Balosi

@Sakai starfields early access prob boosted sales significantly, while also making Microsoft's 'gamepass day one' claim look very shady.
Gamepass day one but you can buy it on day minus five.

This game is pretty unique in that it appeals to the very young I think. Younger than even Minecraft. I think it's most kids first game nowadays.
No idea what the draw is to say a three year old, but it's definitely there.

@Rob_230 I think it looks better horizontally when the disc drive is attached, well the original at least I haven't seen this one 'in the flesh' yet.
Makes it look more like a console that Im accustomed to.
Matter of opinion though of course.

Last post I promise, but digital will also force everyone to play on recent systems only, retro gaming will be hard to get into (legally).
Consider Nintendo, and their policy of brutally thanos snapping their older stores out of existence. A digital only 3ds or Wii u will basically be worthless to future players, if they didn't build a collection at the time it was 'relevant'. No more trying older games for the first time, because there'll be no way to buy them.

@SgtTruth bit optimistic to assume the games you are buying now will all be backwards compatible forever.

Edit : or available at all even. There's no guarantee how long anything will last. If the owner of your library collapsed your collection would vanish in a puff of smoke.

@JalapenoSpiceLife I honestly believe Sony and Nintendo want to keep physical going. Games publishers on the other hand, many of them seem to be happy to speed it's decline with all the digital only releases lately.

@Deityjester it's bizarre. People have been proclaiming cloud gaming the future for years, despite a rather pathetic list of benefits.
The audience for people who want to play in their hotel room really isn't as big as some seem to think.

@Sakai guitar hero probably wouldn't count as a 'current existing franchise' anyway, it's been inactive for a while.
Edit : though that said, guitar hero (when successful,not guaranteed) makes loads of money from peripherals, it'd prob make sense to get it out on as many forms as possible.

@HonestHick I think console manufacturers (well Nintendo and Sony at least) will defend physical for as long it stays viable. It's a very big selling point to the people who still care, and one of the few advantages over pc.
I would certainly stop buying consoles if they went all digital, but then at 47 I suppose that's an increasingly empty threat if younger generations really are going all digital.
Companies would miss out on a fortune on their expensive collectors editions that's for sure. Collectors generally dislike editions that come with a code/no game.

@__jamiie yes it's odd that it's always standing when Sony show pictures, makes people assume that's how it's supposed to be. I personally think it looks a lot better horizontally. And the disc drive feels weird vertically, I always kept trying to put them in the wrong way.

Regional pricing seems a bit funny. Only $50 difference for us yet £90 for UK. Either way, I do like the idea of a detachable disc drive, even from a physical fans point of view. They tend to be the bit that breaks down first, would be cool to be able to easily replace it. Assuming the disc drives are plentiful supply.

@VenomUK it's a turn based PS2 game. Does 4k/120fps really make any difference?

Last of us remastered sold like crazy with a similar time frame to the original, so I guess that's the idea.
Diminishing returns as far as graphic improvements are concerned makes this seem less attractive I think.

@Toot1st they were mocked because multimedia was the only thing they talked about when announcing the Xbox one. They barely talked about games at all.

The ps+ films aren't a bad selection, though obviously we are quite spoiled by large film selections nowadays it feels quite small by today's standards.

@dskatter A lot of digital fans seem to have a problem with the mere existence of physical media, even if it really doesn't affect them one bit.

It's quite nice to see an actual complete edition, rather than the standard original disc plus a dlc code that we usually get fobbed off with nowadays.

@Deityjester lol switch is the third best selling console of all time, that's a bit more than a gimmick I think.

Edit : the argument that Nintendo are not competitors is ludicrous. They are a gaming company, the power of their console is not relevant.

@Darth_Stofi put it out on early access. You get big headlines for claiming a day 1 release AND still enjoy the money of the people who just can't wait. Worked for starfield.

@KundaliniRising333 they aren't bolstering anything though. These are all games that Xbox would've got anyway.

@cburg ghostwire and deathloop were risky new games. Starfield, basically Skyrim/fallout in space was always going to be a smash. There's no evidence as far as I know that Sony had any sort of chance of getting exclusivity.
And no, Phil claiming it is not evidence.

@HwuaiLiang call of duty would be difficult to rival because of its blockbuster production costs. But Bethesda games, I'm sure a worthy rival could be done as long as they capture the right elements.

@4kgk2 Poor little Microsoft can't make their own games apparently.

Surely Sony could build a team capable of making RPG games that have similar gameplay to Bethesda's style.
I mean there's going to be a massive gap that could be exploited by a developer if they really aren't coming to playstation any more.

@nessisonett The odd thing is that all the big ones I can think of Minecraft, fortnite, rocket league etc, weren't intended as gaas in the first place, as far as I know. Build a solid first experience, then expand when/if you've got a player base that likes your game.
Though GTA online was a microtransaction fest from the start I guess, but it was riding on the great single player game.

@nessisonett yeah, I feel like the game would be hilariously easy without the tank controls. Maybe I'm wrong though.
Edit : not that it matters if it is I guess.

@Nem it's including gamepass players I assume. While I don't know what their definition of a player is, it could just be people who've started downloading it for all we know, six million prob isn't a lie.

I loved Nier, yet not even sure why. The story is crazy, yet compelling, the game feels like you are playing some sort of dream.
The music definitely helps, stellar soundtrack.
I did personally prefer playing as the older guy on PS3 though. I guess square got their research right, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Judging by the reviews, starfield is exactly what people expected, fallout/Skyrim mechanics with a space setting.
Which is fine, I would have bought it if it had come out on ps5, but yeah, not buying a new console for it.

Edit : and so much for game pass offering day one access. I guess day six access doesn't sound so cool?

Waiting for a physical version too. I only really buy digital if it's deeply discounted. It's a game that really appeals to me, but I'm going down with the physical ship.

Judging by eBay, they released a fairly decent amount of switch physical, but about 10 PS4 physicals for some reason. PS4 version rarely even appears on eBay, and when they do the prices are eye watering.

@GZoo it does appear to have a fanbase. 7/10 on steam isn't terrible. Def looks like a marmite game though.

The problem with subscription services is that there are just so many of them now. One on its own, sure it's just £10 a month or whatever, but then you add prime, a couple of TV subs, a music one, Microsoft office, an mmo and whatever else and before you know it you're spending £100 a month on them.
A subscription service has to be pretty special to make people's personal limits nowadays I think.

@CallMeDuraSouka I had a PS4 controller wear away once, an original PS4 controller. Which left me feeling very humiliated at the time as I was being a bit snarky to other people complaining about the same problem.

I guess if you are fortunate/unfortunate enough to be living in a household with lots of people and fighting for the TV, it has a purpose. I can't see anyone else being very interested in it though.

I didn't buy final fantasy 16, the first time since 7 that I haven't rushed out and bought a mainline one on release day.
I suppose you could argue that it's not fair that I haven't given it a chance, but when 'giving a chance' involves spending £60 on a game that I don't like the look of very much then it is debatable.

The absolutely obscene price that the physical PS4 final fantasy pixel remaster is going for shows that physical is far from being unwanted yet.

Edit : although in that case, it does appear that square only put out a handful of copies.

@czDante92 they may have bought them on a sale to be fair, this game did get cheap fast.
Not that we should be judging how people choose to spend their money anyway.

@tameshiyaku I think they need to make it accessible from the console, it's own section, for it to be more popular. I mean I'm aware of it and like the idea, but I've missed loads of quests just because I can't be bothered to keep checking the phone app.

Bit weird that it was the same judge who oversaw the original case who had the decision on the appeal? I mean are any American appeals successful under those circumstances?
But whatever. Enjoy paying £10 a month to rent call of duty I guess Xbox fans.

@SgtTruth there's more benefits, games tend to be cheaper physically, I mean I picked up Deathloop for £6 from cex, I don't think it's even come close to that digitally.
Lend to friends also.
And preservation is still a big deal. Yes sure maybe in 40 years when whatever has happened and Sony, steam, Microsoft might just be memories in a history book, the data on those discs could be the only thing left even without patches.

@Th3solution huge increase the first month for sure. But retention, I'm not so sure.

@Geep you've got a point, console, especially ps5 and Nintendo digital vs physical is probably not quite so huge.

@EvilSilentFrame it's true that Microsoft don't exactly have a stellar record of managing the games companies they buy out. Recently they seem to have adopted a 'don't get involved' approach, which is probably sensible given their history, but who knows how long that will last.

I suppose AI is quite a big threat to voice actors, companies could start using to clone their voice and not need the original actors any more.
Which is obviously one of the many huge court cases involving AI that we've probably got to look forward to.

Social media, where everybody got to speak to the world, and promptly found out that the world disagreed with them.

About time we had a new Bond game. I've found even the lesser rated ones in the past to be pretty enjoyable.

Threads is an unfortunate name for me, I associate the word with a scary old film about nuclear war lol.

First thought is what does this have to do with the case lol.
Though I guess it's the usual time for some sort of new cheaper version, if advancements in tech actually allow it.

@2here2there no square have confirmed 3 million total

@Ichiban they source at the end, gamesindustry.biz, and they source gsddata.