@MrRhysReviews Its still completely playable offline if you buy from the internet too - the game must be downloaded from Disc/Internet regardless and once 'installed', the ONLY reason you need to keep the disc is to verify you still own the licence embedded in it - Digital of course has your licence locked to your account.
In the future, there is NO guarantee your hardware will have a Disc Drive to be able to download from the disc. If you keep your Hardware, keep your games installed, then you don't need to reinstall in the future to play.
Yes there are some 'advantages' to buying Physical - such as it gives you the option to sell later if you want and/or not using up Internet if on a metered service plan. But if you can't get access to the internet, you can't download any of the Patches, any of the additional content or features they add post launch etc, you maybe able to play the 'beta' launch code but the vast majority are virtually unplayable.
In my opinion, the only way Physical can preserve games 'better' than Digital is if they release a 'Complete' and fully patched/fixed version at the end of its lifecycle. That's the 'version' preserved Digitally, the version you can download even if the game is delisted/no longer available to 'buy'.
Physical has limited copies made and are not manufactured indefinitely so are not 'preserved' for generations to come. The ONLY way to 'preserve' YOUR games is to look after them yourself. I can't replace my N64 or Goldeneye Cartridge today, that game is NOT preserved now so that anyone can still buy, still play and I can't play the ports to modern hardware just because I bought the Cartridge - I have to rebuy.
All my PS3 games are 'preserved' in a Box in storage - along with my PS3 hardware. I can't play those on my PS5 and the only way they are 'preserved' is because I took care of them. My 'digital' PS3 games are still playable on my PS3 and preserved by being installed on my HDD so even if they turn off the internet, I still have the game installed.
If you want 'preservation' you have to do it yourself. Delisted (digitally) doesn't mean its 'gone' forever, it just means that if you didn't buy it before, you now can't but if you did, well you can keep playing (unless it was Online based and the servers are gone). I have Killzone games on Disc, but half the content is unplayable, not 'preserved'.
Physical is nothing more than a Delivery method these days because the Game NEVER runs from a Disc, it must be Downloaded and installed onto the SSD (just like Digital) but doesn't 'preserve' games any better, arguably 'worse' in some areas...
Whilst the whole game maybe on Disc, its NOT playable from the Disc itself - it still needs to be downloaded and installed to the SSD. It's no more 'preserved' than downloading and installing from the internet - if you keep it on your SSD, you'll always have access....
Typical claims but I doubt they'll push the boundaries of Graphics beyond what an RTX5090 and won't have the equivalent ML/Tensor cores either but compared to what they've done before with the PS5/PS5 Pro, then this will push those boundaries that the previous Consoles weren't able to get near.
I think people care more about Value and the quality of the gaming story/experience/game-play loop - the Graphics is the finishing touch. People play Minecraft and its the biggest selling game ever.
I've owned every Playstation Gen so far, but I don't know that I'll get a PS6 with the rising Costs of Console Hardware, increasing cost of games and much longer development times too. We had 3 Uncharted and a Last of Us over the PS3 gen, one every 2yrs, but now games take over 5yrs between releases - even sequels like Horizon and God of War. Nearly 6yrs between Infamous and GoT, and its going to be 5-6yrs for a sequel.
Fewer first party releases every year, along with rising costs of Hardware, sub charges to play with your friends, to play content you've paid to play and rising costs of games that aren't 'better' from a story, from a 'game-play loop' perspective, from any meaningful game metric 'other' than Graphical presentation.
The most transformative aspect of the PS5 gen over the PS4 isn't the 'graphics', its the instant loading that moving from HDD to SSD enabled. The games themselves are often just 'prettier' versions of games you've played before - its not enabling some 'new' game experience the Previous gen couldn't do - albeit with caveats (lower quality settings, lower res, lower frame rates etc) - even Titanfall 2 showed you can flip between two 'states' of the same world instantly on PS4 although R&C its used far more frequently and integral to more of the Game than Titanfalls singular mission level.
Still, I have plenty of time before it releases to make a decision on purchasing, but I'm thinking I'll play the few Sony games I want to play when they release on PC, Xbox is already on PC Day/Date and so is virtually every other game I want to play. No charge to play Online with my friends, no content locked behind a Sub Paywall and the ability to play 98% of the games I enjoy Day 1 on one Platform, with the other 2% coming eventually... for Some that maybe a Playstation with the other 2% Xbox games but there are a LOT of great games on PC not on Console.
PC's aren't a 'single' platform, they are an OPEN platform allowing for Steam to exist as a 'Platform' on PC - You buy from Steam, you can ONLY play through Steam, Buy from Battlenet, then you play through Battlenet - you can't play CoD on Battlenet if you bought on Steam. Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Xbox and Microsoft Game Pass are all MS owned, all part of the SAME ecosystem.
Sony will NOT sell on Microsofts Store so won't be 'Play Anywhere', won't be making ANY money for MS as you play through steam and buy any DLC/MTX through Steam, not MS. You are still playing on Steam, not Xbox.
Xbox only exist because MS wanted to bring PC Gaming to the mainstream with an 'affordable' DirectX-Box. Now 25yrs later, you can get Gaming PC's for 'console' money, they can even be 'more' affordable than Consoles so for Microsoft, the Xbox 'console' is not really required unless it 'suits' the individuals preference (cost, ease of use etc) because you could play via cloud if your Hardware can't play the games natively or if you have a decent PC, you don't want a 'budget' console with its 'limited' frame rate and/or console tier presentation - you may buy a Console just because it has a few games you can't play where you really want to play - your PC.
Microsoft make Surface PC's and I can see them making a 'Surface Xbox' - either a Windows Handheld (like RoG Ally although why bother competing with your partners) or more Console formfactor (maybe even with a Disk Drive for BC) to offer a 'budget' Fixed Spec PC with limited/no upgrade potential that may help Devs have a 'minimum' spec target for developing games.
Anyway, point is this makes NO difference to Sony or their PC plans - they have NEVER sold their games on Microsoft stores so won't be in the 'Microsoft' Ecosystem on PC. They will remain on Steam and played through Steam, even if they show up on a 'Xbox' branded App that collects ALL your installed games into one convenient place for easy access. As soon as you click on the game to 'play' it, it launches in Steam, not Xbox!
Xbox will be getting these Enhancements too so I may well see if the 60fps 'Performance' mode sacrifices too much visual clarity for what may well be negligible benefits from the increased frame rate.
The game, well 'experience' as its not really much of 'Game', is a lot of wandering around at relatively 'slow' pace whilst 'listening' to the dialogue, whether from supporting characters or the voices in Senuas head. It's not a high paced action game that requires perfect timing etc, it would be more accurate to call this an interactive experience designed to convey what living with Psychosis, what living with voices (that dynamically change between Negativity and Positivity) is like as different challenges/obstacles (like Combat or Puzzles) get in the way. The focus is very much on the Audio with the Visual quality a close second to get that 'experience' across and why its recommended you play on a Headset. If you don't, then the major point of this is significantly reduced. Game-play has arguably been 'dumbed' down which I think is so that it doesn't get in the way or prevent gamers from the full 'experience' of living with Psychosis and its impact on Senua. If the puzzles or Combat are too hard/challenging, they prevent progress and frustrate and become the 'focus' to the player, not the voices which is the MAIN point.
If you go into this thinking that Game-play is the 'most' important part, then this will disappoint - the Game-play is 'functional' for interactivity purposes and gives the player some sense of being that 'character' more than just watching a movie would. But if you really enjoyed the Audio of the first and how those voices would 'change' depending on the situation Senua was in at that time, really began to understand how Psychosis impacts those living with it and want more, this is for you...
This isn't Microsoft dipping its toes into VR, trying to compete with Sony's PSVR, this is more like them making their Game Pass Cloud App available on another device - this time it just so happens to be a 'VR' Headset. Its no different really from Samsung/LG TV's or Amazon Firesticks - its just another device that Game Pass Subscribers can use to stream Game Pass games to, another device that maybe can sell Game Pass Subscriptions to owners of.
There will be people that get to the end faster than others so there will always be potential for spoilers unless you get it and play it through Day 1 and avoid anyone or online until you've finished it. How long should you wait after release before you talk about something, which could be a spolier to another?
Buying it a few days after release is little different in my opinion to getting it 'Day 1' whilst some got it a few days earlier as a 'bonus' for buying a Special Edition. If you don't expect spoilers because you can't buy/play until 2-4days after the game is out, then why would you expect spoilers with 2-4days earlier access?
Its quite easy to avoid spoilers if you really want to. I also don't have any issue with Publishers incentivising 'pre-orders' with Earlier Access - you have to 'pre-order' to get Early access as you can't buy it until the day of release. Its basically 'Free' for the Publishers to offer and ONLY has 'value' to the Gamer before the Game releases. Once the Day of release arrives, you can't go back and claim the 'bonus', and makes no difference to the Publisher whether you play a few days earlier or Day 1 'financially' (no extra costs like there is to make Cosmetics or offer Digital Soundtracks/Artbooks etc).
I won't buy a Special Edition just because it has a few days earlier access, I'll buy a Special Edition because it comes with ALL the additional Content they are planning to release, as well as maybe some extra Cosmetics or bonuses but don't 'pre-order' as I don't think ANY game is worth the launch day price when its often half that price or less within 6mnths.
Most expensive hardware with the most expensive price for games as well as enforced Subscription charges to play with friends and/or play all the content/games released - some games aren't playable at all without a Sub.
With more Expensive games, 30% of the price goes to the Platform holder so they get a higher amount 'per game' sold through their Digital store as well as sell hardware that locks people into buying from their store. Its not just games, but also ALL the digital content - DLC, Cosmetics, in-game currencies etc etc. Even Indies which would often be under £10 are now £25-30 minimum but often £40.
Its not just 'Sony' I know, but the industry as a whole - yet they also dispose of studios and people whilst their CEO's get pay rises and comment about rising costs leading to price increases so that next years profits are 'bigger'...
@Nakatomi_Uk I kept being invited into their playtesting too but its 'Skate' and not something I really care to play or test. I doubt I'll play it when its 'free' on EA Access LOL
@Ilyn You still have Console tier Hardware with the likes of Nintendo's Switch or Sony's Playstation. Third Party Devs are building their games to run on Consoles too because Consoles traditionally are where the majority play because Consoles are more affordable.
If MS do make a Xbox PC - say around PS6 level hardware then you have a 'fixed' spec PC to target and know it should run well on PS6 too. It will scale 'up' for better hardware - able to offer higher native quality settings and/or achieve higher frame rates - rely less on upscaling (FSR, DLSS, TAA etc), whilst lower tier Hardware will have lower Res, lower target Frame Rates, lower visual settings etc. There is a massive difference in Hardware required to do 4k/60 over 1080/30 with exactly the same quality settings - its 8x 'larger' (4x the Pixel count and Double the amount of Frames) so that gives you a massive range of Hardware you can scale for.
Those 'PC' games tend to come to Console too. A Single Spec PC - like an Xbox PC would inevitably be - could actually help Devs provide their 'optimised' settings instead of expecting players to optimise their own settings to get the 'balance' of Graphical quality and Frame Rate.
PC's tend to provide a range of different settings you can tweak to r the game for the Specs of your Hardware - you may not be able to run EVERYTHING at 'Ultra' or even High Quality and still get the Resolution and Frame rate you want - but the console will have set these at 'low/medium (not that you can 'tweak) cause that was how they 'optimised' it to get the Frame Rate they wanted, implement DRS so it drops Res not frame rates etc.
You can't play Cyberpunk 2077 with all the bells and whistles, at the same visual quality or frame rates on a PS5, Series X or Switch 2hat game was clearly not built for XB1/PS4 hardware either yet 'released' for it. However, they can scale it up beyond what even a 5090 can deliver with DLSS and scale it all the way down to a handheld low powered Console device...
Unless you are building games for a 'single' platform that has a 'fixed' spec - such as Sony or Nintendo building 'Exclusives' for their own Consoles, then ALL games are built to scale across as many Platforms as possible, to scale up and look their best, even if they require DLSS to look that good on the HIGHEST tier, but also look 'ok' and at least be playable at 30fps on the weakest. No one thought that games like the Witcher 3 or Doom: Eternal would run on Switch, let alone as great as they do and look - but that's still a LONG way from what the highest tier Hardware can do.
A Fixed Spec PC - even the Handhelds can help the PC Game Developers - they can these as the 'minimum' Hardware spec the game has to run on at least at say 540/30 with 'Low' settings and FSR upscaling, maybe even use the Xbox PC as a 'Recommended' Spec to target at say 1440/60 as a Minimum and know it will run on PS6, maybe scale down for Handhelds inc Steamdeck and Switch 2...
It's had a 'good' run and I bet its not drawing in enough players that spend money to keep spending money on Servers and Support. You can still buy and Play at least.
It also seems that they are focusing on their next project, investing into that rather than keep spending money on their 'Old' game...
'm sure that Sony wouldn't be the ONLY Publisher interested in Purchasing WB and/or their Gaming Assets. They aren't the only ones of the years mentioned over the years.
Some of the issues though is that they don't 'own' their IP's, they may own a 'Licence' or Agreement to make games like Hogwarts, DC games etc. Mortal Kombat probably makes sense for Sony as they own (or did) EVO.
@Ilyn Whilst you do have High End PC systems that can offer fully Path Traced AAA games with DLSS required to make them playable and look higher res than they are, those games tend to also release and can be scaled down for SteamDeck, Handheld PC or even a Series S.
Handhelds aren't likely to deliver '4k' so that's a lot of 'processing power' not required and no doubt have access to FSR4.0 on AMD hardware. A game 'could' run at 540/30 but look like its running at 1080/60 and on a 'small' screen, any upscaling artefacts will be difficult to spot.
According to Steam, most don't have 'high' end PC's and don't 'need' to upgrade to play the latest games. Whilst they may have to choose 1080-1440p or settle for 60-120 fps, maybe only have RT GI or RT Shadows/reflections' like the PS5/XSX or even XSS hardware, I can only see them continuing to make Games for PC to scale across the 'widest' range of Specs possible - just like they do today. The Handheld PCs (not just Xbox branded), Steamdeck, Switch 2 etc will set the 'minimum' spec to reach the most people possible, not limit it to only those with High end PC's only. Yes if you want all the bells/whistles, the highest Res and/or Frame rate etc, then you'll need the Hardware to get that, but if you are happy with 'Console' tier Graphics/Resolutions etc, the game releases there too, and can be played on Handhelds at lower settings or even streamed nowadays. Streaming may not be the 'best' but it is better than nothing and can be better than playing it natively on very weak hardware.
If MS make a Xbox PC, I doubt it will be the 'lowest' spec PC that gamers are playing on - even today the RTX 20 series are still very popular so I expect it will be 'above' the minimum Spec requirements for Games, even if not by much. No doubt as it is a Fixed Spec Box, that could help Devs develop for PC's, keep that as their 'recommended' target tier Hardware even the Minimum spec their games need to be playable on.
Whilst obvious, this was also mentioned by Sarah Bond during the recent Show when she introduced the RoG Xbox - which is basically the template for the next Xbox. A Windows powered 'Console' like form factor device.
Sony doesn't releases day 1 on PC and likely won't sell through Microsoft stores so will be exclusive to Steam/Epic etc on PC.
PC has always been part of Microsoft and every PC owner is basically a Microsoft Customer - the all bought/own a Windows Licence. The MS/Xbox 'ecosystem' is the Microsoft Servers for streaming, Microsoft Consoles and Microsoft Windows devices - all Microsoft so it makes sense that Microsoft, who entered the Console business to bring PC and their games to mainstream markets with affordable consoles - hence it was the first Console with 'PC' like build and its Built in HDD.
Now 25 yrs later, you can buy a 'gaming PC' for Console money — the Handheld PC's for example are around PS5-PS5 Pro prices and won't hold content and playing with friends behind a Subscription pay wall which adds up over 'years'. I know that you'd need to spend 'more' to get the same sort of visual and performance quality from a PC as you get on a Console, but you also have a MUCH larger library.
Sony will still do what Sony does, still carry on with their 'traditional' style Consoles, still have their 'exclusives', still have their 3rd Party deals etc.
From a devs perspective, they also won't need to port a Xbox specific edition, they'll just have to make a PC game with at most curated/Optimised Settings for fixed spec as the 'Xbox PC' will be, but you can still tweak them yourself
It is weird considering but the Chainsaw kills are 'Brutal' and gruesome in depiction and not just lopping off body parts in some less realistic looking way - although its also not used against 'Human' enemies - its tearing these in half. I'm sure Lollipop Chainsaw (or whatever that game was called) got released in Japan.
@SeaDaVie It is mentioned in the article above and to Quote:
"After just over a year, hundreds of countries can now once again purchase Sony's catalogue of Steam games.
While some of Sony's PC games no longer require a PSN account link, there are a few that still do, such as Helldivers 2, Ghost of Tsushima, and Until Dawn.
Still, at least the purchasing restrictions are no longer in place."
This reads like ALL of Sony's games are NOW once again available to buy in those regions. It doesn't say that games like GoT or even 'Until Dawn' will remain unavailable as they 'require' PSN, but like Helldivers 2, TLoU2 and 'others' (as the title of this article states), they are now being Sold in those regions PSN is NOT available.
The way this article reads, it would indicate that ALL of Sony's games are now not region locked, available to buy everywhere Steam exists. Just because Wario's image doesn't mention GoT, the PushSquare article does and makes it seem that EVERY Sony game is now available whether PSN is required or NOT and some games do require it. I wouldn't have mentioned GoT (or Until Dawn) and would have assumed these were the 'others' along with Helldivers and LoU2 that were now no longer region locked.
@SeaDaVie again that is an 'issue' for those out of Region. If they buy GoT but it requires PSN for Online MP, then they cannot access Online MP. It still costs the same but some content would be 'inaccesible'.
It either should be Optional for ALL so EVERYONE can access ALL the content or NOT sold in those regions because they can't play all.
I'll wait for the inevitable sale and pick it up when its much, much cheaper. If I want to play a 'Borderlands' game, I have the older games I could play as a different Vault hunter, different build etc for a 'new' experience - otherwise I'm happy to wait for a decent sale price.
@SeaDaVie I don't know exactly what the state of PSN is - especially with Legacy titles like the ones mentioned that it was a 'requirement' for. If I were to now buy Helldivers, GoT or LoU2 on PC, would I need PSN? According to the article, these games still require PSN - at least in regions PSN is supported.
Unless PSN is 'optional', then those games shouldn't be 'sold' in regions PSN is NOT available and if its Optional in those regions, it should be optional in ALL regions too.
So are they bringing PSN to those regions too - especially if PSN is a requirement otherwise those regions can't play. If HD2, GoT and LoU2 require PSN to be playable, then unless PSN is available in those regions, the reason they weren't sold in those regions, is a big issue.
So either they are releasing PSN in those regions or PSN itself must be purely 'optional' at most.
@BusyOlf I'd say the first is pretty good - it was Game of the Year for some Awards and won numerous accolades like Best Action Game, best Console game etc but the 2nd and 3rd are superior - especially 2 - I think that has the best 'story'.
Its dark, gritty and 'brutal' and you do get the 'horror' of War too - at least the Epic Trilogy is - the Coalition made games aren't quite so gritty, brutal and they even dropped the 'of War' for Gears 5.
I still think its OK today as a compete game but its also nearly 20 years old. It was 'limited' by Hardware and modern games can do 'more' for the story, the game-play loop etc so it may not have the same impact it did when I first played it.
I'd recommend it - but I'd also say remember its nearly a 20yr old game. Its a bit like 'Uncharted', which was great at the time but after Uncharted 2 and 3 and now decades of time, its 'OK' but not the 'best' in the franchise.
@nomither6 I certainly don't mind it and much prefer a more realistic artstyle to the cartoony styles and/or stylised (like Marathon) so I'd take the look of Gears of War over games like Fortnite, Splitgate, Marathon etc.
I'm also being turned off by all those excessive neon bright particle effects and swoosh lines that are appearing far more frequently in a lot of games. I can understand why games looked a certain way in their day - often due to limitations in pixels, polygons and hardware - but in general, I'd rather see more realism as I think that has more Atmosphere. Bright colourful doesn't scream 'gritty' dark, moody, horror etc at all and this was a Gritty, Dark war story
No Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 in the list? Whilst it probably isn't in my top 3 or 4, I am looking forward to it more than the majority of other games coming out. I know it won't be Game of the Year, probably won't be innovative or that different from previous games etc, but it will likely end up as one of my most played games in terms of hours spent and I really do like Zombies.
I don't know that I'll even play most of the games listed and some of the ones I voted for, I certainly won't be playing 'this' year as I refuse to pay more than £50 for ANY game just to play it within the first few months of release. I'd rather play my backlog until those games are on Sale. Arguably I'm not excited enough to drop £70+ just for the base version of games these days when I can buy 2 or 3 AAA games for that price - just 6mths+ old games that were £70+
It has the typical UE Artstyle and colour palette from that era. You can look at many games from that time period and see a similarly muted colour palette as games tried to move away from the Cartoony bright colours and tried to go for more gritty realism.
Say what you want about it, but Uncharted was influenced by this and numerous other 3rd Person Action games too.
I won't be buying this, I own the 360 OG version, the XB1 'Ultimate' edition Remaster and thanks to Xbox, I have been gifted the Reloaded edition too. I have beaten it multiple times over the years so I doubt I'd have re-bought it anyway.
I never got into the Multi-player but I really enjoyed Horde mode and Beast mode in later games. I much prefer to play Gears co-operatively than competitively...
Its not Game Pass - that game is NOT just on Game Pass, its available to 'BUY' too - but unless the game is 'worth' buying, is good enough to recommend to friends, then they aren't spending money. Game Pass would give them a decent lump sum to help cover some of the development costs - if people aren't buying it, recommending it etc, it just means your game isn't that good!
I bet 95% of the Game Pass players that played this, wouldn't have even bothered trying it without that service. They certainly wouldn't buy it with so many other Great games on the market.
They may not get as much 'per person' via Game Pass, but its likely more than they'd have 'sold'. If you read, they are 'upset' that all those extra people in playing via Game Pass didn't recommend it enough to their friends, didn't end up buying it or DLC - which tells me it wasn't 'good' enough to compete alongside all the other games in Game Pass - Clair Obscura did very well with their game that launched into Game Pass too...
Its funny that 'great' games do well and even some you'd think would struggle seem to find success, yet its always the 'mediocre' games that the dev 'blames' Game Pass - yet I bet they'd have less revenue if it was ALL sales as they'd have had far less people even willing to play it, let alone buy!
You can't stick 'mediocre' on Game Pass and expect it to be a success, drive revenue up etc - it has far more competition from Great Games - like Doom, Indiana, Clair Obscura etc etc. If it's not good enough, people will quickly move on to the next game and certainly not drop money on mediocrity!!
As it is a Handheld Windows PC - just like the RoG Ally, Lenovo Go, MSi Claw etc, it is able to play ALL PC games. It is NOT an Xbox Console playing Xbox Console games!
Xbox has 'Play Anywhere' so if you buy an Xbox Game digitally, you get the PC version too so if you have a RoG Ally - or the Xbox branded version - you don't need to double-dip as you already own the PC version and with Game Pass Ultimate, required on Xbox Consoles for 'Day 1' releases, you also get Game Pass PC and EA Access offering more games to download and play on PC's too.
As a PS5 owner, buying a Handheld PC (or gaming on ANY PC) won't offer any 'benefits' to me. If I want to play Spider-Man or God of War on the PC, I'd have to buy these again and shared saves are not the standard. I'd have no access to games I 'own' on Playstation,
Xbox and Windows are both 'Microsoft' so everyone that buys a PC or Xbox Console is a MS customer - they are both Microsoft OS and API's - the only difference is that the PC is an 'Open' Platform so allows others like Steam, Epic etc to compete.
We all know Windows is a not the 'best' OS for Gaming so MS has been working on reducing the 'Bloat' and making Windows more optimised for Gaming. Xbox and Windows development teams have worked together to create a 'Windows gaming' OS that boots straight to your Game Library and only loads what's necessary for gaming - but you could switch to Desktop mode and have the Full Windows PC experience - but most buying a Handheld Gaming PC aren't buying it to do spreadsheets or use MS Office. This is supposed to make it more 'Console' like, but still be a PC that plays EVERY game you'd be able to play on a Desktop PC.
To me, this looked like a Sea of Thieves wannabe. It also makes me wonder if they were hoping to release on Playstation to bring a similar game-play to Playstation customers, then were beaten to it by MS finally releasing SoT on PS.
Maybe it was the rumour of BO7 and the fact they were returning to the future, but the first clue I was watching a CoD game was when we were introduced to the female AI character that showed off some BO3 style robots. The big giveaway though was the Red TV screens which screamed 'The Numbers Mason'
I'm interested in it - can't say I'm expecting anything more than the usual Call of Duty that no doubt everyone will complain or whinge about but will be one of the best selling and most played game (in terms of hours per individual user) of the year.
For a game that everyone seems to criticise/hate, it usually ends up being their most played game of the year - spending 'hundreds' of hours every year in CoD, as well as being one of the most popular games annually too.
But to be Completely FAIR - it is $80 on Xbox too if you want to BUY it to OWN. Of course on Xbox you do have the option of Game Pass Ultimate, a $20 a month Sub Service to play that and/or other Game Pass games for 'Free' but never own it (unless you buy it later on in a sale).
The Only difference is that Xbox has Game Pass with Day 1 releases in their Ultimate tier which technically is allowing Subscribers to play for free. Otherwise, whether you play on Xbox or Playstation, this game costs $80. Its also on PC Game Pass - but you can buy from Steam or Windows.
The more publishers that are raising prices, the more 'value' in a Sub Service that delivers 'Day 1' releases - you can always buy the games you really want to 'keep', when they are on sale later on anyway and if not, haven't 'wasted' money on buying it
I stopped buying releases 'Day 1' when Sony raised the price and put a 'premium' $10 tax on PS5 upgrades/editions - EXACTLY the same content, same story, same voices and game-play systems, mechanics etc just a 'bit of a Graphical boost'. So I won't pay $80 for ANY game, but I can play on Game Pass.
It doesn't matter if Xbox releases 'EVERY' game on PS5 - especially with 'multiple' releases a year as Game Pass on Xbox or PC makes much more Sense for me to play on those platforms. The fact Playstation has them too doesn't mean I'm going to 'buy' on my PS5. For those who don't own a device they can access Game Pass in a way they'd find acceptable for the cost, then the more devices its also available to 'buy' and play is only better for the Gamer - they have the choice to play on 'hardware' they own/prefer to play on.
It's not just MS that announced they were raising prices... But the more that people buy 'day 1', get suckered in to 'pre-ordering' and paying the money - even with many having issues and/or missing content/features due post launch and some games being so 'short on content but expect the money for seasons of content that will build up into a 'full' game and more (BF2042) is it any wonder the prices jumped up - you somehow believe better looking graphics cost more than ALL the work writing, Storyboarding, voicing, concept art, high quality asset making for reference and/or CGI trailers or Cutscenes, all of which with then have be laboriously dumbed down and textures made from them at different LoD's depending on distance, render real Ray cast scenes so that you have reference for baked in lighting etc etc.
When that game is 'enhanced' they already have the 'high quality' assets and its just a different set of LoD's and settings optimisation. turn up the amount of random bushes and grass it can render - all of which was turned down 'lower' for the older Hardware - tweaked to ensure it had the right amount so it played as well as possible, but now PS5 can have higher settings, use higher LoD's so even the more distant objects have more detail so at a higher resolution, the higher settings have a more profound impact but it's not cost 'more'.
With engines now able to replace a lot of labour intensive work, have real time lighting/shadows so no need to bake, nothing is 'fake', no need to make shadow mods or various different LoDs, the engine scales them up down based on size and/or distance from you.
So I don't see why ANY game is worth more than £50 at most and maybe they'd have to sell 1.2m instead of 700k to be profitable...
The All-digital version so Sony hope/expect you buy more Digital content and MS too benefit from more players in their game, in their 'CoD' storefront and buying battle passes, bundles and/or CoD points. Sony benefit by ensuring you only buy through their Store as theb only Digital retailer on PS5 and MS benefit from extra players and extra income It's basically free on Game Pass on Xbox - so why not?
It's not as if PS5 gamers are getting something 'exclusive' and is relying on Microsoft owned IP's/Software to selltheir hardware. CoD is basically free on Xbox Game Pass and has been since launch and was marketed by MS too, now 6months later Sony can use it for their sales push which also benefits MS.
If I hadn't bought my PS5 Disc version at launch, I doubt I'd buy one today - not just the cost of the Hardware, but PS+ to play all the content in those games as well as buying Games and peripherals. At this 'late' stage in the Generation - its coming up for 5yrs old now, I doubt I'd pay £400 for something I think has a year or two before we see a next gen replacement. Back Compat has become 'expected' in a more digital era so I could wait and play whatever PS5 exclusives I missed.
Another option could be to invest in a PC seeing as Sony have released and appear to be continuing to release their games there. Therefore it could be the better 'longterm' investment at this point in time - not only will you get 'most' of Sony's Exclusives but you'll also get all the Xbox releases (Day 1) and can play them 'Free' with Game Pass (Games like CoD, Doom, Indiana, Outer Worlds, Avowed, Flight Sim, Forza), don't have to pay a monthly fee to play Online with friends, also has the biggest Library of games and games are generally cheaper too - more competition.
A console may cost £500, but if you play games online with friends, you'll need a Basic Subscription which can add another £400 over 5yrs to your costs before you even buy a Game. That's money you could put to buying or upgrading a PC that not only blows PS5 away, but also has a much larger game library with many Console games playable via emulation.
Each to their own, but I wouldn't buy a PS5 at this point. I paid £450 for the disc based version 5yrs ago and had that time to get my moneys worth from it.
The people that will renew will likely renew regardless so why 'lose' money on them? This is more to incentivise people either upgrading to higher tiers or to sign up for PS+ - not to 'reward' loyalty.
I won't be 'renewing' or upgrading to a higher tier myself though.
@Sergo That would come under 'preference' but if you had a PC/Series S, you would not have that choice so cannot buy Physical to play the game.
On Series X, the ONLY Xbox hardware that has a Physical Media drive, you have a choice to play it for 'FREE' on Game Pass - thus not needing to spend money, no risk to trying and therefore no need to 'sell' to fund your next game or recoup your losses. That in itself also reduces the number of people that will buy the game as most will play it via Game Pass. Series X too has a smaller number of users as the Series S sold more units and PC owners don't need to buy Xbox hardware at all.
So of the 'few' Series X owners that therefore will buy (both Digital & Physical), Physical accounts for a small percentage. Less than 20% of ALL sales are Physical. So if you only sell or expect to sell 200k, 20% is only about 40k Physical sales which cost money to make and distribute - especially in 'small' numbers.
On Playstation, not only do you have a LOT more Users due to more Playstation 5's sold, but the most populatr model is the Disc based version and their PS5 Pro can add a Physical Media player too. Also, Playstation gamers are a bit more likely to buy Physical and its not as if 80% of the Playstation users will play it day 1 on a Sub service. In terms of Digital - Physical split, its more like 70:30 than Xbox 80:20
Therefore because the ONLY option on Playstation is to 'buy' and no option to 'rent' via Sub service like Xbox/PC, as well as a 'higher' user base and 'higher' percentage of those able to use Physical, Games will sell a lot more copies. With double the player counts and over half having access to a physical media drive, as well as PS gamers more likely to buy Physical, they may expect to sell a LOT more Physical games to make it worthwhile.
I don't care why you choose the format you do - that's Preference - but on Xbox, it would seem that people prefer to play on Game Pass or buy Digitally and with Series X having the 'smallest' users, very few in the Xbox/PC ecosystem will actually buy Physical so its not 'worth' the additional Costs to produce Physical discs. If that puts the 'few' who ONLY buy Physical to sell on, to 'keep' a Physical disc or for whatever reason they have off from purchasing, it's such a small number that it won't have a big impact on the overall. I clearly state that those buying on disc are Series X owners that 'prefer' Physical and won't be playing it via Game Pass which is a tiny percentage of the Xbox/PC ecosystem!
If you didn't have to buy because it was offered as part of PS+ day 1, you wouldn't 'buy' it Physically or feel there is a 'risk' that you may need to sell if you don't like it. You can download, try and then decide whether or not you want/need to buy it at all. That's why this game wasn't released on Physical disc on Xbox/PC because the majority won't be 'buying'anyway and of the minority that do, only a 'few' can or would buy it Physically for their 'preference' anyway as most buy Digital these days.
It never received a Physical release at launch because it would be pointless. The only people buying 'Physical' would be the 'few' Series X console gamers (as PC and Series S are all digital), don't sub to Game Pass and prefer to buy Physical. With Series X also having the smallest user base and as Digital far exceeds Physical in terms of sale numbers, they'd not sell enough Physical copies to justify the costs of manufacturing and distributing that media.
As for the 'game' itself, its more of an experience - the experience of Psychosis and how the situation affects the voices. so Combat & puzzles are there to feed the voices, not the test the players gaming skills. As an Experience, I think its great, but as a Game, its lacking! There is a reason they recommend playing on Headphones because the 'main' focus is the Audio and experiencing Psychosis - not 'Game-play) which is more to service the Narrative and experience.
Therefore I doubt Hellblade 2 was a 'System seller' for Microsoft and probably didn't move the needle much for Game Pass Subscriptions either.
If you really enjoyed the Audio and 'experience' of the first but got frustrated by Puzzles and Combat, this is for you and I think its designed to be more accessible so more people get the full experience of Senuas Psychosis.
I have finished the game with 100% completion and EVERY upgrade and Weapon Mastery completed too - not one crash, bug or glitch.
Yes the Atlan Sections are the 'weakest' from a game-play perspective but they are 15-20mins at most and only appear a few times - the 'longest' is the first time which introduces the Atlan and its mechanics.
The Dragon too is used sparingly and the 'longest' again is the first time - the other 2 times are very brief and you do get off the Dragon to 'fight' on foot after clearing the 'air defences'.
Both tend to offer a slight respite from the 'on-foot' Combat - which if you aren't exploring and looking for every Secret/collectable maybe comes at the right time before the Combat ramps up with increasing numbers, variety of enemies and 'mini-bosses' too. I found them OK - nowhere near as bad/tedious as some make out, but are definitely not as strong as the main combat loop. They are almost refreshingly different - especially if playing on the higher difficulties.
Narratively, I also think its the strongest of the trilogy and the cut scenes are impressive. Graphically the game is very strong too and much more atmospheric with more realistic lighting and less cartoony looking presentation.
Each to their own, but its easily a 9/10 and my Game of the Year. I feel much more confident in assigning a score now I have finished the game with 100% completion rating.
@kyleforrester87 I can only echo what @carlos82 said - I too have beaten every Doom game (inc 3 and the BFG edition) except Eternal and will certainly complete the Dark Ages too - I only have two Chapters left - and the Atlan/Dragon Sections make 'brief' returns for story purposes but the vast majority is on foot.
It starts a bit sluggish but introduces new abilities and weapons quite regularly early on so the 2nd half you have 'every' tool at your disposal and its more about upgrading for extra damage abilities/drops and/or preference.
It's got more in common with Doom (2016) and Doom 1&2 so I think more traditionall yet new and refreshing too. Going toe to toe with giant demons and smashing them with a Flail then sheild bashing an enemy across the map before shotgun blasting another is just so much fun.
At the end of the day, I'd rate this very highly and its a Great Single Player Game that so far, not only looks Next Gen, it's running at 60fps and I have not encountered (or heard of people having) a single bug/glitch. Therefore it only comes down to how much do think that's 'worth' to you to play - Every game ends up on sale at some point, but all I can say is I'm enjoying it and think its easily the best of the recent Doom games and I will complete it.
Currently on Chapter 20 of 22 with 100% completion on every chapter so far. I'm loving this game and its Combat loop. The Combat is far more weighty, brutal and fun than Eternal - at least in my opinion and I feel much 'tougher', much more the Super Soldier than the 'fragile' and lightweight Eternal. Chaining together Shield, Melee and weaponry to dodge, parry and obliterate enemies is so much fun.
Visually its stunning, I've had no bugs, glitches or issues and it plays so well. The Atlan sections are 'brief' and certainly not the 'best' from a Game-Play perspective, but as a visual spectacle, they are impressive sequences. I enjoyed levelling all the buildings and wishing Blast Corps would return as its fun smashing all the buildings - but these are no more than 10-15mins sections in a Chapter.
For me, its the Best DOOM game and has more in common with DOOM 1&2 than Eternal so its a 'return' to what I expect and want from Doom. Its easily my Game of the Year so far.
@ChrisDeku OK if you want to go that route - a game may well cost $120m over 5 years (or $24m a year or $2m a month), but Game pass is bringing in over $300m a month. With that, you can keep 40 studios making games ($80m a month) as well as pay 3rd Party Publishers, Devs etc and all the 'running' costs. Therefore by the time that $120m game releases, its development costs have been 'paid' by Game Pass Subscribers so any sales are pure 'Profit'
Steam doesn't have 150m users - it may have 150m 'accounts' but its so easy to create more accounts and many have multiple accounts.
My point though is that very few games do sell 1m in the first week and Doom Eternal certainly didn't attract 3m people in its first week. If you don't have to buy, why would you? Of those that play via Game Pass, I wonder how many would have bought if that was their only choice? How many would wait until the price 'drops' or it gets offered on thev most basic Subscription that Console owners 'must' have to play every game and its related content. How many wouldn't have bothered even trying it because it has a barrier to try.
Sales don't tell you if Eternal had more 'engagement' or higher complletion rate - its on Game Pass too now as well so you can't tell me how many of those that bought actually finished the game - you'll just assume some figures...
@PuppetMaster being happy with a 'niche' product that they also knew wouldn't be a big seller and the Studio themselves had no ambition to make the type of Games that Tango had been known for, then you can understand why MS maybe closed them down. They didn't buy Tango 'specifically' it was 'bundled' in with the rest of the Zenimax group. When Tango was acquired to make Hifi Riush 2, the new owners already expect Hifi Rush 2 to be a Niche game that won't sell enough to be 'profitable' - but that is their choice.
When MS acquired Tango, they were known for their Horror Survival games and having the Resident Evil Creator as their Studio head and kept their 'Horror' IP's when sold.
It's not just about their 'last' release, its also about their future and the state of the Studio. If it requires a LOT of investment, don't have a 'project' you feel would be successful enough to back, incredibly difficult to support being the otherside of the world and ONLY studio in that region or any other reason, then it makes sense as to why a company may 'shut/sell' a Studio
@ChrisDeku That's not the point - its 'excuses' for not selling more or defensive arguing because one happens to be a Sony made game and the other Microsoft.
I picked Returnal just because I know that was Critically acclaimed and I knew that hadn't sold 1m after several months but I could mention numerous other 'big' releases in recent times Star Wars Outlaws - a massive IP - didn't sell 1m in a month. These games didn't get 1m 'engaged' in their game in a month yet people are trying to knock Doom for having over 3m in its first week!
Some games only pass 1m once the game has dropped significantly in price but the point is Sales figures are not 'important' to you or gamers in general. It makes no difference to you and it only matters to the Studio/Publisher. You can't tell me if 1m people that buy a game even installed it, played more than 15mins or completed it. So why does that matter with player numbers?
As long as the Publisher/Studio are happy with its performance, that's all that matters as its them that will know what 'costs' they need to recuperate, when it becomes profitable and/or how those people are 'engaging' with their game to determine what is 'successful'.
Again Steam is NOT the ONLY PC retailer selling the game - its numbers too won't count PC gamers using Game Pass or bought from Bethesda or Microsoft. It only counts those who bought and play on Steam.
2m+ could well have played on Game Pass - but that is split between Console, PC and even Cloud (although I doubt Cloud is that popular). The only people buying will be those on Playstation and those on PC/Xbox that don't subscribe to Game-pass.
Returnal didn't sell more than 600k in its first few MONTHS of release - not a 'criticism' but many games, even if critically acclaimed, don't necessarily sell 1m in the first week.
Maybe they also don't need to sell as many copies because funding from Game Pass has paid for the development costs so sales are just profit. Atomfall devs said they were immediately profitable despite launching on Game Pass too meaning they didn't have to sell a high number of Games to recuperate costs before making a profit.
Sales don't tell you anymore than player numbers do. You don't know whether they even installed the game or how much they engaged with it. As far as the Finances are concerned, why do you care? Its not as if you have to pay salaries and decide which projects to invest in, As long as the Publisher is happy, chances are the Dev team will be too.
Sales and player numbers are only indications of the number of people the game/marketing reached - it doesn't tell you if they tried it for 10mins or completed everything so its not an important metric either. The only thing that should matter is whether or not it is a good game and/or successful enough that the Studio will make more games. Anything else is not important to a Consumer.
They maybe 'old' games but its still the first time you can play on Playstation - hence the fact these probably weren't selling enough to make the top 30. Xbox and PC gamers would already have bought and/or played on Game Pass so its no surprise to see these jump up the charts now another 100m PS5 gamers can buy and play too...
Only surprised that its taken this long - I expected this to be next after the first 4 (sea of thieves, Grounded etc) as the first was on PS and this is quite a niche 'experience' (more than a Game) as it endeavours to give you the experience of living with Psychosis.
Its more about the voices and how they react to you and your 'in-game' situation. In combat, if you are doing well, the voices maybe confident but take more hits and they become more negative. Combat and Puzzles are 'challenging' situations to add contexxt to the state of Psychosis - not to 'challenge' you as a Gamer to overcome. As such, its more 'niche' and more an 'experience' than a game - which also means you don't limit it to a 'Platform' (its not going to sell Hardware) when you need it to reach as many people as possible who enjoy 'niche' experiences.
And you still have to Download and install to your Internal Storage so it doesn't matter if 100% is on disc or on a server, you still have to Download and install to play. The software on disc is then 'obsolete' as you are playing the software downloaded on your SSD, the only reason you need to keep the Physical media is to prove you still own a licence to access the software installed on your SSD.
The ONLY benefits of having the content delivered on Disc is that you can sell the disc on and/or if you have a metered or limited internet access, it maybe a better delivery method. It won't necessarilyy be 'preserved' any better than Digital
@Balaam_ And that is NOT important to ANYONE outside of those Companies - all they need to know is whether or not they are 'happy' post release - because that affects their opportunity to make another game for us to play.
Sales don't equate to whether or not those people played the game more than 10mins - and some games are 'sold' in bundles, not wanted or ever used yet count to sales figures. Sales don't tell you whether or not players engaged and for how long - most may have wasted $70 on something they played 30mins of before ditching it too because its broken or not what they expected.
Sales also don't give you any info on Price paid or Profit made either - a game may struggle to sell at full price, end up with a massive discount and go on to sell 4 or 5x as many copies, breaking through the 1m mark yet another may have 2m players in a week and yet you'll say that's not impressive because some maybe playing through a Sub service...
As long as MS is 'happy' then they'll keep id software and its staff team 'employed' to keep making more Games. Everyone on Steam & Playstation has to buy - although you can buy from others (MS, Bethesda, nVidia etc) so don't have to play through Steam and Game Pass for PC too won't count for Steam players so PC gamers have a LOT more choice where to Play and/or BUY from. It could still have sold over a 1m copies in a week across PC, Xbox and Playstation which isn't 'terrible' from a sales perspective either!! Returnal, a Critically acclaimed game, didn't sell 1m in its first few months on PC & PS5.
@HonestHick and don't have to keep moving and dodging, trying to avoid any enemy getting close to you as you attempt to also try and get Ammo or Health with a Glory or Chainsaw kill because Doom guy felt like he was 'weak' compared to the weighty and much more Solid feeling Doom guy in the Dark Ages,
And yes Ammo isn't as much of an issue and neither is going toe to toe with the biggest, baddest demons instead of running away and picking them off from distance until you can get the Glory kill. Eternal is the ONLY Doom game I've never finished or really want to. Most of that is down to the Platforming aspect of the game. Eternal is more of a Platformer with Combat and that's not what I want/expect from 'Doom'.
The Dark Ages is much more what I'd expect of Doom - if it was made today!
I'm loving the game so far - 14 Chapters in and every Chapter completed to 100%. It's easily my Game of the Year so far and 'yes' I am playing on Game Pass - although I did 'buy' the Premium Upgrade (basically the difference in price between the standard and Premium edition) as that comes with Future DLC, some cosmetics, Digital artbook & soundtrack as well as a few days 'earlier' access.
I think the Combat in this is far better than Eternal and much more meaty, brutal and visceral. All the weapons feel like they hit hard and only get better with upgrades. The Shield is so much fun - from the satisfying timing a perfect parry to being Capt America or using it to Shield Bash and Zoom into a bunch of enemies like a wrecking ball. It's such an 'aggresive' tool in the hands of Doom guy - its 'barely' defensive.
So its alright for a Human to imitate JEJ but not AI. The SAG-AFTRA is like a farm labourers union protecting their workers from Farmers wanting to use modern technology to increase productivity and reduce costs - inc to Consumers.
How is it different from Factories using Robots to manufacture products instead of 'Humans', Robots taking away 'work' from human people? Its not as if they are replacing a 'real' person as Darth Vader is Fictional - How many people have played James Bond over the years and if they 'voiced' a game with AI imitating Sean Connery's JB voice with 'permission', so what?
@ChrisDeku I don't know why you are being so defensive over this but its more than just a few textures/text they've used, but the Aesthetic and 'design' language of that artist. It would be like Scorn devs claiming their game's whole artistic design was created by themselves yet we all know its Aesthetic and design language is very much Giger.
When you directly use their Fonts, their colours, their 'design' aesthetic, their style and claim it as their own, not for the first time either, its not a minor issue to resolve. They could make a deal with the Artist to use their Design, give them credit and a share of the sales but if the artist refuses, its a major issue.
It's always an 'ex-developer' too - never anyone still at Bungie and according to other artists they've stolen from and 'promised' some reimbursement, haven't done so.
Assuming this even releasees at all now. It would seem the entire look of the game has to change and then you also have to add something to make the game 'interesting' and certainly from a game-play perspective because its is exceptionally generic and barebones. It's artstyle was 'unique' but that was plagiarised from another Artist.
And then you also need the gaming public to forgive Bungie yet again and buy into it, forget the trrack record of Destiny 1 and 2 and somehow turn what seemed like a 'generic' game with its 'unique' but stolen look into something they want to buy despite lacklustre first impressions.
Some were reminded of Concord before they knew of the plagiarism, that this was 'dead on arrival' and I myself struggle to see how they will turn this around when there are other Extraction shooters that have far more depth and much better game-play loop too,
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Re: Sony Still Does Physical Gaming Properly, Death Stranding 2 Fully Playable from Disc
@MrRhysReviews Its still completely playable offline if you buy from the internet too - the game must be downloaded from Disc/Internet regardless and once 'installed', the ONLY reason you need to keep the disc is to verify you still own the licence embedded in it - Digital of course has your licence locked to your account.
In the future, there is NO guarantee your hardware will have a Disc Drive to be able to download from the disc. If you keep your Hardware, keep your games installed, then you don't need to reinstall in the future to play.
Yes there are some 'advantages' to buying Physical - such as it gives you the option to sell later if you want and/or not using up Internet if on a metered service plan. But if you can't get access to the internet, you can't download any of the Patches, any of the additional content or features they add post launch etc, you maybe able to play the 'beta' launch code but the vast majority are virtually unplayable.
In my opinion, the only way Physical can preserve games 'better' than Digital is if they release a 'Complete' and fully patched/fixed version at the end of its lifecycle. That's the 'version' preserved Digitally, the version you can download even if the game is delisted/no longer available to 'buy'.
Physical has limited copies made and are not manufactured indefinitely so are not 'preserved' for generations to come. The ONLY way to 'preserve' YOUR games is to look after them yourself. I can't replace my N64 or Goldeneye Cartridge today, that game is NOT preserved now so that anyone can still buy, still play and I can't play the ports to modern hardware just because I bought the Cartridge - I have to rebuy.
All my PS3 games are 'preserved' in a Box in storage - along with my PS3 hardware. I can't play those on my PS5 and the only way they are 'preserved' is because I took care of them. My 'digital' PS3 games are still playable on my PS3 and preserved by being installed on my HDD so even if they turn off the internet, I still have the game installed.
If you want 'preservation' you have to do it yourself. Delisted (digitally) doesn't mean its 'gone' forever, it just means that if you didn't buy it before, you now can't but if you did, well you can keep playing (unless it was Online based and the servers are gone). I have Killzone games on Disc, but half the content is unplayable, not 'preserved'.
Physical is nothing more than a Delivery method these days because the Game NEVER runs from a Disc, it must be Downloaded and installed onto the SSD (just like Digital) but doesn't 'preserve' games any better, arguably 'worse' in some areas...
Re: Sony Still Does Physical Gaming Properly, Death Stranding 2 Fully Playable from Disc
Whilst the whole game maybe on Disc, its NOT playable from the Disc itself - it still needs to be downloaded and installed to the SSD. It's no more 'preserved' than downloading and installing from the internet - if you keep it on your SSD, you'll always have access....
Re: PS6 to 'Push the Boundaries' of Graphics, Doubles Down on Machine Learning
Typical claims but I doubt they'll push the boundaries of Graphics beyond what an RTX5090 and won't have the equivalent ML/Tensor cores either but compared to what they've done before with the PS5/PS5 Pro, then this will push those boundaries that the previous Consoles weren't able to get near.
I think people care more about Value and the quality of the gaming story/experience/game-play loop - the Graphics is the finishing touch. People play Minecraft and its the biggest selling game ever.
I've owned every Playstation Gen so far, but I don't know that I'll get a PS6 with the rising Costs of Console Hardware, increasing cost of games and much longer development times too. We had 3 Uncharted and a Last of Us over the PS3 gen, one every 2yrs, but now games take over 5yrs between releases - even sequels like Horizon and God of War. Nearly 6yrs between Infamous and GoT, and its going to be 5-6yrs for a sequel.
Fewer first party releases every year, along with rising costs of Hardware, sub charges to play with your friends, to play content you've paid to play and rising costs of games that aren't 'better' from a story, from a 'game-play loop' perspective, from any meaningful game metric 'other' than Graphical presentation.
The most transformative aspect of the PS5 gen over the PS4 isn't the 'graphics', its the instant loading that moving from HDD to SSD enabled. The games themselves are often just 'prettier' versions of games you've played before - its not enabling some 'new' game experience the Previous gen couldn't do - albeit with caveats (lower quality settings, lower res, lower frame rates etc) - even Titanfall 2 showed you can flip between two 'states' of the same world instantly on PS4 although R&C its used far more frequently and integral to more of the Game than Titanfalls singular mission level.
Still, I have plenty of time before it releases to make a decision on purchasing, but I'm thinking I'll play the few Sony games I want to play when they release on PC, Xbox is already on PC Day/Date and so is virtually every other game I want to play. No charge to play Online with my friends, no content locked behind a Sub Paywall and the ability to play 98% of the games I enjoy Day 1 on one Platform, with the other 2% coming eventually... for Some that maybe a Playstation with the other 2% Xbox games but there are a LOT of great games on PC not on Console.
Re: You Can Now Launch First-Party PlayStation Games Through the Xbox PC App
PC's aren't a 'single' platform, they are an OPEN platform allowing for Steam to exist as a 'Platform' on PC - You buy from Steam, you can ONLY play through Steam, Buy from Battlenet, then you play through Battlenet - you can't play CoD on Battlenet if you bought on Steam. Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Xbox and Microsoft Game Pass are all MS owned, all part of the SAME ecosystem.
Sony will NOT sell on Microsofts Store so won't be 'Play Anywhere', won't be making ANY money for MS as you play through steam and buy any DLC/MTX through Steam, not MS. You are still playing on Steam, not Xbox.
Xbox only exist because MS wanted to bring PC Gaming to the mainstream with an 'affordable' DirectX-Box. Now 25yrs later, you can get Gaming PC's for 'console' money, they can even be 'more' affordable than Consoles so for Microsoft, the Xbox 'console' is not really required unless it 'suits' the individuals preference (cost, ease of use etc) because you could play via cloud if your Hardware can't play the games natively or if you have a decent PC, you don't want a 'budget' console with its 'limited' frame rate and/or console tier presentation - you may buy a Console just because it has a few games you can't play where you really want to play - your PC.
Microsoft make Surface PC's and I can see them making a 'Surface Xbox' - either a Windows Handheld (like RoG Ally although why bother competing with your partners) or more Console formfactor (maybe even with a Disk Drive for BC) to offer a 'budget' Fixed Spec PC with limited/no upgrade potential that may help Devs have a 'minimum' spec target for developing games.
Anyway, point is this makes NO difference to Sony or their PC plans - they have NEVER sold their games on Microsoft stores so won't be in the 'Microsoft' Ecosystem on PC. They will remain on Steam and played through Steam, even if they show up on a 'Xbox' branded App that collects ALL your installed games into one convenient place for easy access. As soon as you click on the game to 'play' it, it launches in Steam, not Xbox!
Re: Xbox Looker Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 Runs at a Slick 60fps on PS5
Xbox will be getting these Enhancements too so I may well see if the 60fps 'Performance' mode sacrifices too much visual clarity for what may well be negligible benefits from the increased frame rate.
The game, well 'experience' as its not really much of 'Game', is a lot of wandering around at relatively 'slow' pace whilst 'listening' to the dialogue, whether from supporting characters or the voices in Senuas head. It's not a high paced action game that requires perfect timing etc, it would be more accurate to call this an interactive experience designed to convey what living with Psychosis, what living with voices (that dynamically change between Negativity and Positivity) is like as different challenges/obstacles (like Combat or Puzzles) get in the way. The focus is very much on the Audio with the Visual quality a close second to get that 'experience' across and why its recommended you play on a Headset. If you don't, then the major point of this is significantly reduced. Game-play has arguably been 'dumbed' down which I think is so that it doesn't get in the way or prevent gamers from the full 'experience' of living with Psychosis and its impact on Senua. If the puzzles or Combat are too hard/challenging, they prevent progress and frustrate and become the 'focus' to the player, not the voices which is the MAIN point.
If you go into this thinking that Game-play is the 'most' important part, then this will disappoint - the Game-play is 'functional' for interactivity purposes and gives the player some sense of being that 'character' more than just watching a movie would. But if you really enjoyed the Audio of the first and how those voices would 'change' depending on the situation Senua was in at that time, really began to understand how Psychosis impacts those living with it and want more, this is for you...
Re: Microsoft Rivals PSVR2 with Meta Quest 3S Xbox Headset
This isn't Microsoft dipping its toes into VR, trying to compete with Sony's PSVR, this is more like them making their Game Pass Cloud App available on another device - this time it just so happens to be a 'VR' Headset. Its no different really from Samsung/LG TV's or Amazon Firesticks - its just another device that Game Pass Subscribers can use to stream Game Pass games to, another device that maybe can sell Game Pass Subscriptions to owners of.
Re: Talking Point: Do Early Access Editions Go Too Far for Story Games Like Death Stranding 2?
There will be people that get to the end faster than others so there will always be potential for spoilers unless you get it and play it through Day 1 and avoid anyone or online until you've finished it. How long should you wait after release before you talk about something, which could be a spolier to another?
Buying it a few days after release is little different in my opinion to getting it 'Day 1' whilst some got it a few days earlier as a 'bonus' for buying a Special Edition. If you don't expect spoilers because you can't buy/play until 2-4days after the game is out, then why would you expect spoilers with 2-4days earlier access?
Its quite easy to avoid spoilers if you really want to. I also don't have any issue with Publishers incentivising 'pre-orders' with Earlier Access - you have to 'pre-order' to get Early access as you can't buy it until the day of release. Its basically 'Free' for the Publishers to offer and ONLY has 'value' to the Gamer before the Game releases. Once the Day of release arrives, you can't go back and claim the 'bonus', and makes no difference to the Publisher whether you play a few days earlier or Day 1 'financially' (no extra costs like there is to make Cosmetics or offer Digital Soundtracks/Artbooks etc).
I won't buy a Special Edition just because it has a few days earlier access, I'll buy a Special Edition because it comes with ALL the additional Content they are planning to release, as well as maybe some extra Cosmetics or bonuses but don't 'pre-order' as I don't think ANY game is worth the launch day price when its often half that price or less within 6mnths.
Re: Fans Can't Believe PS5 Has Made More Profit Than All Previous PlayStations Combined
Most expensive hardware with the most expensive price for games as well as enforced Subscription charges to play with friends and/or play all the content/games released - some games aren't playable at all without a Sub.
With more Expensive games, 30% of the price goes to the Platform holder so they get a higher amount 'per game' sold through their Digital store as well as sell hardware that locks people into buying from their store. Its not just games, but also ALL the digital content - DLC, Cosmetics, in-game currencies etc etc. Even Indies which would often be under £10 are now £25-30 minimum but often £40.
Its not just 'Sony' I know, but the industry as a whole - yet they also dispose of studios and people whilst their CEO's get pay rises and comment about rising costs leading to price increases so that next years profits are 'bigger'...
Re: EA's Long Awaited Skate Reboot Is Now Imminent on PS5
@Nakatomi_Uk I kept being invited into their playtesting too but its 'Skate' and not something I really care to play or test. I doubt I'll play it when its 'free' on EA Access LOL
Re: Talking Point: What's Your PS5 Game of the Year for 2025 So Far?
Doom:TDA
Indiana (a close second)
Atomfall
My Games of the year so far
Re: The Next Xbox Is a PC, So What Does That Mean for PS6?
@Ilyn You still have Console tier Hardware with the likes of Nintendo's Switch or Sony's Playstation. Third Party Devs are building their games to run on Consoles too because Consoles traditionally are where the majority play because Consoles are more affordable.
If MS do make a Xbox PC - say around PS6 level hardware then you have a 'fixed' spec PC to target and know it should run well on PS6 too. It will scale 'up' for better hardware - able to offer higher native quality settings and/or achieve higher frame rates - rely less on upscaling (FSR, DLSS, TAA etc), whilst lower tier Hardware will have lower Res, lower target Frame Rates, lower visual settings etc. There is a massive difference in Hardware required to do 4k/60 over 1080/30 with exactly the same quality settings - its 8x 'larger' (4x the Pixel count and Double the amount of Frames) so that gives you a massive range of Hardware you can scale for.
Those 'PC' games tend to come to Console too. A Single Spec PC - like an Xbox PC would inevitably be - could actually help Devs provide their 'optimised' settings instead of expecting players to optimise their own settings to get the 'balance' of Graphical quality and Frame Rate.
PC's tend to provide a range of different settings you can tweak to r the game for the Specs of your Hardware - you may not be able to run EVERYTHING at 'Ultra' or even High Quality and still get the Resolution and Frame rate you want - but the console will have set these at 'low/medium (not that you can 'tweak) cause that was how they 'optimised' it to get the Frame Rate they wanted, implement DRS so it drops Res not frame rates etc.
You can't play Cyberpunk 2077 with all the bells and whistles, at the same visual quality or frame rates on a PS5, Series X or Switch 2hat game was clearly not built for XB1/PS4 hardware either yet 'released' for it. However, they can scale it up beyond what even a 5090 can deliver with DLSS and scale it all the way down to a handheld low powered Console device...
Unless you are building games for a 'single' platform that has a 'fixed' spec - such as Sony or Nintendo building 'Exclusives' for their own Consoles, then ALL games are built to scale across as many Platforms as possible, to scale up and look their best, even if they require DLSS to look that good on the HIGHEST tier, but also look 'ok' and at least be playable at 30fps on the weakest. No one thought that games like the Witcher 3 or Doom: Eternal would run on Switch, let alone as great as they do and look - but that's still a LONG way from what the highest tier Hardware can do.
A Fixed Spec PC - even the Handhelds can help the PC Game Developers - they can these as the 'minimum' Hardware spec the game has to run on at least at say 540/30 with 'Low' settings and FSR upscaling, maybe even use the Xbox PC as a 'Recommended' Spec to target at say 1440/60 as a Minimum and know it will run on PS6, maybe scale down for Handhelds inc Steamdeck and Switch 2...
Re: PSVR2 to Lose the Support of Its Best Game This Month
It's had a 'good' run and I bet its not drawing in enough players that spend money to keep spending money on Servers and Support. You can still buy and Play at least.
It also seems that they are focusing on their next project, investing into that rather than keep spending money on their 'Old' game...
Re: Rumour: Sony Wants Warner Bros' Gaming Assets, Like Mortal Kombat
'm sure that Sony wouldn't be the ONLY Publisher interested in Purchasing WB and/or their Gaming Assets. They aren't the only ones of the years mentioned over the years.
Some of the issues though is that they don't 'own' their IP's, they may own a 'Licence' or Agreement to make games like Hogwarts, DC games etc. Mortal Kombat probably makes sense for Sony as they own (or did) EVO.
Re: The Next Xbox Is a PC, So What Does That Mean for PS6?
@Ilyn Whilst you do have High End PC systems that can offer fully Path Traced AAA games with DLSS required to make them playable and look higher res than they are, those games tend to also release and can be scaled down for SteamDeck, Handheld PC or even a Series S.
Handhelds aren't likely to deliver '4k' so that's a lot of 'processing power' not required and no doubt have access to FSR4.0 on AMD hardware. A game 'could' run at 540/30 but look like its running at 1080/60 and on a 'small' screen, any upscaling artefacts will be difficult to spot.
According to Steam, most don't have 'high' end PC's and don't 'need' to upgrade to play the latest games. Whilst they may have to choose 1080-1440p or settle for 60-120 fps, maybe only have RT GI or RT Shadows/reflections' like the PS5/XSX or even XSS hardware, I can only see them continuing to make Games for PC to scale across the 'widest' range of Specs possible - just like they do today. The Handheld PCs (not just Xbox branded), Steamdeck, Switch 2 etc will set the 'minimum' spec to reach the most people possible, not limit it to only those with High end PC's only. Yes if you want all the bells/whistles, the highest Res and/or Frame rate etc, then you'll need the Hardware to get that, but if you are happy with 'Console' tier Graphics/Resolutions etc, the game releases there too, and can be played on Handhelds at lower settings or even streamed nowadays. Streaming may not be the 'best' but it is better than nothing and can be better than playing it natively on very weak hardware.
If MS make a Xbox PC, I doubt it will be the 'lowest' spec PC that gamers are playing on - even today the RTX 20 series are still very popular so I expect it will be 'above' the minimum Spec requirements for Games, even if not by much. No doubt as it is a Fixed Spec Box, that could help Devs develop for PC's, keep that as their 'recommended' target tier Hardware even the Minimum spec their games need to be playable on.
Re: The Next Xbox Is a PC, So What Does That Mean for PS6?
Whilst obvious, this was also mentioned by Sarah Bond during the recent Show when she introduced the RoG Xbox - which is basically the template for the next Xbox. A Windows powered 'Console' like form factor device.
Sony doesn't releases day 1 on PC and likely won't sell through Microsoft stores so will be exclusive to Steam/Epic etc on PC.
PC has always been part of Microsoft and every PC owner is basically a Microsoft Customer - the all bought/own a Windows Licence. The MS/Xbox 'ecosystem' is the Microsoft Servers for streaming, Microsoft Consoles and Microsoft Windows devices - all Microsoft so it makes sense that Microsoft, who entered the Console business to bring PC and their games to mainstream markets with affordable consoles - hence it was the first Console with 'PC' like build and its Built in HDD.
Now 25 yrs later, you can buy a 'gaming PC' for Console money — the Handheld PC's for example are around PS5-PS5 Pro prices and won't hold content and playing with friends behind a Subscription pay wall which adds up over 'years'. I know that you'd need to spend 'more' to get the same sort of visual and performance quality from a PC as you get on a Console, but you also have a MUCH larger library.
Sony will still do what Sony does, still carry on with their 'traditional' style Consoles, still have their 'exclusives', still have their 3rd Party deals etc.
From a devs perspective, they also won't need to port a Xbox specific edition, they'll just have to make a PC game with at most curated/Optimised Settings for fixed spec as the 'Xbox PC' will be, but you can still tweak them yourself
Re: Gears of War's PS5 Debut Axed in Japan Due to 'Platform Policies'
It is weird considering but the Chainsaw kills are 'Brutal' and gruesome in depiction and not just lopping off body parts in some less realistic looking way - although its also not used against 'Human' enemies - its tearing these in half. I'm sure Lollipop Chainsaw (or whatever that game was called) got released in Japan.
Re: Sony Lifts Region Locks on Its PC Games, Including Helldivers 2, The Last of Us, More
@SeaDaVie It is mentioned in the article above and to Quote:
"After just over a year, hundreds of countries can now once again purchase Sony's catalogue of Steam games.
While some of Sony's PC games no longer require a PSN account link, there are a few that still do, such as Helldivers 2, Ghost of Tsushima, and Until Dawn.
Still, at least the purchasing restrictions are no longer in place."
This reads like ALL of Sony's games are NOW once again available to buy in those regions. It doesn't say that games like GoT or even 'Until Dawn' will remain unavailable as they 'require' PSN, but like Helldivers 2, TLoU2 and 'others' (as the title of this article states), they are now being Sold in those regions PSN is NOT available.
The way this article reads, it would indicate that ALL of Sony's games are now not region locked, available to buy everywhere Steam exists. Just because Wario's image doesn't mention GoT, the PushSquare article does and makes it seem that EVERY Sony game is now available whether PSN is required or NOT and some games do require it. I wouldn't have mentioned GoT (or Until Dawn) and would have assumed these were the 'others' along with Helldivers and LoU2 that were now no longer region locked.
Re: Sony Lifts Region Locks on Its PC Games, Including Helldivers 2, The Last of Us, More
@SeaDaVie again that is an 'issue' for those out of Region. If they buy GoT but it requires PSN for Online MP, then they cannot access Online MP. It still costs the same but some content would be 'inaccesible'.
It either should be Optional for ALL so EVERYONE can access ALL the content or NOT sold in those regions because they can't play all.
Re: Borderlands 4 a $70 PS5 Game, Offers $100 and $130 Versions Too
I'll wait for the inevitable sale and pick it up when its much, much cheaper. If I want to play a 'Borderlands' game, I have the older games I could play as a different Vault hunter, different build etc for a 'new' experience - otherwise I'm happy to wait for a decent sale price.
Re: Sony Lifts Region Locks on Its PC Games, Including Helldivers 2, The Last of Us, More
@SeaDaVie I don't know exactly what the state of PSN is - especially with Legacy titles like the ones mentioned that it was a 'requirement' for. If I were to now buy Helldivers, GoT or LoU2 on PC, would I need PSN? According to the article, these games still require PSN - at least in regions PSN is supported.
Unless PSN is 'optional', then those games shouldn't be 'sold' in regions PSN is NOT available and if its Optional in those regions, it should be optional in ALL regions too.
Re: Sony Lifts Region Locks on Its PC Games, Including Helldivers 2, The Last of Us, More
So are they bringing PSN to those regions too - especially if PSN is a requirement otherwise those regions can't play. If HD2, GoT and LoU2 require PSN to be playable, then unless PSN is available in those regions, the reason they weren't sold in those regions, is a big issue.
So either they are releasing PSN in those regions or PSN itself must be purely 'optional' at most.
Re: This Is How Gears of War Reloaded Looks and Plays on PS5 Pro
@BusyOlf I'd say the first is pretty good - it was Game of the Year for some Awards and won numerous accolades like Best Action Game, best Console game etc but the 2nd and 3rd are superior - especially 2 - I think that has the best 'story'.
Its dark, gritty and 'brutal' and you do get the 'horror' of War too - at least the Epic Trilogy is - the Coalition made games aren't quite so gritty, brutal and they even dropped the 'of War' for Gears 5.
I still think its OK today as a compete game but its also nearly 20 years old. It was 'limited' by Hardware and modern games can do 'more' for the story, the game-play loop etc so it may not have the same impact it did when I first played it.
I'd recommend it - but I'd also say remember its nearly a 20yr old game. Its a bit like 'Uncharted', which was great at the time but after Uncharted 2 and 3 and now decades of time, its 'OK' but not the 'best' in the franchise.
Re: This Is How Gears of War Reloaded Looks and Plays on PS5 Pro
@nomither6 I certainly don't mind it and much prefer a more realistic artstyle to the cartoony styles and/or stylised (like Marathon) so I'd take the look of Gears of War over games like Fortnite, Splitgate, Marathon etc.
I'm also being turned off by all those excessive neon bright particle effects and swoosh lines that are appearing far more frequently in a lot of games. I can understand why games looked a certain way in their day - often due to limitations in pixels, polygons and hardware - but in general, I'd rather see more realism as I think that has more Atmosphere. Bright colourful doesn't scream 'gritty' dark, moody, horror etc at all and this was a Gritty, Dark war story
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your Most Anticipated PS5 Games for the Second Half of 2025?
No Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 in the list? Whilst it probably isn't in my top 3 or 4, I am looking forward to it more than the majority of other games coming out. I know it won't be Game of the Year, probably won't be innovative or that different from previous games etc, but it will likely end up as one of my most played games in terms of hours spent and I really do like Zombies.
I don't know that I'll even play most of the games listed and some of the ones I voted for, I certainly won't be playing 'this' year as I refuse to pay more than £50 for ANY game just to play it within the first few months of release. I'd rather play my backlog until those games are on Sale. Arguably I'm not excited enough to drop £70+ just for the base version of games these days when I can buy 2 or 3 AAA games for that price - just 6mths+ old games that were £70+
Re: This Is How Gears of War Reloaded Looks and Plays on PS5 Pro
It has the typical UE Artstyle and colour palette from that era. You can look at many games from that time period and see a similarly muted colour palette as games tried to move away from the Cartoony bright colours and tried to go for more gritty realism.
Say what you want about it, but Uncharted was influenced by this and numerous other 3rd Person Action games too.
I won't be buying this, I own the 360 OG version, the XB1 'Ultimate' edition Remaster and thanks to Xbox, I have been gifted the Reloaded edition too. I have beaten it multiple times over the years so I doubt I'd have re-bought it anyway.
I never got into the Multi-player but I really enjoyed Horde mode and Beast mode in later games. I much prefer to play Gears co-operatively than competitively...
Re: 'People Are Less Willing to Pay': Dev Speaks Out Against Day One Releases on PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass
Its not Game Pass - that game is NOT just on Game Pass, its available to 'BUY' too - but unless the game is 'worth' buying, is good enough to recommend to friends, then they aren't spending money. Game Pass would give them a decent lump sum to help cover some of the development costs - if people aren't buying it, recommending it etc, it just means your game isn't that good!
I bet 95% of the Game Pass players that played this, wouldn't have even bothered trying it without that service. They certainly wouldn't buy it with so many other Great games on the market.
They may not get as much 'per person' via Game Pass, but its likely more than they'd have 'sold'. If you read, they are 'upset' that all those extra people in playing via Game Pass didn't recommend it enough to their friends, didn't end up buying it or DLC - which tells me it wasn't 'good' enough to compete alongside all the other games in Game Pass - Clair Obscura did very well with their game that launched into Game Pass too...
Its funny that 'great' games do well and even some you'd think would struggle seem to find success, yet its always the 'mediocre' games that the dev 'blames' Game Pass - yet I bet they'd have less revenue if it was ALL sales as they'd have had far less people even willing to play it, let alone buy!
You can't stick 'mediocre' on Game Pass and expect it to be a success, drive revenue up etc - it has far more competition from Great Games - like Doom, Indiana, Clair Obscura etc etc. If it's not good enough, people will quickly move on to the next game and certainly not drop money on mediocrity!!
Re: Yep, PlayStation's PC Games Will Be Playable on Xbox's New Handheld System
As it is a Handheld Windows PC - just like the RoG Ally, Lenovo Go, MSi Claw etc, it is able to play ALL PC games. It is NOT an Xbox Console playing Xbox Console games!
Xbox has 'Play Anywhere' so if you buy an Xbox Game digitally, you get the PC version too so if you have a RoG Ally - or the Xbox branded version - you don't need to double-dip as you already own the PC version and with Game Pass Ultimate, required on Xbox Consoles for 'Day 1' releases, you also get Game Pass PC and EA Access offering more games to download and play on PC's too.
As a PS5 owner, buying a Handheld PC (or gaming on ANY PC) won't offer any 'benefits' to me. If I want to play Spider-Man or God of War on the PC, I'd have to buy these again and shared saves are not the standard. I'd have no access to games I 'own' on Playstation,
Xbox and Windows are both 'Microsoft' so everyone that buys a PC or Xbox Console is a MS customer - they are both Microsoft OS and API's - the only difference is that the PC is an 'Open' Platform so allows others like Steam, Epic etc to compete.
We all know Windows is a not the 'best' OS for Gaming so MS has been working on reducing the 'Bloat' and making Windows more optimised for Gaming. Xbox and Windows development teams have worked together to create a 'Windows gaming' OS that boots straight to your Game Library and only loads what's necessary for gaming - but you could switch to Desktop mode and have the Full Windows PC experience - but most buying a Handheld Gaming PC aren't buying it to do spreadsheets or use MS Office. This is supposed to make it more 'Console' like, but still be a PC that plays EVERY game you'd be able to play on a Desktop PC.
Re: PS5 Pirate RPG Sea of Remnants' New Gameplay Trailer Doesn't Really Answer Any Questions
To me, this looked like a Sea of Thieves wannabe. It also makes me wonder if they were hoping to release on Playstation to bring a similar game-play to Playstation customers, then were beaten to it by MS finally releasing SoT on PS.
Re: Black Ops 7 Will Be the 'Most Mind-Bending' Call of Duty Ever on PS5, PS4
Maybe it was the rumour of BO7 and the fact they were returning to the future, but the first clue I was watching a CoD game was when we were introduced to the female AI character that showed off some BO3 style robots. The big giveaway though was the Red TV screens which screamed 'The Numbers Mason'
I'm interested in it - can't say I'm expecting anything more than the usual Call of Duty that no doubt everyone will complain or whinge about but will be one of the best selling and most played game (in terms of hours per individual user) of the year.
For a game that everyone seems to criticise/hate, it usually ends up being their most played game of the year - spending 'hundreds' of hours every year in CoD, as well as being one of the most popular games annually too.
Re: The Outer Worlds 2 Is an $80 Game on PS5, as Xbox Continues to Push Game Pass
But to be Completely FAIR - it is $80 on Xbox too if you want to BUY it to OWN. Of course on Xbox you do have the option of Game Pass Ultimate, a $20 a month Sub Service to play that and/or other Game Pass games for 'Free' but never own it (unless you buy it later on in a sale).
The Only difference is that Xbox has Game Pass with Day 1 releases in their Ultimate tier which technically is allowing Subscribers to play for free. Otherwise, whether you play on Xbox or Playstation, this game costs $80. Its also on PC Game Pass - but you can buy from Steam or Windows.
The more publishers that are raising prices, the more 'value' in a Sub Service that delivers 'Day 1' releases - you can always buy the games you really want to 'keep', when they are on sale later on anyway and if not, haven't 'wasted' money on buying it
I stopped buying releases 'Day 1' when Sony raised the price and put a 'premium' $10 tax on PS5 upgrades/editions - EXACTLY the same content, same story, same voices and game-play systems, mechanics etc just a 'bit of a Graphical boost'. So I won't pay $80 for ANY game, but I can play on Game Pass.
It doesn't matter if Xbox releases 'EVERY' game on PS5 - especially with 'multiple' releases a year as Game Pass on Xbox or PC makes much more Sense for me to play on those platforms. The fact Playstation has them too doesn't mean I'm going to 'buy' on my PS5. For those who don't own a device they can access Game Pass in a way they'd find acceptable for the cost, then the more devices its also available to 'buy' and play is only better for the Gamer - they have the choice to play on 'hardware' they own/prefer to play on.
It's not just MS that announced they were raising prices... But the more that people buy 'day 1', get suckered in to 'pre-ordering' and paying the money - even with many having issues and/or missing content/features due post launch and some games being so 'short on content but expect the money for seasons of content that will build up into a 'full' game and more (BF2042) is it any wonder the prices jumped up - you somehow believe better looking graphics cost more than ALL the work writing, Storyboarding, voicing, concept art, high quality asset making for reference and/or CGI trailers or Cutscenes, all of which with then have be laboriously dumbed down and textures made from them at different LoD's depending on distance, render real Ray cast scenes so that you have reference for baked in lighting etc etc.
When that game is 'enhanced' they already have the 'high quality' assets and its just a different set of LoD's and settings optimisation. turn up the amount of random bushes and grass it can render - all of which was turned down 'lower' for the older Hardware - tweaked to ensure it had the right amount so it played as well as possible, but now PS5 can have higher settings, use higher LoD's so even the more distant objects have more detail so at a higher resolution, the higher settings have a more profound impact but it's not cost 'more'.
With engines now able to replace a lot of labour intensive work, have real time lighting/shadows so no need to bake, nothing is 'fake', no need to make shadow mods or various different LoDs, the engine scales them up down based on size and/or distance from you.
So I don't see why ANY game is worth more than £50 at most and maybe they'd have to sell 1.2m instead of 700k to be profitable...
Re: PS5's Black Ops 6 Bundle Takes Us Full Circle After Xbox's Activision Buyout
The All-digital version so Sony hope/expect you buy more Digital content and MS too benefit from more players in their game, in their 'CoD' storefront and buying battle passes, bundles and/or CoD points. Sony benefit by ensuring you only buy through their Store as theb only Digital retailer on PS5 and MS benefit from extra players and extra income It's basically free on Game Pass on Xbox - so why not?
It's not as if PS5 gamers are getting something 'exclusive' and is relying on Microsoft owned IP's/Software to selltheir hardware. CoD is basically free on Xbox Game Pass and has been since launch and was marketed by MS too, now 6months later Sony can use it for their sales push which also benefits MS.
Re: Reaction: There's Never Been a Better Time to Buy a PS5
If I hadn't bought my PS5 Disc version at launch, I doubt I'd buy one today - not just the cost of the Hardware, but PS+ to play all the content in those games as well as buying Games and peripherals. At this 'late' stage in the Generation - its coming up for 5yrs old now, I doubt I'd pay £400 for something I think has a year or two before we see a next gen replacement. Back Compat has become 'expected' in a more digital era so I could wait and play whatever PS5 exclusives I missed.
Another option could be to invest in a PC seeing as Sony have released and appear to be continuing to release their games there. Therefore it could be the better 'longterm' investment at this point in time - not only will you get 'most' of Sony's Exclusives but you'll also get all the Xbox releases (Day 1) and can play them 'Free' with Game Pass (Games like CoD, Doom, Indiana, Outer Worlds, Avowed, Flight Sim, Forza), don't have to pay a monthly fee to play Online with friends, also has the biggest Library of games and games are generally cheaper too - more competition.
A console may cost £500, but if you play games online with friends, you'll need a Basic Subscription which can add another £400 over 5yrs to your costs before you even buy a Game. That's money you could put to buying or upgrading a PC that not only blows PS5 away, but also has a much larger game library with many Console games playable via emulation.
Each to their own, but I wouldn't buy a PS5 at this point. I paid £450 for the disc based version 5yrs ago and had that time to get my moneys worth from it.
Re: PS Plus Subscription Sale Takes 33% Off, But There's a Big Catch
The people that will renew will likely renew regardless so why 'lose' money on them? This is more to incentivise people either upgrading to higher tiers or to sign up for PS+ - not to 'reward' loyalty.
I won't be 'renewing' or upgrading to a higher tier myself though.
Re: Hellblade 2 Finally Getting Physical Edition on PS5, Courtesy of Limited Run Games
@Sergo That would come under 'preference' but if you had a PC/Series S, you would not have that choice so cannot buy Physical to play the game.
On Series X, the ONLY Xbox hardware that has a Physical Media drive, you have a choice to play it for 'FREE' on Game Pass - thus not needing to spend money, no risk to trying and therefore no need to 'sell' to fund your next game or recoup your losses. That in itself also reduces the number of people that will buy the game as most will play it via Game Pass. Series X too has a smaller number of users as the Series S sold more units and PC owners don't need to buy Xbox hardware at all.
So of the 'few' Series X owners that therefore will buy (both Digital & Physical), Physical accounts for a small percentage. Less than 20% of ALL sales are Physical. So if you only sell or expect to sell 200k, 20% is only about 40k Physical sales which cost money to make and distribute - especially in 'small' numbers.
On Playstation, not only do you have a LOT more Users due to more Playstation 5's sold, but the most populatr model is the Disc based version and their PS5 Pro can add a Physical Media player too. Also, Playstation gamers are a bit more likely to buy Physical and its not as if 80% of the Playstation users will play it day 1 on a Sub service. In terms of Digital - Physical split, its more like 70:30 than Xbox 80:20
Therefore because the ONLY option on Playstation is to 'buy' and no option to 'rent' via Sub service like Xbox/PC, as well as a 'higher' user base and 'higher' percentage of those able to use Physical, Games will sell a lot more copies. With double the player counts and over half having access to a physical media drive, as well as PS gamers more likely to buy Physical, they may expect to sell a LOT more Physical games to make it worthwhile.
I don't care why you choose the format you do - that's Preference - but on Xbox, it would seem that people prefer to play on Game Pass or buy Digitally and with Series X having the 'smallest' users, very few in the Xbox/PC ecosystem will actually buy Physical so its not 'worth' the additional Costs to produce Physical discs. If that puts the 'few' who ONLY buy Physical to sell on, to 'keep' a Physical disc or for whatever reason they have off from purchasing, it's such a small number that it won't have a big impact on the overall. I clearly state that those buying on disc are Series X owners that 'prefer' Physical and won't be playing it via Game Pass which is a tiny percentage of the Xbox/PC ecosystem!
If you didn't have to buy because it was offered as part of PS+ day 1, you wouldn't 'buy' it Physically or feel there is a 'risk' that you may need to sell if you don't like it. You can download, try and then decide whether or not you want/need to buy it at all. That's why this game wasn't released on Physical disc on Xbox/PC because the majority won't be 'buying'anyway and of the minority that do, only a 'few' can or would buy it Physically for their 'preference' anyway as most buy Digital these days.
Re: Hellblade 2 Finally Getting Physical Edition on PS5, Courtesy of Limited Run Games
It never received a Physical release at launch because it would be pointless. The only people buying 'Physical' would be the 'few' Series X console gamers (as PC and Series S are all digital), don't sub to Game Pass and prefer to buy Physical. With Series X also having the smallest user base and as Digital far exceeds Physical in terms of sale numbers, they'd not sell enough Physical copies to justify the costs of manufacturing and distributing that media.
As for the 'game' itself, its more of an experience - the experience of Psychosis and how the situation affects the voices. so Combat & puzzles are there to feed the voices, not the test the players gaming skills. As an Experience, I think its great, but as a Game, its lacking! There is a reason they recommend playing on Headphones because the 'main' focus is the Audio and experiencing Psychosis - not 'Game-play) which is more to service the Narrative and experience.
Therefore I doubt Hellblade 2 was a 'System seller' for Microsoft and probably didn't move the needle much for Game Pass Subscriptions either.
If you really enjoyed the Audio and 'experience' of the first but got frustrated by Puzzles and Combat, this is for you and I think its designed to be more accessible so more people get the full experience of Senuas Psychosis.
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give DOOM: The Dark Ages?
I have finished the game with 100% completion and EVERY upgrade and Weapon Mastery completed too - not one crash, bug or glitch.
Yes the Atlan Sections are the 'weakest' from a game-play perspective but they are 15-20mins at most and only appear a few times - the 'longest' is the first time which introduces the Atlan and its mechanics.
The Dragon too is used sparingly and the 'longest' again is the first time - the other 2 times are very brief and you do get off the Dragon to 'fight' on foot after clearing the 'air defences'.
Both tend to offer a slight respite from the 'on-foot' Combat - which if you aren't exploring and looking for every Secret/collectable maybe comes at the right time before the Combat ramps up with increasing numbers, variety of enemies and 'mini-bosses' too. I found them OK - nowhere near as bad/tedious as some make out, but are definitely not as strong as the main combat loop. They are almost refreshingly different - especially if playing on the higher difficulties.
Narratively, I also think its the strongest of the trilogy and the cut scenes are impressive. Graphically the game is very strong too and much more atmospheric with more realistic lighting and less cartoony looking presentation.
Each to their own, but its easily a 9/10 and my Game of the Year. I feel much more confident in assigning a score now I have finished the game with 100% completion rating.
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give DOOM: The Dark Ages?
@kyleforrester87 I can only echo what @carlos82 said - I too have beaten every Doom game (inc 3 and the BFG edition) except Eternal and will certainly complete the Dark Ages too - I only have two Chapters left - and the Atlan/Dragon Sections make 'brief' returns for story purposes but the vast majority is on foot.
It starts a bit sluggish but introduces new abilities and weapons quite regularly early on so the 2nd half you have 'every' tool at your disposal and its more about upgrading for extra damage abilities/drops and/or preference.
It's got more in common with Doom (2016) and Doom 1&2 so I think more traditionall yet new and refreshing too. Going toe to toe with giant demons and smashing them with a Flail then sheild bashing an enemy across the map before shotgun blasting another is just so much fun.
At the end of the day, I'd rate this very highly and its a Great Single Player Game that so far, not only looks Next Gen, it's running at 60fps and I have not encountered (or heard of people having) a single bug/glitch. Therefore it only comes down to how much do think that's 'worth' to you to play - Every game ends up on sale at some point, but all I can say is I'm enjoying it and think its easily the best of the recent Doom games and I will complete it.
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give DOOM: The Dark Ages?
Currently on Chapter 20 of 22 with 100% completion on every chapter so far. I'm loving this game and its Combat loop. The Combat is far more weighty, brutal and fun than Eternal - at least in my opinion and I feel much 'tougher', much more the Super Soldier than the 'fragile' and lightweight Eternal. Chaining together Shield, Melee and weaponry to dodge, parry and obliterate enemies is so much fun.
Visually its stunning, I've had no bugs, glitches or issues and it plays so well. The Atlan sections are 'brief' and certainly not the 'best' from a Game-Play perspective, but as a visual spectacle, they are impressive sequences. I enjoyed levelling all the buildings and wishing Blast Corps would return as its fun smashing all the buildings - but these are no more than 10-15mins sections in a Chapter.
For me, its the Best DOOM game and has more in common with DOOM 1&2 than Eternal so its a 'return' to what I expect and want from Doom. Its easily my Game of the Year so far.
Re: Analytics Firm Predicts Paltry Full-Price Sales for DOOM: The Dark Ages on PS5
@ChrisDeku OK if you want to go that route - a game may well cost $120m over 5 years (or $24m a year or $2m a month), but Game pass is bringing in over $300m a month. With that, you can keep 40 studios making games ($80m a month) as well as pay 3rd Party Publishers, Devs etc and all the 'running' costs. Therefore by the time that $120m game releases, its development costs have been 'paid' by Game Pass Subscribers so any sales are pure 'Profit'
Steam doesn't have 150m users - it may have 150m 'accounts' but its so easy to create more accounts and many have multiple accounts.
My point though is that very few games do sell 1m in the first week and Doom Eternal certainly didn't attract 3m people in its first week. If you don't have to buy, why would you? Of those that play via Game Pass, I wonder how many would have bought if that was their only choice? How many would wait until the price 'drops' or it gets offered on thev most basic Subscription that Console owners 'must' have to play every game and its related content. How many wouldn't have bothered even trying it because it has a barrier to try.
Sales don't tell you if Eternal had more 'engagement' or higher complletion rate - its on Game Pass too now as well so you can't tell me how many of those that bought actually finished the game - you'll just assume some figures...
@PuppetMaster being happy with a 'niche' product that they also knew wouldn't be a big seller and the Studio themselves had no ambition to make the type of Games that Tango had been known for, then you can understand why MS maybe closed them down. They didn't buy Tango 'specifically' it was 'bundled' in with the rest of the Zenimax group. When Tango was acquired to make Hifi Riush 2, the new owners already expect Hifi Rush 2 to be a Niche game that won't sell enough to be 'profitable' - but that is their choice.
When MS acquired Tango, they were known for their Horror Survival games and having the Resident Evil Creator as their Studio head and kept their 'Horror' IP's when sold.
It's not just about their 'last' release, its also about their future and the state of the Studio. If it requires a LOT of investment, don't have a 'project' you feel would be successful enough to back, incredibly difficult to support being the otherside of the world and ONLY studio in that region or any other reason, then it makes sense as to why a company may 'shut/sell' a Studio
Re: Analytics Firm Predicts Paltry Full-Price Sales for DOOM: The Dark Ages on PS5
@ChrisDeku That's not the point - its 'excuses' for not selling more or defensive arguing because one happens to be a Sony made game and the other Microsoft.
I picked Returnal just because I know that was Critically acclaimed and I knew that hadn't sold 1m after several months but I could mention numerous other 'big' releases in recent times Star Wars Outlaws - a massive IP - didn't sell 1m in a month. These games didn't get 1m 'engaged' in their game in a month yet people are trying to knock Doom for having over 3m in its first week!
Some games only pass 1m once the game has dropped significantly in price but the point is Sales figures are not 'important' to you or gamers in general. It makes no difference to you and it only matters to the Studio/Publisher. You can't tell me if 1m people that buy a game even installed it, played more than 15mins or completed it. So why does that matter with player numbers?
As long as the Publisher/Studio are happy with its performance, that's all that matters as its them that will know what 'costs' they need to recuperate, when it becomes profitable and/or how those people are 'engaging' with their game to determine what is 'successful'.
Re: Analytics Firm Predicts Paltry Full-Price Sales for DOOM: The Dark Ages on PS5
Again Steam is NOT the ONLY PC retailer selling the game - its numbers too won't count PC gamers using Game Pass or bought from Bethesda or Microsoft. It only counts those who bought and play on Steam.
2m+ could well have played on Game Pass - but that is split between Console, PC and even Cloud (although I doubt Cloud is that popular). The only people buying will be those on Playstation and those on PC/Xbox that don't subscribe to Game-pass.
Returnal didn't sell more than 600k in its first few MONTHS of release - not a 'criticism' but many games, even if critically acclaimed, don't necessarily sell 1m in the first week.
Maybe they also don't need to sell as many copies because funding from Game Pass has paid for the development costs so sales are just profit. Atomfall devs said they were immediately profitable despite launching on Game Pass too meaning they didn't have to sell a high number of Games to recuperate costs before making a profit.
Sales don't tell you anymore than player numbers do. You don't know whether they even installed the game or how much they engaged with it. As far as the Finances are concerned, why do you care? Its not as if you have to pay salaries and decide which projects to invest in, As long as the Publisher is happy, chances are the Dev team will be too.
Sales and player numbers are only indications of the number of people the game/marketing reached - it doesn't tell you if they tried it for 10mins or completed everything so its not an important metric either. The only thing that should matter is whether or not it is a good game and/or successful enough that the Studio will make more games. Anything else is not important to a Consumer.
Re: Apr 2025 USA Sales: PS5 Ports Award Microsoft's Forza Horizon 5, Indiana Jones Huge Boosts
They maybe 'old' games but its still the first time you can play on Playstation - hence the fact these probably weren't selling enough to make the top 30. Xbox and PC gamers would already have bought and/or played on Game Pass so its no surprise to see these jump up the charts now another 100m PS5 gamers can buy and play too...
Re: Hellblade 2 Announced for PS5, Out This Summer
Only surprised that its taken this long - I expected this to be next after the first 4 (sea of thieves, Grounded etc) as the first was on PS and this is quite a niche 'experience' (more than a Game) as it endeavours to give you the experience of living with Psychosis.
Its more about the voices and how they react to you and your 'in-game' situation. In combat, if you are doing well, the voices maybe confident but take more hits and they become more negative. Combat and Puzzles are 'challenging' situations to add contexxt to the state of Psychosis - not to 'challenge' you as a Gamer to overcome. As such, its more 'niche' and more an 'experience' than a game - which also means you don't limit it to a 'Platform' (its not going to sell Hardware) when you need it to reach as many people as possible who enjoy 'niche' experiences.
Re: Finally, a Line of Physical PS5 Games Where the Packaging Is Beautiful and the Full Experience Is Actually on the Disc
And you still have to Download and install to your Internal Storage so it doesn't matter if 100% is on disc or on a server, you still have to Download and install to play. The software on disc is then 'obsolete' as you are playing the software downloaded on your SSD, the only reason you need to keep the Physical media is to prove you still own a licence to access the software installed on your SSD.
The ONLY benefits of having the content delivered on Disc is that you can sell the disc on and/or if you have a metered or limited internet access, it maybe a better delivery method. It won't necessarilyy be 'preserved' any better than Digital
Re: DOOM: The Dark Ages Attracts Three Million Players, Dev's Biggest Launch in Its History
@Balaam_ And that is NOT important to ANYONE outside of those Companies - all they need to know is whether or not they are 'happy' post release - because that affects their opportunity to make another game for us to play.
Sales don't equate to whether or not those people played the game more than 10mins - and some games are 'sold' in bundles, not wanted or ever used yet count to sales figures. Sales don't tell you whether or not players engaged and for how long - most may have wasted $70 on something they played 30mins of before ditching it too because its broken or not what they expected.
Sales also don't give you any info on Price paid or Profit made either - a game may struggle to sell at full price, end up with a massive discount and go on to sell 4 or 5x as many copies, breaking through the 1m mark yet another may have 2m players in a week and yet you'll say that's not impressive because some maybe playing through a Sub service...
As long as MS is 'happy' then they'll keep id software and its staff team 'employed' to keep making more Games. Everyone on Steam & Playstation has to buy - although you can buy from others (MS, Bethesda, nVidia etc) so don't have to play through Steam and Game Pass for PC too won't count for Steam players so PC gamers have a LOT more choice where to Play and/or BUY from. It could still have sold over a 1m copies in a week across PC, Xbox and Playstation which isn't 'terrible' from a sales perspective either!! Returnal, a Critically acclaimed game, didn't sell 1m in its first few months on PC & PS5.
Re: DOOM: The Dark Ages Attracts Three Million Players, Dev's Biggest Launch in Its History
@HonestHick and don't have to keep moving and dodging, trying to avoid any enemy getting close to you as you attempt to also try and get Ammo or Health with a Glory or Chainsaw kill because Doom guy felt like he was 'weak' compared to the weighty and much more Solid feeling Doom guy in the Dark Ages,
And yes Ammo isn't as much of an issue and neither is going toe to toe with the biggest, baddest demons instead of running away and picking them off from distance until you can get the Glory kill. Eternal is the ONLY Doom game I've never finished or really want to. Most of that is down to the Platforming aspect of the game. Eternal is more of a Platformer with Combat and that's not what I want/expect from 'Doom'.
The Dark Ages is much more what I'd expect of Doom - if it was made today!
Re: DOOM: The Dark Ages Attracts Three Million Players, Dev's Biggest Launch in Its History
I'm loving the game so far - 14 Chapters in and every Chapter completed to 100%. It's easily my Game of the Year so far and 'yes' I am playing on Game Pass - although I did 'buy' the Premium Upgrade (basically the difference in price between the standard and Premium edition) as that comes with Future DLC, some cosmetics, Digital artbook & soundtrack as well as a few days 'earlier' access.
I think the Combat in this is far better than Eternal and much more meaty, brutal and visceral. All the weapons feel like they hit hard and only get better with upgrades. The Shield is so much fun - from the satisfying timing a perfect parry to being Capt America or using it to Shield Bash and Zoom into a bunch of enemies like a wrecking ball. It's such an 'aggresive' tool in the hands of Doom guy - its 'barely' defensive.
Re: Fortnite's AI Voiced Darth Vader Is Causing More Chaos in the Games Industry
So its alright for a Human to imitate JEJ but not AI. The SAG-AFTRA is like a farm labourers union protecting their workers from Farmers wanting to use modern technology to increase productivity and reduce costs - inc to Consumers.
How is it different from Factories using Robots to manufacture products instead of 'Humans', Robots taking away 'work' from human people? Its not as if they are replacing a 'real' person as Darth Vader is Fictional - How many people have played James Bond over the years and if they 'voiced' a game with AI imitating Sean Connery's JB voice with 'permission', so what?
Re: Rumour: Bungie Targeting a Top Five 2025 Title with Marathon
@ChrisDeku I don't know why you are being so defensive over this but its more than just a few textures/text they've used, but the Aesthetic and 'design' language of that artist. It would be like Scorn devs claiming their game's whole artistic design was created by themselves yet we all know its Aesthetic and design language is very much Giger.
When you directly use their Fonts, their colours, their 'design' aesthetic, their style and claim it as their own, not for the first time either, its not a minor issue to resolve. They could make a deal with the Artist to use their Design, give them credit and a share of the sales but if the artist refuses, its a major issue.
It's always an 'ex-developer' too - never anyone still at Bungie and according to other artists they've stolen from and 'promised' some reimbursement, haven't done so.
Re: Rumour: Bungie Targeting a Top Five 2025 Title with Marathon
Assuming this even releasees at all now. It would seem the entire look of the game has to change and then you also have to add something to make the game 'interesting' and certainly from a game-play perspective because its is exceptionally generic and barebones. It's artstyle was 'unique' but that was plagiarised from another Artist.
And then you also need the gaming public to forgive Bungie yet again and buy into it, forget the trrack record of Destiny 1 and 2 and somehow turn what seemed like a 'generic' game with its 'unique' but stolen look into something they want to buy despite lacklustre first impressions.
Some were reminded of Concord before they knew of the plagiarism, that this was 'dead on arrival' and I myself struggle to see how they will turn this around when there are other Extraction shooters that have far more depth and much better game-play loop too,