I think these statements from Sony sound like they are definitely pursuing generative AI. And to be honest, they sound like one big snake oil pitch to me. It won't let devs be "more creative". It's designed to make Sony more money, to make things faster, and to cut corners. I don't believe most of what I'm told by the bigger companies these days. They are going to replace people, they are going to cut as many corners as they can to make games going ahead, because quite frankly they don't actually care about us at all. We’ve read the testimony from Shuhei Yoshida regarding how business was being conducted within Sony and it speaks volumes about what Sony will do with this.

And even if their goal isn't to replace people right now, AI will end up being used in more and more processes to the point where it does replace people and it will replace creativity itself. Even if they don’t aim to do it now, I believe it will slowly phase in one step at a time.

Whilst I can understand using AI to remaster old games in a higher resolution when you don’t have original assets, or other basic utilitarian things, I don't want to see any asset creation using generative AI because it circumvents the creative process and there comes a point where the person using it didn't actually create it, or at least not all of it. And it’s depressing and scary to me because it presents a philosophical problem in the act of creating something. I believe the act of creating art should be human, and by using generative AI I feel you are replacing the human element itself. If anything, I think it stifles creativity and will lead to more and more things feeling uniform, generic and not bespoke. It's one of the reasons why I'm very careful with the games I play now and have started to not support a lot of modern media. I’m happy to play retro games and games made before this era. And I’m happy to let other pursuits into my life that won’t homogenised by this. I guess at the core of it all, I'm just depressed by the idea that the concept of humans creating art will be a thing of the past.

Personally, I treat all rumours as just that: rumours. As far as I'm concerned nothing is a reality until it's officially announced. Rumours can be faked. Rumours can be false. Rumours can tell some part of the story but not all of it. So I don't react or speculate further until we know it's happening for sure. And I'm surprised there are people online who are unhappy about it considering we know nothing in an official capacity and have been told nothing by Microsoft.

Let's assume that it is real for a moment. Even then we still don't know the full details on it, and how that would rollout. Those can change how something like this would work and also someone's reaction to it.

So for right now, I'll wait on official confirmation before I make any assessment on this.

@KilloWertz You're welcome. It's a reasonable thing to assume as it does have an art style that is very similar to a lot of Soulslike games. I'm glad you're more interested in it as a result. It'll be interesting to see more of how the battle system and game mechanics will work as we get more information.

@KilloWertz From what they've written, it isn't a souls game. When the game was announced last year the director made a post on the PlayStation blog detailing their vision for the game and they said a souls style of combat doesn't fit their vision. They billed it as a hack and slash RPG but they detailed that they wanted it to be simpler for players to pull off flashy moves and combos.

A lot of outlets didn't report this, or in the case of IGN, didn't read it at all because IGN claimed it was a soulslike and a Samurai game, even though it isn't a souls like and is Chinese and thus would be more influenced by the Wuxia genre and kung fu movies. They even call their artsyle for the game "kungfu punk". Here's the URL to the original blog post.

https://blog.playstation.com/2023/05/24/phantom-blade-zero-a-new-beginning-in-a-long-journey/

It's one of those things that I thought would be cool if they did it but I didn't think this was a sure thing. Especially since you've got the different system architectures to consider. Nice to have but I'm fine with it not being there.

What would be nice is if we do get some downloadable titles from previous consoles, but what's more important for a new console are the new games on it.

I'm not sure I can handle the hype. I feel that this is the PS5's showstopper.

All I need to do is try and convince 1 of 50 people to sell it to me.

For a minute I read that headline as "PlayStation Heroes Appear Alongside Tony Hawk's..." and thought some Sony characters were playable in the PS4 version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2!

@nessisonett I'm with you on Slime Climb. Just take your time and you're fine.

I love the fact that Can I Kick It is in this soundtrack. I'm up for listening to the new music alongside the old. Seems like a good mix to me.

So pleased to see this doing so well in sales. I feel like Jin Sakai will sit along other esteemed company as a great PlayStation character.

My guess is about 3 years time. There's some creative groundwork that'll carry over to the next game, they've decided how the game will work in terms of mechanics and exploration, and Nomura isn't listed as still trying to finish other projects simultaneously.

I'd be up for playing Turok on PS4, and especially if number 2 came to PS4.

If it's for the purpose of covering development costs then I wouldn't mind. I might be a few less games and go for the ones I'm fairly sure I'm going to love.

It's funny as there was a time when some games were more expensive then they are now (I remember some N64 games even being sold for £70), even without taking inflation into account. So, sure it'd be a hit but I wouldn't mind too much.

I can't see it going down very well though.

With my hype for Ghost of Tsushima at an all time high, I wholeheartedly endorse this list. And for anyone who wants to go super hardcore then read:

• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi (a philosophy by one of the greatest swordsman who ever lived).
• Battles of the Samurai by Stephen Turnbull (a guy who is an authority of Japanese history and was consulted on the Shogun Total War games)

I really like the look of this.

@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L My thoughts exactly!

Really happy this is happening and that it's number 4. The background for the game feels cool as well, sounds like there will be a nice mixture of level themes.

@Redman35 my guess is that they're focusing on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2

An interesting tidbit is that although Kena didn't have a release date in the presentation, the developers spoke to Geoff Keighley afterwards and said they're aiming for a Holiday 2020 release.

Seriously excited for this one. I didn't think this would ever get a remake. Can't wait to visit Vincenzo. Hoping they keep the 30s music like Django Reinhardt in the game.

DUDE! I am so in. The Vicarious Visions ports were great back in the day (I had 2 on GBA) and they're the people you go to for remasters. Plus, all the features and options just make this amazing. I can't wait!

Goldfinger before the stream; this is too much of a coincidence to not be Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

Cheggers' Party Quiz 2. The long awaited sequel.

That is really Cool that it isn't restricted to PS Plus members. Good stuff!

In all honesty I think it's difficult to say at this point as I don't think we know the variables from Sucker Punch's end of things. Is it a case that the game can be finished with people working from home? How close to being finished is the game? etc.

I can't help but think that if it were delayed then we would've heard something by now, so I'd say it's still a possibility it could hit the release date. But time will tell. I'm fairly sure that if the call was made to delay the release, then we'll hear about it fairly soon after it is made.

Yes. Yes. All of the yes.

It's refreshing to see a game do away with this and actually rely on world design and world building to instill a more natural sense of exploration.

And sticky bombs? This game just sounds better and better the more I hear about it.

I cannot wait for this.

One thing I always loved about Jedi Academy is that you can learn Sith Force powers but still remain on the light side of the Force.

Good review. Thanks for writing it. It's so good to see this game get a good write up.

It'd be a nice gesture but I don't expect them to or think they need to do it.

I'm personally not too bothered by the different parts. I take a while to finish RPGs and there's so much out this year that I don't mind having time to play each part.

Also, with how good that demo is, and how amazing it all looks, I think it'll be worth the wait.

The interesting thing is seeing if companies will end up doing digital presentations instead or if they will wait for another industry event later in the year.

I'm going all in for Ghost of Tsushima so this looks gorgeous. If they do a special console for it then that'd be awesome as well.

Whatever Nioh is doing, I'm in!

If they're doing different time periods, it'd be interesting to see something involving the Minamoto and the Taira clans. It'd be cool fight Minamoto Yoshitsune as a boss.

I think this is a brilliant acquisition. Insomniac are a very talented studio and have had amazing success recently. And also, this further solidifies more exclusives for PlayStation.

Glad to hear it's sold that many, especially considering it's a more niche and challenging game. Nioh is one of my favourite PS4 games and I'm so excited for the sequel!

Seeing the picture first I thought that a Ghost of Tsushima vinyl had been announced. I'm all for cardboard boxes if they happened. Also cardboard has an old school feel to it as well so it would be nostalgic.

I'm in day one. Completing the beta made me pumped for it. I like a lot of the little changes they're making like the skill tree but also imbuing weapons. It's amazing that this and Ghost of Tsushima will be out in the same year.

I love Nintendo but as @3Above pointed out, Nintendo helped create their biggest competitor with the PlayStation.

I'm in. I love that one of the higher tiers means you can get blocked by Hideki Kamiya on Twitter.

I'll still tune into it to see what's going on.

If it isn't what it used to be then I can just remember all the good times from E3 and be thankful that so many great times and moments came from it!

The scariest word in that headline is Konami.

For me personally I'm not too bothered if it has it. I'm personally more concerned with what the new games on the system will be like.

However, if they did pull it off, I think that would be good for the console. It would certainly grab headlines and would certainly make the system more appealing.

Really great to see they'll support with DLC again. And the fact that it's set during the Sengoku Jidai means there's a lot of material to work with.

I'm not bothered at all. This year is going to be crazy for games and things are a bit more spaced out for me with the games I am planning to buy, so I welcome it.

And also, I would much rather a company takes its time to get something into good shape. As far as I'm concerned, it's all good. Here's to an awesome 2020!

No mention of giant enemy crabs. This is not legit.

After playing the Nioh 2 beta, I can say I'm already in. I need no further convincing.

I'm in already! Let's get sweaty!

I'm cool with this. It gives me a bit of time to dig into Nioh 2 before hand so things are a little more spaced out for me at least.

@kyleforrester87 I'll bring one back for you next time I'm over there.

@kyleforrester87 Or as I like to call it, the PSwitch 4.

I would love it if PS5 launched with a Horizon sequel, and a new Crash Bandicoot game. And of course any new juicy IPs.