen Xbox success will depend a lot on how much better the OS gets between now and then, because the Ally experience is just not there yet for the console audience.
And then, there's the Xbox library elephant in the room. I'm sure Microsoft will figure it out, but this is not a given yet. If this thing doesn't run the entirety of the Xbox library, locally, out of the box, it's dead in the water.
"the graphical leap between a PS5 and the next generation will be even less than that of the PS4 to the PS5"
Not necessarily. On the PS4 to PS5 transition, the leap in GPU performance and features was not dramatic. The main added feature was raytracing, but the implementation is quite limited.
On the upcoming transition, Mark Cerny has hinted that Sony is going all-in on path-tracing and AI features, and that could result in a much larger visual upgrade. Granted, games will need to support these features in order to provide that leap but, those that do, could end up being graphically mind-blowing.
"It’d be like telling Nintendo to stop making vibrant, colourful character platformers because it’s getting boring."
Exactly my thought as I read through the article. In fact, I'd argue that Nintendo's first-party output has a lot more unity that Sony's. Moreover, it's also a lot more boring for adults like me. And I don't see these morons ever complaining.
We all knew first-party day one releases at $15/month was too good to be true. Profitable? Lol, right. At $30, Ultimate it's essentially "cancelled" as a mass market service. I imagine very few people play enough games to justify that spending.
But honestly, when I look at the $15 tier, I don't agree that PS+ Extra offers better value. First-party releases "within a year" is not bad at all considering the amount and quality of games Microsoft puts out these days.
Sony has been on the record saying how bad for business it was when they released Forbidden West on Extra within that time frame. Now it takes multiple years for first-party games to get to Extra.
I'm a Premium subscriber and I've never owned an Xbox so this is outside's perspective, but I'm very inclined to downgrade to Essential and just buy the games I actually want when I see a good discount.
The reason anyone still listens to this idiot is beyond me, but let's quickly analyze what he's saying just for fun: cloud and AI. Duh! Sure, Sherlock. The question is 'when' and 'how exactly'.
The idea that traditional consoles will eventually fade away has been floating around for decades at this point. Fake analysts' favorite sentence is 'next gen will be the last'. "Broken clock" kinda deal here. Being right ahead of time is the same as being wrong. Going all in on streaming now is not very different from doing it 5 or 10 years ago. It's still stupid.
As for AI... Weeell, yeah. It's here to stay. But the way it will be ultimately leveraged is certainly very different from what most people think today. Sure, it will replace some jobs and create others but, for most people, it will be like the internet but on a larger scale: back in the mid-90s, we all thought we were gonna do the same amount of work and have more free time. Well, look at us: we are busier than ever; the difference is that a lot more is now expected from us.
The way games are made is ever evolving, but to assume that AI will take over is naive to say the least. There is money to be made from AI slop, but the market will quickly get sick of it and reject for the most part.
@wildcat_kickz Sure, but also does lighting. These images show a level of subsurface scattering simulation that is well beyond anything on current gen. Both aspects need to be spot on to cross the uncanny valley.
I don't get hyped often these days, but GTA 6 is truly a once in a lifetime kind of event. And judging by how much I enjoyed RDR2, I think GTA will be awesome.
@Rich33 Exactly. I'm tired of hearing analysts talk about this venn diagram where there would be very little overlap between the audiences (PlayStation/Xbox, PC, Switch). Therefore, according to them, PC and Switch would pose no real threat to PlayStation.
This is frankly idiotic and lazy, because it ignores a basic fact about reality: things are always in flux, and generation transitions present both an opportunity and a threat, as we've seen time and time again.
Single player exclusives is what bring people in. They might not make rivers of money directly, but they do indirectly by growing the platform user base.
Sony totally lost sight of this fundamental principle in recent years, but there are encouraging signs that they now realize it.
And this is why some of us actively cheered for games like Concord to fail. We can see the forest for the trees.
To focus solely on that 2% revenue figure is to miss the forest for the trees. If that money was free, it would the great for Sony and I bet they would work to increase it.
But the cost is high, and I don't mean the direct costs involved in porting, marketing and distributing it. Exclusivity has been the driving force that took Sony to the top of this industry.
The way they're going to make the PS6 more cost-effective is by offering more than one SKU, a la Series S/X. Probably three in this case: a higher end, a lower end and a portable, although the latter might be released later.
That's the only way they'll appease both cost conscious users and enthusiasts.
@Rich33 I think these machines will be optimized to run PC code, but Microsoft wouldn't get away without offering an emulation layer for native Xbox games.
If they technically can't do that for next gen, they'll have to offer a traditional Xbox SKU. Which I think is still very much in the cards.
And as you rightly pointed out, they have a lot of work to do with Windows. Valve is light years ahead in this department, and I don't discard the possibility that Microsoft's endeavor here might not even be feasible.
@Rich33 Right, recent rumors point precisely to that approach. I actually think they'll go with three SKUs, unless the handheld gets a later release date for marketing and operational reasons.
It would be pretty funny to see Sony "copy" Microsoft with years of delay again, with a launch "S" model. But to be fair, MS is usually too early with this stuff, to a fault.
I believe Xbox will differentiate itself not only with the "Xbox PC" approach, but also with a wider array of models at different price brackets.
Personally, I'm not a fan of this model. The necessity for software scalability has two very negative effects on the end product:
It dramatically raises the cost and complexity of development.
It sets a low baseline that inevitably holds back the evolution of graphics and gameplay.
@Rich33 Exactly. I see people throw around this fallacious argument that console and PC players are completely separate groups. They might sort of be right now, but these things ebb and flow.
Sony is caught between a rock and a hard place, in that typical situation that publicly traded companies often get. I'm sure they know that spreading the field jeopardizes their long-term future, but shareholders are constantly pressuring for short-term dividends.
Not only will Xbox become a consolized PC, but Steam is following the same path. If I were at Sony, I would advocate for the Nintendo approach. Stick to your guns. Concord should have taught you that lesson.
I always find this 'haven't fulfilled its potential' justification for not releasing new hardware very weird. The reason that makes sense to me is simply that hardware manufacturers are having a very hard time producing meaningful upgrades.
It's not about power anymore. It's all about features. For the PS5, it was the SSD and the controller haptics. For the PS6, it will probably be advanced ray tracing and AI.
Now, longer development times do play a role, because it makes it harder to incorporate these new features in games at launch.
A quick note to the editors: I know this game has a rather robust set of difficulty options, but it's not mentioned in the review. I think this point is very relevant for this kind of game, especially to us aging gamers.
Comments 736
Re: Gran Turismo 7's Power Pack DLC Is a $30 PS5 Add-On
@nessisonett I have close to 400 hours in GT7, and more that 90% of it is in single player. Sure, you must be connected to the internet, but that has never been an issue for me. There's endless "offline" content and the cafe menus are very engaging for car lovers.
Re: Gran Turismo 7's Power Pack DLC Is a $30 PS5 Add-On
@DennisReynolds If by "grind" you mean "race" well, that's the whole point of the game. Earning credits is a mere consequence and, buying cars, a nice distraction. And to be honest, I find the rewards to be pretty generous.
The game was already great at launch, and they've given us years of free updates. The physics model has been adjusted to perfection, the AI is night and day where Sophy is available, VR support is sublime, PS5 Pro support is stellar both inside and outside of VR, and so on and so forth.
Entitled much?
Re: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's Lacklustre European Sales Continue Trending Downwards
Spider-Man 2 must be up because of its aggressive recent sale. I just picked it up for 62% off and it is fantastic. But dear God, is it preachy. The writing is unbearably bad in absolute contrast to the top-notch gameplay and visuals.
Re: Biggest Gran Turismo 7 Overhaul Yet in This Week's Spec 3 Update, Power Pack DLC
@Kairuuu Right, must be an updated model, then. The current one is already leaps and bounds better than the traditional AI, but it's limited to 'quick races' and it's not available in all tracks.
I hope they expand it significantly. I don't think it will happen just yet, but there will be the day when Sophy will be the default AI model. And the days when AI opponents were oblivious to your presence on the track will be a thing of the past.
Re: Biggest Gran Turismo 7 Overhaul Yet in This Week's Spec 3 Update, Power Pack DLC
@Kairuuu What do you mean by "new" Sophy? Are they updating the model? The current Sophy is pretty good in my opinion. It definitely makes the AI a lot more human-like.
Re: Mini Review: POOLS (PSVR2) - Niche Horror Is a PSVR2 Showcase
@Dogbreath If you're referring to the PSVR2 version, I heard there's an issue with foveated rendering. So you could try disabling eye tracking for this one.
Re: Suddenly the PS5 Pro Doesn't Look That Expensive Anymore
"Microsoft has allegedly already started to warn partners that it will be increasing the price of the Xbox Series X|S again, as it didn’t have the foresight to stockpile inventory in advance."
Not a lack of foresight, but a lack of focus. Microsoft does not give the slightest f* about Xbox Series sales.
Re: Sony Estimated to Have Made $1.5 Billion from Steam, But the Novelty Is Wearing Off
@rjejr You conveniently call the Switch a handheld to support your argument, but it's still a console. A hybrid, for that matter. In fact, it is the closest ecosystem of the bunch, and it proves beyond doubt that consoles and exclusives are not "antiquated". I'm not arguing about the form factor, I'm arguing that the business model will keep working for the foreseeable future for Sony if it sticks to its guns.
We've been having this conversation for decades at this point. "The next generation will be the last generation". Sure, some day it might, but Sony doesn't have to work actively to facilitate it. That's the mistake I think it's making. Short-term small profits over long-term sustainability.
Re: Sony Estimated to Have Made $1.5 Billion from Steam, But the Novelty Is Wearing Off
@cragis0001 You assume every PlayStation gamer has no Steam library, which isn't true. The intersection could be significantly larger than you think.
You also assume that every gamer is strongly attached to their library. That is also false for many people, as casual gamers just play the latest hot game and move on.
If there's enough incentive, people will jump ship. And again, these trends could take decades, but the time eventually comes if short-term thinking takes over corporations.
Re: Sony Is Actually Advertising PSVR2 This Black Friday
@Max_the_German I mostly agree with you on that. I have this running theory that VR enthusiasts are sort of ruining the medium. And one of the reasons is this obsession with immersion, of VRAF (VR as f*ck) as they like to call it. The problem is that many of these interactions are not immersive at all, as they tend to be janky and end up creating this disconnection between your physical body and the in-game avatar.
Even though Hitman can be very entertaining in VR, it wears off much more quickly that when playing flat. I tend to think that current VR works better with games such as Tetris Effect and Thumper, or GT7 where the physical interaction is one-to-one (if you own a racing rig, of course).
@invictus4000 I mostly agree with your list, but you missed one of the only PSVR2 true exclusives: Synapse. It's an exception to the argument I've just made, where motion controls work together with eye tracking for an experience that actually feels like a superpower. It's truly mind blowing and one of the best games on the platform.
@Steeleye25 Totally agree. Another thing that VR enthusiasts do that get in the way of wider VR adoption is focusing too much on specs when VR's true Achilles heel is comfort/convenience. No matter how high the resolution gets, or how high the framerates go, VR will never get to the mainstream until it is as comfortable and convenient as picking up a gamepad and pressing 'on' while sitting back on a couch. This is where all the hardware evolution effort should be going to. In fact, Meta's rumored next headset seems to be heading in this exact direction.
Re: Sony Estimated to Have Made $1.5 Billion from Steam, But the Novelty Is Wearing Off
@rjejr "I doubt there are that many people not buying a PS5 b/c of the late ports."
That's nearly impossible to know, but I think it's where your logic faults. This kind of shift doesn't happen overnight, but changing momentum can have catastrophic effects over the course of many years, even decades.
By releasing their games on PC, Sony is undoubtedly subtracting value from its platform and transferring it over to PC. The real question is "by how much". The younger generation is already more prone to buying PCs over consoles, so it all compounds.
Microsoft has been on this path for longer, and its console ecosystem has eroded to the point of an existential crisis. Sure, day-and-date PC releases is not the only reason, but it's obviously a major one.
Re: Horizon Sales Update Cements It As One of Sony's Strongest Franchises
@Dogbreath You pretty much said everything I was about to say. The Avatar comparison is so commonplace because it is strikingly precise. These two IPs have no cultural relevance at all despite their popularity. Their iterations are good or even great, but lack the depth and weight of much less popular franchises. It sounds illogical at first glance, but it's really not.
Re: 'Very Vague' Rumour Claims Sony May Scale Back PC Ports of PS5 Games
@Rich33 lol no worries, these are just opinions and I'm glad we agree on many points.
And yes, this 2027 launch rumor is either absurd or a massive mistake by Sony. Most performance gains gen-on-gen comes from node shrinks. PS5 Pro is produced on 4nm, so a 2027 PS6 would have to be based on 3nm. Not much to be gained here.
Sure, new fixed function hardware as Mark Cerny has commented on could do wonders, but those need to be explicitly developed for and that is a problem in a multiplatform world where scalability is the priority for most publishers.
And this brings us back to the importance of exclusives. No wonder Demon's Souls and GT7 are two of the best looking and performing games on the PS5.
Re: 'Very Vague' Rumour Claims Sony May Scale Back PC Ports of PS5 Games
@Rich33 Thanks, but you make some good additional observations, especially Xbox's downfall as a warning.
People often refer to Sony's good numbers this generation as a sign of PlayStation's health, but they completely ignore a stark reality: the hardcore console player base may have actually shrunk if you consider PS5 + Xbox Series owners.
'Oh, PS5 is selling in line with PS4 for the most part'. Well, that may actually spell catastrophe when Xbox Series have sold a fraction of Xbox One. Where have most of these players gone?
There may not be an obvious trend within PlayStation just yet, but there's a clear trend in the games industry as a whole that will eventually swallow Sony if they don't play their cards well.
Re: 'Very Vague' Rumour Claims Sony May Scale Back PC Ports of PS5 Games
@TrollOfWar "There is no evidence of a larger trend for the risk of PlayStation players switching to PC"
Looking at the rearview mirror won't help you here.
Firstly, this sort of trend happens gradually over the course of several generations. Secondly, the Steam Machine along with the Xbox PC will change the landscape entirely.
Re: 'Very Vague' Rumour Claims Sony May Scale Back PC Ports of PS5 Games
Hermen Hulst has also recently hinted at this 'scaling back from PC' change of strategy. Something along the lines of being 'very careful' with the selection of titles that would be ported.
And it makes sense. Sony should approach PC as they approach VR. That is, have one foot there as a possible future alternative for growth, but keep the focus on the PlayStation console.
Re: PS5 'In the Middle' of Its Lifecycle, Claims Sony
@themightyant Yeah, I've been following. Look, most performance gains over the last 20 years or so have resulted from node shrinks. Architectural gains are fine, but they don't matter as much as you might think. This is even more true for power restricted devices such as consoles (PCs can brute force to a point).
The problem is that there's just no major node shrink available for a 2027 release. A theoretical PS6 in that year could offer cool new features derived from new fixed-function hardware, but games would need to explicitly support it for the most part.
To me, that "2.5x increase in pure raster performance" is the telltale that those leaks are not 100% accurate.
Don't get too attached to dry specs. RDNA-this, Zen-that, GDDR-X, Y FLOPS, and so on. They don't tell the whole story.
Re: PS5 'In the Middle' of Its Lifecycle, Claims Sony
@themightyant "2.5x increase in pure raster performance"
Considering the PS5 Pro is about 30% faster than base PS5 at $750, do you really believe Sony can produce that kind of leap at a reasonable price in 2027?
One can dream.
Re: PS5 'In the Middle' of Its Lifecycle, Claims Sony
We have Mark Cerny saying it should be "a few more years" until the PS6 comes out. And now, Sony's CFO hints at a longer generation. And then, there's common sense. Hardware technology has not advanced enough to justify a new generation soon.
But people will just run with whatever internet leakers say. 2027 it is, then.
Re: At Least One Publisher Still Strongly Supports PSVR2
@invictus4000 Oh, and one more thing since you mentioned Quest: Meta seems to get it, as their upcoming rumored headset will be laser focused on the ergonomics. How the market will react is another story, but it's a step in the right direction if they execute it well.
And honestly, I don't think price is a major factor either. People have no problem paying $1,000+ on tech when it's compelling enough.
Re: At Least One Publisher Still Strongly Supports PSVR2
@Northern_munkey Got it. Yeah, rally is bit much for me. I prefer the more surgical style of GT. Even the rally adjacent races in GT are more contained.
Re: At Least One Publisher Still Strongly Supports PSVR2
@invictus4000 Exactly. One thing that bothers me is how VR enthusiasts behave as if motion sickness wasn't a thing anymore. It totally is and it's a massive roadblock for wider VR adoption. Ignoring motion sickness doesn't help move the industry forward because people won't invest in solving or at least mitigating it further.
Re: At Least One Publisher Still Strongly Supports PSVR2
@invictus4000 I get the frustration, but the criticism isn't totally fair on Sony. Look, VR hasn't caught on as Sony would have hoped. They've made massive investments to bring this platform to market and it just hasn't panned out.
At this point, Sony could have killed PSVR2 completely but clearly they haven't. Call of The Mountain is far from the only game or VR port Sony funded. They definitely funded the amazing RE ports and a lot of work has been done to bring GT7 to VR. Polyphony has even recently extended the support to take advantage of the PS5 Pro.
Looking ahead, Flight Simulator VR is a very big deal and Sony has definitely something to do with it coming to PSVR2. I'd even go as far as saying that Sony makes these investments with little hope to make its money back. It sees PSVR2 as an accessory that adds value to the ecosystem, but doesn't make enough money directly to justify its existence. Because it doesn't, and it's not Sony's fault in my opinion. VR has a looong way to go until it has any chance to actually get into the mainstream. Mark these words: comfort and convenience. It'll take from years to decades, unfortunately.
I say this with a heavy heart as a VR enthusiast. But one has got to be realistic. BTW, regarding your list of games: you forgot Tetris! 😉
Re: At Least One Publisher Still Strongly Supports PSVR2
@Northern_munkey To me, PSVR2 is worth it for GT7 alone. I have hundreds of hours in this game and I'm still far from exhausting its gigantic content.
Re: 'It Happens on PS5': New PlayStation Adverts Mark Five Years of PS5
Modern advertising is such a reflection of modern culture: soulless and uninspiring. Same is happening to film, music and so on.
Re: Generative AI Won't Be Creating the Next GTA, Says Take-Two Boss
From Game Pass to AI, this dude knows what time it is.
No wonder he is at the helm of what may be the biggest release in entertainment ever.
Re: 'We Want to Be Everywhere, on Every Platform': Microsoft CEO Once Again Commits to PS5
"we have questions about how it’s going to effectively combine PC and console without completely undermining its own business model"
You're looking at it from the wrong perspective. The traditional business model is a catastrophic failure for Microsoft. The new console/PC hybrid is nothing but an exit strategy.
Microsoft is out of the videogame hardware business, but it needs a bridge. It can't eviscerate its brand with gamers by simply walking out.
Re: 'Our Biggest Competition Isn't Another Console': Xbox Doubles Down on Multiformat After Halo PS5 Shock
Well, the irony is that, if Sony keeps porting its games to PC, most PlayStation releases will also be available on the next Xbox. Which means both Sony and Microsoft are technically following the exact same trajectory, just by different means.
This poses quite the conundrum for PlayStation: keep heading this direction and risk breaking its closed walled garden, or pump the brakes and revert back to a more Nintendo approach.
Nintendo seems to be doing quite well for itself, and PlayStation's strengths are much more aligned with the traditional model, so I know which route I'd choose.
Re: This Is Why Xbox Is Bringing All of Its Games to PS5 Now
This 30% profit target is not the reason Xbox went multiplat. It's merely a symptom. It derives from the fact that Microsoft has never managed to be truly competitive in the gaming industry apart from a couple of years during peak 360 era.
And now that the younger generation doesn't seem so interested in gaming, the market has saturated. Which, in turn, puts a lot of pressure on game studios.
More importantly, it forces the trailing market player - Microsoft - to take increasingly riskier (and dumber) decisions and double down with every failed bet. "TV TV TV", DRM, Kinect, Game Pass, the Activision M&A, and so on.
This has been ongoing for about a decade, even if covid muddied the waters for a while. There just doesn't seem to be space for all current players in hardware (or closed ecosystems to be more precise).
Re: PS6 Could Be Less Than Half the Price of Microsoft's 'Very Premium' Next-Gen Xbox
Double the price for a rumored 30% higher performance will be a really hard sell. Yes, it will consolidate your Xbox and PC library, but still...
It all sounds like a super niche, low volume product.
Also, the next-gen Xbox success will depend a lot on how much better the OS gets between now and then, because the Ally experience is just not there yet for the console audience.
And then, there's the Xbox library elephant in the room. I'm sure Microsoft will figure it out, but this is not a given yet. If this thing doesn't run the entirety of the Xbox library, locally, out of the box, it's dead in the water.
Re: PS5 Has Been 'Special' Thanks to SSD, DualSense Features Rather Than Visuals
"the graphical leap between a PS5 and the next generation will be even less than that of the PS4 to the PS5"
Not necessarily. On the PS4 to PS5 transition, the leap in GPU performance and features was not dramatic. The main added feature was raytracing, but the implementation is quite limited.
On the upcoming transition, Mark Cerny has hinted that Sony is going all-in on path-tracing and AI features, and that could result in a much larger visual upgrade. Granted, games will need to support these features in order to provide that leap but, those that do, could end up being graphically mind-blowing.
Re: PS Store Quietly Adds Crucial New Feature for PS5, PS4 Deals
As a Premium subscriber, I just wish they showed the actual price of a game instead of that infuriating "Trial available" in my wishlist.
Re: Call of Duty's Future Under Xbox Leaves Former Director 'Immensely Worried'
@Jacko11 Best value in gaming, right?
Right?
Re: Sony's MLB The Show Finally Seems Set to Throw Down on PC
Any notable exceptions besides GT7 and Demon's Souls Remake?
Re: Talking Point: Are You Getting Sick of Sony's Supposedly 'Samey' Approach to Story Telling?
"It’d be like telling Nintendo to stop making vibrant, colourful character platformers because it’s getting boring."
Exactly my thought as I read through the article. In fact, I'd argue that Nintendo's first-party output has a lot more unity that Sony's. Moreover, it's also a lot more boring for adults like me. And I don't see these morons ever complaining.
Re: PS Plus Looks Better Than Ever After New Xbox Game Pass Price Rises
We all knew first-party day one releases at $15/month was too good to be true. Profitable? Lol, right. At $30, Ultimate it's essentially "cancelled" as a mass market service. I imagine very few people play enough games to justify that spending.
But honestly, when I look at the $15 tier, I don't agree that PS+ Extra offers better value. First-party releases "within a year" is not bad at all considering the amount and quality of games Microsoft puts out these days.
Sony has been on the record saying how bad for business it was when they released Forbidden West on Extra within that time frame. Now it takes multiple years for first-party games to get to Extra.
I'm a Premium subscriber and I've never owned an Xbox so this is outside's perspective, but I'm very inclined to downgrade to Essential and just buy the games I actually want when I see a good discount.
Re: Sony Is a 'Terrible Company' That's 'Blowing It in the Games Business', Says Michael Pachter
The reason anyone still listens to this idiot is beyond me, but let's quickly analyze what he's saying just for fun: cloud and AI. Duh! Sure, Sherlock. The question is 'when' and 'how exactly'.
The idea that traditional consoles will eventually fade away has been floating around for decades at this point. Fake analysts' favorite sentence is 'next gen will be the last'. "Broken clock" kinda deal here. Being right ahead of time is the same as being wrong. Going all in on streaming now is not very different from doing it 5 or 10 years ago. It's still stupid.
As for AI... Weeell, yeah. It's here to stay. But the way it will be ultimately leveraged is certainly very different from what most people think today. Sure, it will replace some jobs and create others but, for most people, it will be like the internet but on a larger scale: back in the mid-90s, we all thought we were gonna do the same amount of work and have more free time. Well, look at us: we are busier than ever; the difference is that a lot more is now expected from us.
The way games are made is ever evolving, but to assume that AI will take over is naive to say the least. There is money to be made from AI slop, but the market will quickly get sick of it and reject for the most part.
Re: Is This the First Tease of Next-Gen PS6 Graphics?
@wildcat_kickz Sure, but also does lighting. These images show a level of subsurface scattering simulation that is well beyond anything on current gen. Both aspects need to be spot on to cross the uncanny valley.
Re: Hideo Kojima's Next Game OD Looks Like PT Fully Realised
"this game will launch on the PS5 at some point"
Most probably PS6, actually. Or maybe both.
Re: 'The Largest Game Launch in History': Rockstar Hypes GTA 6, and Who's Going to Argue?
I don't get hyped often these days, but GTA 6 is truly a once in a lifetime kind of event. And judging by how much I enjoyed RDR2, I think GTA will be awesome.
Re: Sony to 'Advance Position as Creative Leader in Single Player Experiences'
@Rich33 Exactly. I'm tired of hearing analysts talk about this venn diagram where there would be very little overlap between the audiences (PlayStation/Xbox, PC, Switch). Therefore, according to them, PC and Switch would pose no real threat to PlayStation.
This is frankly idiotic and lazy, because it ignores a basic fact about reality: things are always in flux, and generation transitions present both an opportunity and a threat, as we've seen time and time again.
Re: Sony to 'Advance Position as Creative Leader in Single Player Experiences'
Single player exclusives is what bring people in. They might not make rivers of money directly, but they do indirectly by growing the platform user base.
Sony totally lost sight of this fundamental principle in recent years, but there are encouraging signs that they now realize it.
And this is why some of us actively cheered for games like Concord to fail. We can see the forest for the trees.
Re: Sony Removes Multiformat Revenue from Strategic Indicators
To focus solely on that 2% revenue figure is to miss the forest for the trees. If that money was free, it would the great for Sony and I bet they would work to increase it.
But the cost is high, and I don't mean the direct costs involved in porting, marketing and distributing it. Exclusivity has been the driving force that took Sony to the top of this industry.
Re: 'It Saved the Game': Sword of the Sea Dev Praises Sony, Explains PS Plus Deal
@Dalamar Sony does not put AAA first-party titles at launch onto the service. That's where the unsustainability comes from, and you know it.
Re: Rumour: PS6 Will Have a Detachable Disc Drive, Much Simpler Design
The way they're going to make the PS6 more cost-effective is by offering more than one SKU, a la Series S/X. Probably three in this case: a higher end, a lower end and a portable, although the latter might be released later.
That's the only way they'll appease both cost conscious users and enthusiasts.
Re: Sony's Helldivers 2 on Xbox Gamble Is Absolutely Paying Off
@Rich33 I think these machines will be optimized to run PC code, but Microsoft wouldn't get away without offering an emulation layer for native Xbox games.
If they technically can't do that for next gen, they'll have to offer a traditional Xbox SKU. Which I think is still very much in the cards.
And as you rightly pointed out, they have a lot of work to do with Windows. Valve is light years ahead in this department, and I don't discard the possibility that Microsoft's endeavor here might not even be feasible.
Re: Sony's Helldivers 2 on Xbox Gamble Is Absolutely Paying Off
@Rich33 Right, recent rumors point precisely to that approach. I actually think they'll go with three SKUs, unless the handheld gets a later release date for marketing and operational reasons.
It would be pretty funny to see Sony "copy" Microsoft with years of delay again, with a launch "S" model. But to be fair, MS is usually too early with this stuff, to a fault.
I believe Xbox will differentiate itself not only with the "Xbox PC" approach, but also with a wider array of models at different price brackets.
Personally, I'm not a fan of this model. The necessity for software scalability has two very negative effects on the end product:
Re: Sony's Helldivers 2 on Xbox Gamble Is Absolutely Paying Off
@Rich33 Exactly. I see people throw around this fallacious argument that console and PC players are completely separate groups. They might sort of be right now, but these things ebb and flow.
Sony is caught between a rock and a hard place, in that typical situation that publicly traded companies often get. I'm sure they know that spreading the field jeopardizes their long-term future, but shareholders are constantly pressuring for short-term dividends.
Not only will Xbox become a consolized PC, but Steam is following the same path. If I were at Sony, I would advocate for the Nintendo approach. Stick to your guns. Concord should have taught you that lesson.
Re: 'There's No Real Need for a PS6': Industry Veteran Weighs in on Next-Gen Debate
I always find this 'haven't fulfilled its potential' justification for not releasing new hardware very weird. The reason that makes sense to me is simply that hardware manufacturers are having a very hard time producing meaningful upgrades.
It's not about power anymore. It's all about features. For the PS5, it was the SSD and the controller haptics. For the PS6, it will probably be advanced ray tracing and AI.
Now, longer development times do play a role, because it makes it harder to incorporate these new features in games at launch.
Re: Shinobi: Art of Vengeance (PS5) - A Gorgeous, Triumphant Return for SEGA's Ninja Series
A quick note to the editors: I know this game has a rather robust set of difficulty options, but it's not mentioned in the review. I think this point is very relevant for this kind of game, especially to us aging gamers.