CP2

Making this free is such a dumb idea from a business standpoint. Sony has effed up nearly every single live service game they’ve released. But Sucker Punch has actually shown that they can make a compelling multiplayer mode, which would give a good opportunity for additional revenue…but they’re making it free? Again? Sony is rarely not greedy, yet no one would’ve been upset if they charged for cosmetics, and they decide not to.

I know this seems like a weird argument, but it annoys me, bc it is just yet another example of Sony making nonsensical and/or idiotic decisions. Another recent one was releasing the multiplayer beta tests for both Marathon and the Horizon game in the same weekend. How does a decision like this get signed off on?

@belmont Playyyyyy it. It’s so good. But you do have to give it a fair shake. I’m not some amazing gamer, but I stuck with Returnal through some frustration over dying, but it became my favorite game of the gen. Once your skill gets to the right place, you feel like a god.

@CRASH64
Love hearing this. Returnal deserved so much more success. It’s my favorite game period this gen.

@Areus Uncharted has 6 games since starting in 2007. Horizon has 6 games out or announced, not even including Horizon 3, which is certainly in active development. And this is only since 2017, 10 years after the start of Uncharted.

I mean, right now, there are at least 3 Horizon projects in active development. And before the VR game was done, that number was 4. To my knowledge, no franchise in Sony history has been milked on that level. And Horizon isn’t nearly as beloved as games like GoW or Uncharted. It feels like a form of nepotism with this happening only since Hermen Hulst took charge.

I’m a 39yo lifetime PS fan. They deserve every freakin ounce of backlash and more. This is one of the most angering decisions I’ve ever seen them make.

Sony’s gonna get huge hate for this, and that’s exactly what should happen. THEY put them on a live service game—something that couldn’t be much further from their area of expertise—and are now shutting them down. What a freakin joke.

@twitchtvpat
I don’t really believe that it didn’t take resources or result in lost time, but regardless, it wouldn’t change the fact that their output has been terrible this gen. One game in 7 years by the time Intergalactic will be released—IF it actually releases in 2027. What you said also doesn’t change the negligence of management in regard to TLoU online.

@Atreus97
You can’t put SSM in the same category as ND, IMO. SSM actually put out a new AAA game, has a SECOND game coming soon, and it’s likely Sony put them up to the PS4 inclusion for GoWR.

Naughty Dog’s lack of output, on the other hand, especially compared to their historical standard, has been embarrassing. Frankly, their management, especially with their confoundingly poor decision making around TLoU online, has also been quite poor. I just remember the reporting that came out stating they had to cancel the game, bc they didn’t realize how much work it would take to support a live service game, and I was blown away with how dumb that made management look. So many wasted years and resources.

@Enuo What does “hang out with lol cows” mean?

I think it’s perfectly fine the way they did it, because that was obviously their vision, and they obviously had a reason for it. It feels fun to me. That being said, it sounds like they should’ve made it more clear that it was structured this way.

Returnal remains my favorite game this gen. Barring any major negative surprise, this is a day one for me.

I know Craig Mazin was the primary showrunner for the TLoU show, but I am surprised that the complaints about TLoU season 2 never seem to mention Neil Druckman. He’s the only common denominator when it comes to frustrated fans with both the TLoUp2 game (seemingly 1/2 to 2/3 of fans when considering tloup1 vs tloup2 sales) and sea 2 of the show.

@Cvantez
This must be a joke post. If not, what an asinine fallacy to push.

@SeaDaVie
The fact that you agree with imprisonment being the appropriate punishment for people posting nonviolent statements on the internet is insane. Your politics really have you drinking the Kool Aid, yet you have the audacity to judge the “other side.” Where does the arresting stop when your government gets to decide what’s offensive and deserving of prison sentences? It shouldn’t matter what side is being arrested; if you don’t see how dangerous this is, that is bats&@# insane, and you’re too manipulated to have a rational conversation. .

@AdamNovice I think that’s broadly inaccurate and unfair. And it feels like this is a weak argument that’s used in place of giving people the benefit of the doubt and digging into the nuances of their frustrations. The majority of people love well written and acted characters, regardless of gender, or even sexual identity.

Ellie is another example of a badass female character who is also gay. She’s well written, and people love her. The narrative choices about TLoUp2 are a separate issue, but most people love Ellie. Personally, I can’t stand Aloy, but Ellie is one of my favorite characters in any media of all time.

Elena from Uncharted is not a main character, but people pretty universally loved her. Well-written female, badass, non-sexualized character.

Jesse Faden from Control is another example. Badass non-sexualized female character you hear no one complain about or hate.

These are just the examples I can think of.

@RoomWithaMoose If you make the lead character of a story insufferable to a large swath (possibly majority) of the audience, you’ve made some major errors, no matter what the character’s story arc is intended to be. A character can do unlikable things, but they can’t be consistently or inherently unlikable for a story to be successful. At least IMO and for my tastes. It’s unfortunate, bc her character design is really cool and iconic. She has a ton of potential if they can just freakin write her better.

@Porco Anyone not seeing the favoritism given to this franchise—and the unusual “coincidence” that it’s former studio head has been running PS Studios for many years—is being willfully ignorant IMO.

@Dalamar I actually really liked HZD, but HFW bored me. And I have to agree, Aloy is a terribly written character and quite unlikable—though, to be fair, there’s not a single character in the game I find very likable. The character casting, acting, dialogue, and personalities is one of the biggest weaknesses of the series in my strong opinion.

@Robocod Agreed. Hulst has done an abysmal job, and I’ve wondered for a while as well how he still has his job. Baffling.

I agree with almost everything he said. I’ve been a fan of PlayStation since the PlayStation 1, and the PS5 is the first time I’ve questioned whether I wasted my money on one of their consoles. The only true banger for me of the entire generation so far has been Returnal.

I’ve also never been less excited as a PlayStation fan. Yes, primarily because of the lack of quality story base games many PlayStation fans enjoy most, but also because, as the article cites, there is absolutely no sense of PlayStation community or fandom coming from PlayStation itself: The lack of events, the lack of community outreach, communication with the fans, etc.

I would push back against the article’s notion that PlayStation executives know what they’re doing just because they’re posting record profits. Probably the number one reason PlayStation is doing so well is because Xbox is doing so poorly. Also, what percentage of PS’s profit is due to third-party games that PlayStation did nothing to foster?

I can’t believe I’m even saying these things. PlayStation has genuinely been a part of my identity for the longest time. But I feel almost nothing for the PS5 PlayStation.

If this is anything like the 90s x men game, it will be day one.

@The_ghostmen
Media Molecule actually came to my mind for a comparison as well. This is yet another thing that makes it feel that ND is being grossly mismanaged. The whole TLoU online debacle with them realizing after 4 years of development “oops, this is gonna take a lot of work,” followed by its cancelation, suggests negligence and/or incompetence. I’ve never missed the days of Amy Hennig more than I have lately. Freakin legend. Insane they fired her.

@PuppetMaster
That’s not how it normally works, though. The sequel to an enormously beloved game like TLOU would normally be expected to sell gangbusters, often better than the original, as long as the sequel is not a major let down. Look at God of War 2018 to Ragnarok: 2018 sold around 23mil copies by the time of Ragnarok’s release, and then Ragnarok sold 11mil copies within 2 or so months. And Ragnarok, while still high quality, was considered a worse game than 2018 by many or most people.

Last official data I tracked for TLoUp2 was “>10mil” as of Spring 2022. I added 1mil sales to account for additional time, but that’s certainly a guesstimate. You may be right that the remake sold well, though how many of those sales are from people getting the $10 upgrade like what I did?

Also, it’s been nearly 5y since TLoUp2’s, so sales at this point, outside of likely decent boosts from seasons 2 and 3 of the show, are inevitably at a slog.

@Anthony_Daniels
Your comment, ironically, is quite immature.

Another story focusing on Abby and Liv would be a financial disaster, almost undoubtedly selling less than TLoU part 2, which already sold 11mil to TLoU’s 30mil. Abby is not very likable to most people—or at minimum, no where near the level of characters like Ellie, Joel, Nathan Drake, Sully, Elena, Chloe, Cutter, etc. Her personality was boring and dull, which is impressive considering her legendary actress. Liv was even more dull. How many people’s “top 10 VG characters of all time” lists do you think Abby and Liv would show up on? Or even top 20?

Ellie and Joel are some of the most beloved video game characters of all time. Regardless of the main characters, if you make TLoUp3 not focusing on Ellie—after you already offed Joel in the first 2h of part 2, followed by giving only 50% of the remaining playtime with Ellie–people would be, imo rightfully, pissed off. And unless they crushed it with the new main character and gameplay, it would bomb.

@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare
You’re not the only one. I absolutely loved HZD as well but was surprisingly bored after the first 5h or so of HFW. And you’re right: The sales for HFW are what, less than half of those for HZD? Millions of consumers clearly agree with our sentiment.

The insane level of push for this franchise is unprecedented for Sony, to my knowledge, and it would be unusual to not see the coincidence that this only started after Guerilla’s former studio head became a big PS boss. It feels adjacent to nepotism.

All this being said, I actually have a fair amount of confidence that this online game could be big—as long as they stay solely focused on making a fun game with an addictive game loop that has an attractive art style. With the talent they have, as long as they avoid other distractions, this feels like it has a good chance to be successful.

@wildcat_kickz
Perfectly stated. There’s a lot of delusional and very misinformedarguments in these comments. Tenant has direct ties to the CCP. No one‘s issues with China have anything to do with the Chinese people; it has everything to do with the Chinese government. I have endless criticisms of our US government, but the Chinese government is on a completely different level with their exertion of control and human rights violations. People trying to stir controversy by claiming xenophobia need to grow up. Also, anyone who wants to speak on this topic should research what China has done to the Uyghurs.

I felt quite confused when I read his comment. I kept thinking there was more he must’ve said. This is probably the oddest and most exaggerative articles I’ve read on here. I see nothing controversial about his statement.

@Enuo
Wow, you have a terrible, very uncommon opinion of Jim Carrey

@T-Bone09
Yep, it’s remarkable how blinded people can become when something or someone conflicts with their political views.

@Gunnerzaurus You could play it on the Portal

@Logonogo
Same. Colin kept recommending Push Square and VGC as quality and reputable Game sites, so I switched to both of those sites about two years ago. Would never have done so otherwise.

@Totheteeth Same! One of my favorite games of the past 10 years.

Another Jim Ryan disaster. I’m not a Jim Ryan hater, but it’s quite interesting to see the delayed, slow trickling of some major failures resulting from his decisions. Although, I wonder what portion of blame is owed to Herman Hulst.

I guess it’s just me, but every Dontnod game looks terribly cheesy and boring. I see absolutely zero appeal, but to each their own.

Returnal #1. Still probably my favorite PS5 game. I played Hades for probably 10h and just did not enjoy it. Did a rare thing for me and didn't finished it. As a big Supergiant fan, I was disappointed I didn’t fall in love with it.

@Yousef-
How so, good sir (or madame)? It seemed like you were throwing Elon shade. Either way, it was meant to be a respectful reply.

@Yousef-
You don’t have to like the Cybertruck—I didn’t, either, at first—but you do realize the Cybertruck is the most preordered vehicle in history, right? While you dislike it, there are millions who love it.

@BeerIsAwesome
You either know little on this topic, or you’re being entirely disingenuous. Your synopsis of that situation is very poor and unfair.

The shareholders, who own the majority of Tesla, voted on Elon’s pay package in 2018. Elon agreed to receive no pay, unless he achieved astronomical milestones, including taking Tesla from a $50bil company to a $500bil company. Next to no one expected him to be able to achieve this, but should he do so, everyone would be very happy, as they would make a lot of money from their investment.

Well, he did achieve it. And everyone was wealthier and happier and got what they were promised. But the Delaware judge did something entirely unprecedented and dissolved his compensation package. That’s not supposed to happen; the shareholders are to be the ones deciding things such as this, bc they own the company. So, as of now, Elon literally worked for free from 2018 to 2023, despite delivering on his end of the deal between him and the shareholders.

Well, Tesla shareholders did a re-vote on Elon’s 2018 comp package in 6/2024 under the requested parameters ordered by the judge, and investors voted AGAIN in favor of Elon’s package. I believe 70% voted in favor of it. Despite that, the judge hasn’t responded yet.

In light of the unprecedented nature of the Delaware judge’s ruling, the fact that she changed the rules of how public companies are meant to work in the US, and some of her connections and background, this case has been suspected to be politically motivated.

@NarutosBiggestFan
The only people who are upset about this are those who are strict followers of a particular political religion—people who have been trained how and what to think, rather than taking time and effort to think independently.

Politics are so charged that someone says something you so much as disagree with, and they’re “a piece of sh**.” That can happen with both sides, but the Elon Musk hate is such contradictory BS. I challenge anyone to name a single human being on this planet that is doing more for humanity than Elon Musk. Take a look at some of his companies. Tesla: Makes electric vehicles and solar energy in order to reduce oil dependency and carbon emissions and save the f*#%ing planet; Space X: Makes rockets (far better than NASA) with the goal to colonize mars and elsewhere for us to become a multi-planetary species for when earth is no longer viable for life; Neuralink: Creating brain chips to improve or even cure brain and spinal injury previously deemed untreatable—as well as, eventually, to combat the dangers of unchecked AI that the most intelligent people in the world have long feared will cause human extinction; Starlink: Provides internet to everyone no matter location, including, most importantly, locations previously incapable of receiving internet service; The Boring Company: Creates underground tunnels to reduce traffic congestion in the most crowded cities; X: Purchased to protect free speech, bc he knows free speech is among the most pivotal components of America, and dictating free speech beyond the bounds of the law is dangerous.

He also co-founded Open-AI, but it’s turned into something antithetical to his original goal for it (open source and without the goal of profit).

But people choose to ignore all these things, bc Elon disagrees with DEI or gender transitioning in children—or whatever else. Never mind that Elon rarely speaks against something without having reasonable points to support his argument, e.g. no one should be hired based on immutable characteristics like race or gender, but rather on the basis of merit and qualifications. I mean, who can reasonably argue with that? But people will continue to listen to their news sources that lie to them in the name of profit and continue to maintain a deep hatred for, and speak vitriol against, the very man who’s working beyond any other to save humanity and our planet.

I’m sure people will assume I’m some extremist to discredit me in their mind and perpetuate their confirmation bias, but the reality is that I’m an Independent who recognizes Democrats and Republicans are both corrupt and self-serving and has deep criticisms of both sides.

I’m glad Sony is getting pushback from people about their silence. I’m 38yo and a near-lifetime PlayStation fan, but in the past several years, I’ve never been a more bored PlayStation fan. There’s just been very little hype and only a handful of games that I have truly loved. Thank goodness for Returnal.

@crossbit
Yep, exactly this. I truly don’t understand how a single person can like Phil Spencer at this point and not see through his disingenuous BS. He is so fake, it’s quit pitiful.

@S1ayeR74
I agree with much of what you said. PS has been twiddling their thumbs for freakin years, now, and I don’t think I’m the only one getting pretty tired of waiting to find out why I should be excited for my PS5. And Xbox releasing that objectively impressive showcase only rubs salt in the wound.

That being said, I don’t regret buying my PS5. Up to this point, PS has mopped the floor with Xbox Series with quality exclusives.

Yep, it blew. I went in with very low expectations and still came out disappointed. PlayStation fans are tired of being given little to no reason to be excited by first party for the past 3 or so years.

@Atreus97 Exactly what I’ve been thinking for a while. I feel like I’ve lost my “zest” for gaming/PS. I haven’t felt excitement for PlayStation in actual years at this point. Used to look forward almost daily to the next news and shows, but now I feel dead inside. JK, but seriously, PlayStation has done NOTHING in terms of fan service for years, and I’ve grown fatigued constantly anticipating just to be perpetually let down.

We said a YEAR ago that there was no way PS wouldn’t have a first party blowout at their showcase, bc it had been so atypically long since they showed anything of substance. And that showcase was garbage for first party. And now a year later, still nothing. That’s kind of insane.

I went into yesterday’s SoP with such low expectations due to these years of disappointment, and still I somehow came out disappointed and terribly underwhelmed.

I think the PlayStation morale may be at an all time low—even lower than the PS3 days. At least then they were doing great with first party and the news that came with it. Was exciting. PS5 has been freaking boring.
/rant over

Wish they would’ve shown a still shot of the full table at some point, but I saw enough to know I would consider buying something like that. Haven’t felt super positive about Sony for the past few years, but it looks like they killed it with that pinball table.

What a shame. So far in my play through, it’s an amazing game. Sam Lake is one of the best video game writers in existence, possibly the best.