@MrPeanutbutterz no, I'm amazed so little effort was put into the PS5 port, such that the Switch version is identical. Given what modders have done with GTA IV as an example.
That said, I question the wisdom of investment in a firm who is heavily reliant on renting the rights to IP's and Sports (which can easily be lost), versus owning their own (they've trashed what little they owned).
Personally I like headroom between the vsync cap and what the console (or my PC) could potentially run at when unlocked.
It means the machine is running cooler, less thermally stressed, pulling less power, less noisy fans etc.
That's one of the reasons I don't use frame gen on my Nvidia card (that and latency), as it requires vsync off so your card is essentially in a runaway state.
Same thing happens when you aren't capping your console. It's at 100% load permanently.
I mean these always end up in subjective arguments but I can't resist engaging.
Edith Finch - absolutely outstanding game but it's an old PS4 title.
BG3 - the bungling performance especially in the third act can't be overlooked no matter how great everything else is. I don't think they should be given a pass for that. Give it a 9 if you like.
AW2 - Another great game but I think there are many issues and weakness that prevent a perfect 10. Unlike BG3 I wouldn't even go for a 9, it's an 8.
I see people mentioning Hogwarts. That to me is a genuine 10. In terms of a gaming adaption, who the audience is and what it does, I can't fault it.
@SuperYlvis Yeah the thing with Nintendo is that they have very few games that interest me, but the few good ones they have (in my eyes) are must-buys for anyone who is into gaming.
So as a gamer it's worth me buying all platforms to ensure I don't miss out on the all-time classics.
As I've said many times, people need to consider the whole-life cost of owning a console which includes the money you get back at the end of it.
I was shocked with how much people were willing to pay when I sold my old Switch OLED, so in total it cost me very little to own.
With inflation being what it is, and given how I keep my stuff in absolute mint condition, my Switch 2 will have cost me barely anything when the day comes to sell it.
@4fold I often find myself feeling a bit fed up with VR, as 80% of games are horror, 10% are puzzle games where you manipulate objects and put them in holes like those children's toys with the square, round and triangular blocks, and the other 10% are the rest (mostly dross tech demos).
I don't want to touch another VR horror or puzzle game again. I'm done with it.
No doubt horror is 1000x more intense in VR, but I actually find it exhaustingly intense. I'd rather play RE4 remake on my TV than in VR, even though I'd accept that the VR version is "better" on paper.
Oh and that Paradise Hotel game.....absolutely screw that game and screw the developers! Got about 90 minutes in and was done!
No surprise that I skipped Ghost Town on Quest 3 when it came out a while ago, and will probably skip it here too!
Off to play Pools VR this evening. That's about as intense as I can handle.
Another one of those games where I believe there is a "fake" interest in a sequel.
A lot of the time there are only a handful of crusty old gamers like me who even know what the first game is, and just a tiny vocal minority (of what is already a tiny minority) care enough to want a sequel but have very loud voices.
The original was released 22 years ago. I still remember that time like it was yesterday, but let's think about it...
You had to be 10 years old to play it. So barely anyone younger than early 30's knows or gives a monkey's about the IP.
Any sequel has to stand on it's own two feet as a good game in its own right, and not rely on the name - which has practically no value to the majority of gamers.
In which case why constrain themselves with the IP. Make something original.
@Medic_alert Yup I remember back at the beginning of the generation, playing games like AC Valhalla that utilised the extra hardware advantage and ran better on XSX.
With far superior backwards compatibility, with FREE performance boosts for older games, and none of that awful nonsense we have on PS5 of having separate PS4 games and all the awkwardness around that, there was no doubt in my mind that the XSX was superior and would be my main console.
Yet here I am five years later having sold my XSX and being exclusively PS5. They bungled it.
@somnambulance worth pointing out that I was earning something like just under £3 an hour back when PS1 launched.
My nephew got a job at M&S a couple of years back and was on something like £12 an hour!
So you compare that to the figures I posted showing that a console has increased 2x in cost, but the amount you get paid for a bottom level job has increased 4x over the same period...
That's why I had a bicycle and "what's a mobile phone?". Where as he has a Corsa SRI, an iphone and "what's a bus?"...
I know we've seen the stories about the unachievable profit margin targets at Microsoft, but I truly believe they are trying to get out of the first-party console hardware market, and will likely attempt to disengage from Gamepass and run that down too.
I believe rather than saying they are pulling out and causing uproar amongst fans and those who have invested in the ecosystem and hardware, they are simply setting it up to fail and have people abandon it naturally.
When the numbers remaining are small enough, they will officially pull the plug.
They've decided they want out of hardware and to leave it to third party partners, and I believe they also want to become a regular publisher selling £70 games rather than subscription model on which they lose money.
Barely anymore in real terms, than the cost of my PS1 with memory card + bus fare when I bought mine in Dec '95.
I also bought Wipeout at the same time, and that cost me £90 in today's money.
I don't get all the whining about pricing these days. It's all based on ignorance and misinformation.
Gaming is still relatively cheap. The difference is that during my student days in '95, I wasn't drinking and partying, but working every hour I could get at my supermarket job.
Instead of posting on web forums about how unfair the price is.
As far as RAM goes, following the Kobe earthquake I bought 4mb (4 x 1mb sticks) second hand from a local computer shop, for £25 per mb.
That's £52 per mb in todays money. Do the maths on that one to see what 64gb would be in today's money!
Granted it was worth it, as the chain gun in Doom actually sounded like a chain gun with 8mb and a load of imps on screen, versus 4mb when it sounded like manually reloading a single shot rifle.
I really don't think you can blame Microsoft. It's true they've acquired studios who then released mediocre and dire titles.
I really don't think Phil Spencer had waded in to their offices and started dictating though. If anything developers hadn't been giving him the true picture. Red Fall being a classic example.
We then had Starfield and Hellblade being OK but not meeting expectations. Again I don't see that as Microsofts fault. The former was likely a long way into development prior to acquisition and Ninja Theory retained their creative freedom.
Really don't think MS meddled with COD and are responsible for the nonsense in this game.
As a PC gamer I'm not a fan of multiple launchers, but in truth it's not a massive hardship spending 5 minutes installing.
I think Sony should create their own and keep all the revenue. Of course that's only for their first party titles, as no PC gamer in their right mind would buy third party titles from it.
I see it working like the Rockstar launcher which last time I used it (was quite a while ago) just had Rockstar games.
@Rich33 there is no black and white sure fire answer of course. I choose on a game by game basis. Depends on performance and cost.
I bought Borderlands 4 on my Pro and Hell is Us on PC for example. Some games I Stream, some I play locally.
If you sit down with a pen and paper and try to add it all up, you will just end up in an analysis paralysis situation.
There is a reason the PC gamers on here own both systems...
Game keys are absolutely cheaper on PC that is beyond question. The actual question is whether you would buy enough of them, to make owning a PC worthwhile, especially when you include any necessary upgrade costs, noting that even those upgrades won’t ensure every game is worth buying over the console version.
Essentially, it’s a giant mess and you will never get a clear answer. I suppose when it comes to PC gaming, if you have to calculate the price, you can’t afford it.
The other old adage I use, is go big or go home. I’ve never believed in budget or mid range PC gaming. Games are always tailored for the absolute top spec exotic hardware. That’s what all the developers are using, that’s what all the game reviewers are using, and that’s what all your favourite YouTubers are using. You need to be using the same kit.
Depends what it is used for. E.g. in the future you can imagine someone developing a game like AC Syndicate set in Victorian times.
AI could generate masses of period authentic assets. Be it lamp posts, carriages, chairs, beds, shop facades, goods and produce within the shops etc.
What does it matter to me if the door on the butchers shop was produced by AI?
It can dramatically reduce development costs and development time.
That's important as we frequently see games designed whilst a genre is popular, but releasing 5 years later when everyone has moved on, and we know that development costs for AAA's are getting unaffordable as the risk of hefty losses is too great.
Anything to reduce the cost/risk and increase the ROI is good for gamers. Same with shorter development times. We are more likely to get games, instead of studio closure announcements.
Welcome to the nonsense that PC owners had to deal with when crypto miners were buying up all the GPU's.
Although I suspect the memory shortage will also affect PC gamers most.
Developers of course seem oblivious or just don't care, and hopefully many of them will go out of business as a result.
When decent GPU's were unobtainable, developers continued to produce games that wouldn't run on the hardware available, and instead required those unobtainable cards.
Expect developers to be releasing games with ever increasing (and unnecessary due to their bungling optimisation) RAM requirements. Almost as if it's deliberate.
Anyhow I've already been through this once following the Kobe earthquake. It will pass.
AI firms can only buy up loads of memory if they have the money to do so. The problem is that they aren't actually making any money, they are incinerating millions by the minute. Speculative investors only have so much money to put on the line. Eventually the funding runs out.
Bingo halls didn't cease to exist because all the old people died...
Young gamers are constantly ageing and becoming old gamers. They will grow up and grow out of wasting money on Fortnite skins.
Eventually they will seek deeper and more rewarding narrative experiences.
We didn't have skins and currencies in my day but I was heavily into competitive games and played counterstrike all night every night. I don’t touch titles like that anymore. Happens to everyone.
@PuppetMaster the A and B argument don't make sense because you failed to read my post.
You've just quoted Horizons sales numbers as if it supports your position, yet I mentioned it sells well in my first post! Scroll up and look.
"Avatar of Games".
YES - it has sold large numbers. That's exactly what I said.
The issue with Horizon and Avatar is that they do big numbers, but the fandoms are small and subdued.
The common example being the mainstream cultural impact of Terminator or Star Wars (you can say "I'll be back", or "I'm your father" and everyone will know), where as most people can't remember the character names from Avatar, let alone what they said.
Yet it's getting a third and fourth film apparently due to numbers.
Horizon is the same. It's the bacon butty of games. Millions of bacon butties are sold in the UK every week, yet no one can remember eating them....
They taste great. Can't beat a bacon butty. But no one is passionate about them.
@PuppetMaster the behaviour of a minority of Expedition fans in some dark corner of the Internet, isn’t a particularly strong defence and selling point in support of Horizon.
You could equally argue that the fact we hear very little from Horizon fans, is because A, they are very small in number and B, they are not particularly passionate about the franchise.
As I say in relation to the "Avatar of Games" tag, I've put plenty of time and money into the franchise, but somehow I don’t sit here feeling particularly passionate about it.
It wouldn’t be my desktop wallpaper on my PC if you get what I mean.
Nothing "weird" about criticising it. It deserves it and the developers could actually benefit from listening.
I've completed the first game + DLC, and the second game albeit not its expansion. I've also completed Call of the Mountain.
It's been described many times as "the Avatar of games". Sells very well sure, but it doesn't seem to have generated a passionate fanbase and following. Yes there are fans, but no where close to other IP's, including many that sell less. It's a game I frequently forget exists.
Look at Expedition 33. Compare the instant passion that generated, versus Horizon.
I put that down to the protagonist in particular being a total charisma-vacuum. Very few of the other characters are interesting either, just one or two. The writing is very weak and lets down the tech and combat.
Fantastic tech demo, decent game play, but unlike other games, I don't find myself thinking about it, the stories and characters when I'm driving to work, out for walk, taking a shower or on the sun lounger etc.
It was buggy as hell even after the release patches. Yet somehow it was surprisingly good fun. Definitely worth a play.
One issue I had though, especially with limited ammo, was that smaller enemies running around at your feet were extremely annoying to shoot.
I really needed a stronger auto-aim system when using the controller. Seemed too mouse-tailored. Or maybe I suck, but I generally have no issue with first person shooters on pad.
@Nepp67 that's what I mean about restrictive systems with fast travel etc.
You end up running down the same roads, being ambushed in the same places, and by the same enemies.
I believe you are perceiving the issue as being with the enemies etc, when if you boil it down to the core issue, it's actually what I said about the systems (as that's what forced you into those situations).
Obviously with console you have to factor in £100+ per year subscription for cloud saves and online play. As well as £20 more per game.
But even then, I still think console is better value. As a PC gamer I’ve always called out the lie that you can build a PC with the same performance for the same price.
My full size PC is justified because I spend 90% of my time in the house sat at it and use it for a multitude of tasks.
If it were located under my TV then no way. I’d instead use a £130 mini PC with GeForce Now for the full £2500 console crushing experience.
I have Gamepass and haven't even launched the game despite it being "free". I don't even need to install it as I can stream, but still it's too much effort to warrant clicking the "play" button.
Main reason is that I've seen campaign footage/reviews and it's garbage.
It's just another example (along with the Japan console) of Sony starting to exploit their new monopoly position and rip us off as much as they can.
There is nothing wrong with gamers bulk buying discounted subs for a few years ahead.
It's money in the bank and earning interest for Sony, for services they don't even have to provide yet.
Paying for years up front is also beneficial as you now have those orders in the bag and paid for, whereas for example those gamers might not be playing at all in 2 years time (missus got pregnant, lost job etc).
Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Better to take the money now, rather than hoping they still want the product in 18 months.
Fair enough if that is the game they want to play. Money goes into my ISA and as to whether I renew at all in a couple of years, or go back full-time to PC.....well who knows. That's a gamble Sony have taken....
Been through this with Nintendo and Blizzard. Didn't end well.
This is how it goes:
1, Whatever you are told about the pricing model initially is a lie.
2, People won't pay AAA money for mobile titles.
3, The type of people interested in these franchises won't tolerate the alternative revenue systems.
4, The people who do engage with such systems, are and will be playing other games more suited to mobile.
5, Initial revenue at launch will be very positive and recoup the development costs.
6, Rapidly large numbers of players start dropping out as they refuse to engage with the revenue systems.
7, Most of the income comes from a small percentage of whales.
8, F2P players go as far as they can and then disengage due to P2W and whales having all the cool stuff that they can't realistically earn in a hundred years.
9, Those who want to play these franchises "mobile" can buy a Backbone or Portal and experience the full fat AAA titles that aren't compromised by compatibility with less powerful mobile hardware, and the associated revenue systems.
I have some issues with the spec (mentioned by others above - over-priced and under-powered), so I don't think this one is going to be threatening PlayStation yet.
However, in the longer term, I do believe the open PC format will win out.
PlayStation will be the first fall, with Nintendo trudging on perhaps a decade longer.
But don't expected the balance to tip until the middle of the next decade.
Sony sell in multiple markets where they face different competitive conditions.
In Japan where consumer tastes are different to the West, consoles like the Switch provide more direct stiff competition.
In the West, consoles like Switch sell well but it's not a direct competitor to PlayStation, and Sony have a virtual monopoly in the AAA home console market. Xbox was the competition in the West but they are dead.
Region locking allows Sony to compete aggressively on price in Japan, whilst still being able to exploit their monopoly and charge a premium price and have a larger profit margin in the West.
Simple as that. Anything else anyone says is plain wrong I'm afraid.
@ZeroSum I've owned and ridden just about every bike going, and was a motocross racer in my youth.
I find those games extremely hard. Real bikes are far easier. My knuckles bleed from punching the controller.
I like to play with all the aids off though so I'm controlling everything. Otherwise....why play it at all IMO.
Ride and MotoGP are very inaccessible and it ruins the appeal to most of the potential audience. The trick is to make it easy to play but hard to master, such that new/less experienced players can play the game and feel good about it, and hardcore players can find hidden depths.
What doesn't work is when the game is so tricky, that the new/less experienced player only has the option of a baby mode where it practically rides itself. That's not satisfying.
Although I've even seen Youtubers get their girlfriend to play it on the easiest mode possible and it was still unplayable with them crashing constantly.
The Dark Souls of racing games, only with the default mode being a 0 damage run, whilst naked and only holding a blade of grass.
The end of Season 1 was met with pure relief from me, as they didn't do a Witcher, RoP or TLoU to it as I'd feared prior to broadcast. Bravo.
Heck not just relief, it was actually enjoyable with all the main characters/actors being superb.
Really looking forward to this, but in the current climate with Amazon and the rest of the industry desperate to lose as much money and destroy as many IP's as possible, you can never be sure that the writers haven't messed it up.
@Rich33 mate they've literally just done something heinously anti-consumer and flying in the face of globalisation, by purposefully and unnecessarily region locking a product, for the specific purpose of forcing consumers in the UK to pay an excessive price.
They have a monopoly in the UK and the Switch isn't as direct a competitor.
In terms of monopoly/competition law, how they got the monopoly is irrelevant.
If they have a monopoly and rip off UK consumers, they can't as part of their defence use "lol Xbox sucked, not our problem" as mitigation.
That's not how it works. They've also shot themselves in the foot as they previously made a case (in their submissions for the UK authority investigation into the Activision deal) for why a single party having a monopoly would be bad for consumers!
It's locked to Japanese to prevent other markets from benefiting from lower pricing.
Like many large corporations, Sony are all in favour of globalisation when it allows them to exploit cheap labour and cheap dirty energy by manufacturing in China, but less in favour of globalisation when we wish to do the same by sourcing our consoles or games from other markets with cheaper prices.
After all the investigations into Microsoft over the Activision blizzard deal, perhaps someone should take a look at Sony’s disproportionate market power, that they are using to overprice in Western markets and rip off consumers. In particular, their anti-competitive practices in relation to how games are sold.
This is why I am more than happy to purchase legal (not stolen) grey import PC/Xbox game keys via key sites that acquire them from other markets e.g. eastern Europe or Asia. It is notable that Sony games cannot be acquired in that manner as they keep a tight control so that they can charge exploitative prices in certain markets.
If I have to compete on pay for my job, against someone from Poland who has far lower living costs, then I should be able to buy products from Poland at lower prices to level the playing field.
Globalisation is either good for everyone or bad for everyone. It shouldn’t just be large corporations who reap the benefits whilst the everyman incurs the costs.
I maintained since day 1 that Jin was a charisma vacuum. As dull as dishwater and not someone I empathised with.
I didn't care much for that whole thing about being torn between fighting honourably or not. As a player I didn't give a damn and have no moral compass or code of honour.
Much prefer Atsu and the revenge plot, which is as old as time itself but always something I can vibe with.
Comments 200
Re: PS5 Players Ponder Avowed Port as Xbox RPG Delays Its 'Biggest Update Yet'
I really enjoyed it. Combat was excellent and the best I’ve ever experienced in a first person RPG.
Quests were pretty good too, as was world exploration.
I’d buy it on Pro if an enhanced version is released, despite having access via Gamepass.
Re: Red Dead Redemption PS5 Another Subpar Re-Release from Rockstar
@MrPeanutbutterz no, I'm amazed so little effort was put into the PS5 port, such that the Switch version is identical. Given what modders have done with GTA IV as an example.
Re: Red Dead Redemption PS5 Another Subpar Re-Release from Rockstar
It's actually amazing how the Switch 2 version is practically indistinguishable even on a large 4k TV.
With the added flexibility of hand held, it made more sense to me to play it there.
My PS5 Pro only really has trophies going for it.
Re: Sounds Like Saudi Arabia Will Own Almost All of EA After Buyout
I don't like or buy EA games so I don't care.
That said, I question the wisdom of investment in a firm who is heavily reliant on renting the rights to IP's and Sports (which can easily be lost), versus owning their own (they've trashed what little they owned).
Re: Ghost of Yotei Gets 'Incredible' PS5 Pro Frame Rate Boost Thanks to New Patch
Not sure what I will do.
Personally I like headroom between the vsync cap and what the console (or my PC) could potentially run at when unlocked.
It means the machine is running cooler, less thermally stressed, pulling less power, less noisy fans etc.
That's one of the reasons I don't use frame gen on my Nvidia card (that and latency), as it requires vsync off so your card is essentially in a runaway state.
Same thing happens when you aren't capping your console. It's at 100% load permanently.
Re: Don't Expect Intergalactic PS5 to Launch Until at Least 2027
@themightyant yes just heard the latest episode of his own podcast where he discusses it.
This entire story is fake news and misinformation.
He was just giving personal views and not breaking news. The media lied for click bait.
Re: Video: All the PS5 Games We Think Are 10/10
I mean these always end up in subjective arguments but I can't resist engaging.
Edith Finch - absolutely outstanding game but it's an old PS4 title.
BG3 - the bungling performance especially in the third act can't be overlooked no matter how great everything else is. I don't think they should be given a pass for that. Give it a 9 if you like.
AW2 - Another great game but I think there are many issues and weakness that prevent a perfect 10. Unlike BG3 I wouldn't even go for a 9, it's an 8.
I see people mentioning Hogwarts. That to me is a genuine 10. In terms of a gaming adaption, who the audience is and what it does, I can't fault it.
Re: PS5 Is Edging Out the Switch 2 in the UK So Far This Year
@SuperYlvis Yeah the thing with Nintendo is that they have very few games that interest me, but the few good ones they have (in my eyes) are must-buys for anyone who is into gaming.
So as a gamer it's worth me buying all platforms to ensure I don't miss out on the all-time classics.
As I've said many times, people need to consider the whole-life cost of owning a console which includes the money you get back at the end of it.
I was shocked with how much people were willing to pay when I sold my old Switch OLED, so in total it cost me very little to own.
With inflation being what it is, and given how I keep my stuff in absolute mint condition, my Switch 2 will have cost me barely anything when the day comes to sell it.
Re: Mini Review: POOLS (PSVR2) - Niche Horror Is a PSVR2 Showcase
Made me feel sick so I quit after the first chapter. There is something wrong with the image but can't put my finger on it.
Is very creepy and unsettling though. Will give it that.
Re: The Room Devs Return to PSVR2 with Spooky Puzzle Thriller Ghost Town in Early December
@gaston I've seen play through footage and it is the same old baby puzzle game play, turning dials, plugging things in etc.
Re: Bloodlines 2 Publisher Accepts the Blame Over $37 Million Failure
The Chinese Room have produced some great stuff in the past.
Like so many developers this generation, they were wasted and produced nothing of value, due to bungling direction from publishers.
Many of Sony’s studios being notable examples.
A wretched, wasted and lost generation in so many ways.
Re: The Room Devs Return to PSVR2 with Spooky Puzzle Thriller Ghost Town in Early December
@4fold I often find myself feeling a bit fed up with VR, as 80% of games are horror, 10% are puzzle games where you manipulate objects and put them in holes like those children's toys with the square, round and triangular blocks, and the other 10% are the rest (mostly dross tech demos).
I don't want to touch another VR horror or puzzle game again. I'm done with it.
No doubt horror is 1000x more intense in VR, but I actually find it exhaustingly intense. I'd rather play RE4 remake on my TV than in VR, even though I'd accept that the VR version is "better" on paper.
Oh and that Paradise Hotel game.....absolutely screw that game and screw the developers! Got about 90 minutes in and was done!
No surprise that I skipped Ghost Town on Quest 3 when it came out a while ago, and will probably skip it here too!
Off to play Pools VR this evening. That's about as intense as I can handle.
Re: Beyond Good & Evil 2 PS5 May Not Be Dead Just Yet
Another one of those games where I believe there is a "fake" interest in a sequel.
A lot of the time there are only a handful of crusty old gamers like me who even know what the first game is, and just a tiny vocal minority (of what is already a tiny minority) care enough to want a sequel but have very loud voices.
The original was released 22 years ago. I still remember that time like it was yesterday, but let's think about it...
You had to be 10 years old to play it. So barely anyone younger than early 30's knows or gives a monkey's about the IP.
Any sequel has to stand on it's own two feet as a good game in its own right, and not rely on the name - which has practically no value to the majority of gamers.
In which case why constrain themselves with the IP. Make something original.
Re: Poll: Five Years of PS5 - How Would You Rate Sony's Console?
@Medic_alert Yup I remember back at the beginning of the generation, playing games like AC Valhalla that utilised the extra hardware advantage and ran better on XSX.
With far superior backwards compatibility, with FREE performance boosts for older games, and none of that awful nonsense we have on PS5 of having separate PS4 games and all the awkwardness around that, there was no doubt in my mind that the XSX was superior and would be my main console.
Yet here I am five years later having sold my XSX and being exclusively PS5. They bungled it.
Re: Sony Is Actually Advertising PSVR2 This Black Friday
@YuGiOh as an owner of both, I can agree that the Quest 3's pancake lenses are a clear generation ahead of the fresnels on PSVR 2.
The image quality on the Quest is vastly superior as a result.
Obviously the graphics quality is better via the PS5 Pro so it kind of sucks that whichever system I use, I have to deal with some compromise.
But yeah given the choice if both worked with PS5 Pro, there is no way in a million years I'd ever use PSVR 2 again.
Re: Suddenly the PS5 Pro Doesn't Look That Expensive Anymore
@somnambulance worth pointing out that I was earning something like just under £3 an hour back when PS1 launched.
My nephew got a job at M&S a couple of years back and was on something like £12 an hour!
So you compare that to the figures I posted showing that a console has increased 2x in cost, but the amount you get paid for a bottom level job has increased 4x over the same period...
That's why I had a bicycle and "what's a mobile phone?". Where as he has a Corsa SRI, an iphone and "what's a bus?"...
Re: You Can Buy a Fully-Fledged PS5 for the Same Price as a Less Powerful Xbox Series S Right Now
I know we've seen the stories about the unachievable profit margin targets at Microsoft, but I truly believe they are trying to get out of the first-party console hardware market, and will likely attempt to disengage from Gamepass and run that down too.
I believe rather than saying they are pulling out and causing uproar amongst fans and those who have invested in the ecosystem and hardware, they are simply setting it up to fail and have people abandon it naturally.
When the numbers remaining are small enough, they will officially pull the plug.
They've decided they want out of hardware and to leave it to third party partners, and I believe they also want to become a regular publisher selling £70 games rather than subscription model on which they lose money.
Re: Suddenly the PS5 Pro Doesn't Look That Expensive Anymore
Boomer post incoming....
£570 for a Pro.
Barely anymore in real terms, than the cost of my PS1 with memory card + bus fare when I bought mine in Dec '95.
I also bought Wipeout at the same time, and that cost me £90 in today's money.
I don't get all the whining about pricing these days. It's all based on ignorance and misinformation.
Gaming is still relatively cheap. The difference is that during my student days in '95, I wasn't drinking and partying, but working every hour I could get at my supermarket job.
Instead of posting on web forums about how unfair the price is.
As far as RAM goes, following the Kobe earthquake I bought 4mb (4 x 1mb sticks) second hand from a local computer shop, for £25 per mb.
That's £52 per mb in todays money. Do the maths on that one to see what 64gb would be in today's money!
Granted it was worth it, as the chain gun in Doom actually sounded like a chain gun with 8mb and a load of imps on screen, versus 4mb when it sounded like manually reloading a single shot rifle.
Re: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (PS5) - The Most Absurd Game in Series History
I really don't think you can blame Microsoft. It's true they've acquired studios who then released mediocre and dire titles.
I really don't think Phil Spencer had waded in to their offices and started dictating though. If anything developers hadn't been giving him the true picture. Red Fall being a classic example.
We then had Starfield and Hellblade being OK but not meeting expectations. Again I don't see that as Microsofts fault. The former was likely a long way into development prior to acquisition and Ninja Theory retained their creative freedom.
Really don't think MS meddled with COD and are responsible for the nonsense in this game.
Re: Sony Estimated to Have Made $1.5 Billion from Steam, But the Novelty Is Wearing Off
As a PC gamer I'm not a fan of multiple launchers, but in truth it's not a massive hardship spending 5 minutes installing.
I think Sony should create their own and keep all the revenue. Of course that's only for their first party titles, as no PC gamer in their right mind would buy third party titles from it.
I see it working like the Rockstar launcher which last time I used it (was quite a while ago) just had Rockstar games.
Re: Valve Won't Subsidise Steam Machine, Expected to Be Pricier Than More Powerful PS5
@Rich33 there is no black and white sure fire answer of course. I choose on a game by game basis. Depends on performance and cost.
I bought Borderlands 4 on my Pro and Hell is Us on PC for example. Some games I Stream, some I play locally.
If you sit down with a pen and paper and try to add it all up, you will just end up in an analysis paralysis situation.
There is a reason the PC gamers on here own both systems...
Game keys are absolutely cheaper on PC that is beyond question. The actual question is whether you would buy enough of them, to make owning a PC worthwhile, especially when you include any necessary upgrade costs, noting that even those upgrades won’t ensure every game is worth buying over the console version.
Essentially, it’s a giant mess and you will never get a clear answer. I suppose when it comes to PC gaming, if you have to calculate the price, you can’t afford it.
The other old adage I use, is go big or go home. I’ve never believed in budget or mid range PC gaming. Games are always tailored for the absolute top spec exotic hardware. That’s what all the developers are using, that’s what all the game reviewers are using, and that’s what all your favourite YouTubers are using. You need to be using the same kit.
Re: Don't Expect Intergalactic PS5 to Launch Until at Least 2027
Interesting. Colin is friends with Druckmann so you'd have to think he has some pretty good contacts and a lot of his scoops have been accurate.
If it isn't content complete, I'd wonder what they were doing for the past 5 years.
They certainly didn't have everyone working on the aborted online game.
Re: Ubisoft Is All In on Generative AI, Says It's as Big a Leap in Tech as the 'Shift to 3D'
Depends what it is used for. E.g. in the future you can imagine someone developing a game like AC Syndicate set in Victorian times.
AI could generate masses of period authentic assets. Be it lamp posts, carriages, chairs, beds, shop facades, goods and produce within the shops etc.
What does it matter to me if the door on the butchers shop was produced by AI?
It can dramatically reduce development costs and development time.
That's important as we frequently see games designed whilst a genre is popular, but releasing 5 years later when everyone has moved on, and we know that development costs for AAA's are getting unaffordable as the risk of hefty losses is too great.
Anything to reduce the cost/risk and increase the ROI is good for gamers. Same with shorter development times. We are more likely to get games, instead of studio closure announcements.
Re: Quick Thinking from Sony Should Shield PS5 from RAM Shortages for Now
Welcome to the nonsense that PC owners had to deal with when crypto miners were buying up all the GPU's.
Although I suspect the memory shortage will also affect PC gamers most.
Developers of course seem oblivious or just don't care, and hopefully many of them will go out of business as a result.
When decent GPU's were unobtainable, developers continued to produce games that wouldn't run on the hardware available, and instead required those unobtainable cards.
Expect developers to be releasing games with ever increasing (and unnecessary due to their bungling optimisation) RAM requirements. Almost as if it's deliberate.
Anyhow I've already been through this once following the Kobe earthquake. It will pass.
AI firms can only buy up loads of memory if they have the money to do so. The problem is that they aren't actually making any money, they are incinerating millions by the minute. Speculative investors only have so much money to put on the line. Eventually the funding runs out.
Re: New Report Finds Almost Half of US Kids Are After In-Game Currency for Christmas
@IOI don't be too concerned.
Bingo halls didn't cease to exist because all the old people died...
Young gamers are constantly ageing and becoming old gamers. They will grow up and grow out of wasting money on Fortnite skins.
Eventually they will seek deeper and more rewarding narrative experiences.
We didn't have skins and currencies in my day but I was heavily into competitive games and played counterstrike all night every night. I don’t touch titles like that anymore. Happens to everyone.
Re: Horizon Sales Update Cements It As One of Sony's Strongest Franchises
@PuppetMaster the A and B argument don't make sense because you failed to read my post.
You've just quoted Horizons sales numbers as if it supports your position, yet I mentioned it sells well in my first post! Scroll up and look.
"Avatar of Games".
YES - it has sold large numbers. That's exactly what I said.
The issue with Horizon and Avatar is that they do big numbers, but the fandoms are small and subdued.
The common example being the mainstream cultural impact of Terminator or Star Wars (you can say "I'll be back", or "I'm your father" and everyone will know), where as most people can't remember the character names from Avatar, let alone what they said.
Yet it's getting a third and fourth film apparently due to numbers.
Horizon is the same. It's the bacon butty of games. Millions of bacon butties are sold in the UK every week, yet no one can remember eating them....
They taste great. Can't beat a bacon butty. But no one is passionate about them.
Re: Horizon Sales Update Cements It As One of Sony's Strongest Franchises
@PuppetMaster the behaviour of a minority of Expedition fans in some dark corner of the Internet, isn’t a particularly strong defence and selling point in support of Horizon.
You could equally argue that the fact we hear very little from Horizon fans, is because A, they are very small in number and B, they are not particularly passionate about the franchise.
As I say in relation to the "Avatar of Games" tag, I've put plenty of time and money into the franchise, but somehow I don’t sit here feeling particularly passionate about it.
It wouldn’t be my desktop wallpaper on my PC if you get what I mean.
Re: Horizon Sales Update Cements It As One of Sony's Strongest Franchises
Nothing "weird" about criticising it. It deserves it and the developers could actually benefit from listening.
I've completed the first game + DLC, and the second game albeit not its expansion. I've also completed Call of the Mountain.
It's been described many times as "the Avatar of games". Sells very well sure, but it doesn't seem to have generated a passionate fanbase and following. Yes there are fans, but no where close to other IP's, including many that sell less. It's a game I frequently forget exists.
Look at Expedition 33. Compare the instant passion that generated, versus Horizon.
I put that down to the protagonist in particular being a total charisma-vacuum. Very few of the other characters are interesting either, just one or two. The writing is very weak and lets down the tech and combat.
Fantastic tech demo, decent game play, but unlike other games, I don't find myself thinking about it, the stories and characters when I'm driving to work, out for walk, taking a shower or on the sun lounger etc.
Re: A Technical Mess without It, STALKER 2's Day 1 PS5 Patch Is Critical
I tried it via Xbox Gamepass.
It was buggy as hell even after the release patches. Yet somehow it was surprisingly good fun. Definitely worth a play.
One issue I had though, especially with limited ammo, was that smaller enemies running around at your feet were extremely annoying to shoot.
I really needed a stronger auto-aim system when using the controller. Seemed too mouse-tailored. Or maybe I suck, but I generally have no issue with first person shooters on pad.
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Sales Top 4 Million with Still No Sign of an Expansion
@Nepp67 that's what I mean about restrictive systems with fast travel etc.
You end up running down the same roads, being ambushed in the same places, and by the same enemies.
I believe you are perceiving the issue as being with the enemies etc, when if you boil it down to the core issue, it's actually what I said about the systems (as that's what forced you into those situations).
Re: Valve's Steam Machine May Not Be As Affordable As a PS5
Obviously with console you have to factor in £100+ per year subscription for cloud saves and online play. As well as £20 more per game.
But even then, I still think console is better value. As a PC gamer I’ve always called out the lie that you can build a PC with the same performance for the same price.
My full size PC is justified because I spend 90% of my time in the house sat at it and use it for a multitude of tasks.
If it were located under my TV then no way. I’d instead use a £130 mini PC with GeForce Now for the full £2500 console crushing experience.
Budget PC’s are bad.
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Sales Top 4 Million with Still No Sign of an Expansion
I'd rather they focused on a third game and removed some of the restrictive gameplay systems around travel etc that lead to excessive back tracking.
I quite like the pawn system and believe the series has a future as that differentiates it from other RPG's and carves it's own niche.
Re: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 UK Sales Plummet 61% Compared to Black Ops 6
I have Gamepass and haven't even launched the game despite it being "free". I don't even need to install it as I can stream, but still it's too much effort to warrant clicking the "play" button.
Main reason is that I've seen campaign footage/reviews and it's garbage.
Re: PS Plus Gets a Decent Black Friday Discount, But There's a Catch for Existing Members
It's just another example (along with the Japan console) of Sony starting to exploit their new monopoly position and rip us off as much as they can.
There is nothing wrong with gamers bulk buying discounted subs for a few years ahead.
It's money in the bank and earning interest for Sony, for services they don't even have to provide yet.
Paying for years up front is also beneficial as you now have those orders in the bag and paid for, whereas for example those gamers might not be playing at all in 2 years time (missus got pregnant, lost job etc).
Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Better to take the money now, rather than hoping they still want the product in 18 months.
Fair enough if that is the game they want to play. Money goes into my ISA and as to whether I renew at all in a couple of years, or go back full-time to PC.....well who knows. That's a gamble Sony have taken....
Re: EA Sports Skipping Standalone F1 Game in 2026, Will Return 'Reimagined' in 2027
Agree with others. They've had all these years of static regulations where it's just a roster/livery change required.
That was when you do the £40 expansion and get it launched as close to the start of the season as possible.
The year you have a complete upheaval is the year you release the ground-up new game! They should have been working on that for the past 2 years.
Granted getting all the new car models/sounds/performance sorted would be a late-season release, but I'm happy with that.
Re: PlayStation CEO Pushed Through Cut-Price PS5 in Japan After Seeing System Slump Against Switch 2
@sanderson72 it doesn’t cost a penny less to produce than a UK or US console.
In the UK and US, Sony have a monopoly and exploit that by selling at a high price with a big profit margin.
In Japan they face stiff competition from Nintendo so have to sell at a more competitive price.
But they don’t want you and everyone else in the US or UK importing consoles that are sold at a cheaper price in Japan.
So they are locking it out using language etc so they can keep exploiting and ripping off consumers here.
Sony do the same with game keys. You can buy PC and Xbox game keys from other countries where they are sold cheaper.
Whereas Sony don’t allow it as they want to charge you more than they charge others.
Re: Rumour: An Xbox Partner Showcase Is Imminent, Will Be Announced 'Very Soon'
Probably not worth watching given the current state of Microsoft and their partners.
I will forget about it and get on with my life, and just read whatever summary push square publish down the road.
Re: Talking Point: Will PlayStation's Mobile Push Be a Success or a Flop?
Been through this with Nintendo and Blizzard. Didn't end well.
This is how it goes:
1, Whatever you are told about the pricing model initially is a lie.
2, People won't pay AAA money for mobile titles.
3, The type of people interested in these franchises won't tolerate the alternative revenue systems.
4, The people who do engage with such systems, are and will be playing other games more suited to mobile.
5, Initial revenue at launch will be very positive and recoup the development costs.
6, Rapidly large numbers of players start dropping out as they refuse to engage with the revenue systems.
7, Most of the income comes from a small percentage of whales.
8, F2P players go as far as they can and then disengage due to P2W and whales having all the cool stuff that they can't realistically earn in a hundred years.
9, Those who want to play these franchises "mobile" can buy a Backbone or Portal and experience the full fat AAA titles that aren't compromised by compatibility with less powerful mobile hardware, and the associated revenue systems.
Re: Tomb Raider Dev Loses Another 30 Staff in New Round of Layoffs
Depends what those people were doing I guess. If they are overheads then it won't affect the game.
Although from everything I've heard in the rumours and leaks, the game doesn't sound remotely promising anyway.
As a TR fan, I would not be sad if it was cancelled.
The 2013 to 2018 trilogy started off well, but gradually went down hill in terms of the character(s) and story telling.
That being said, the two Crystal Dynamics entries were in my view vastly superior to the Eidos Montreal developed finale.
Re: Poll: Does the Steam Machine Pose a Threat to PS5?
I have some issues with the spec (mentioned by others above - over-priced and under-powered), so I don't think this one is going to be threatening PlayStation yet.
However, in the longer term, I do believe the open PC format will win out.
PlayStation will be the first fall, with Nintendo trudging on perhaps a decade longer.
But don't expected the balance to tip until the middle of the next decade.
Re: Here's Why Sony Is Making a Japan-Specific PS5 Console
Allow me to explain in simple terms.
Sony sell in multiple markets where they face different competitive conditions.
In Japan where consumer tastes are different to the West, consoles like the Switch provide more direct stiff competition.
In the West, consoles like Switch sell well but it's not a direct competitor to PlayStation, and Sony have a virtual monopoly in the AAA home console market. Xbox was the competition in the West but they are dead.
Region locking allows Sony to compete aggressively on price in Japan, whilst still being able to exploit their monopoly and charge a premium price and have a larger profit margin in the West.
Simple as that. Anything else anyone says is plain wrong I'm afraid.
Re: Somehow, We're Already on the Sixth Game in Milestone's RIDE Series
@ZeroSum I've owned and ridden just about every bike going, and was a motocross racer in my youth.
I find those games extremely hard. Real bikes are far easier. My knuckles bleed from punching the controller.
I like to play with all the aids off though so I'm controlling everything. Otherwise....why play it at all IMO.
Ride and MotoGP are very inaccessible and it ruins the appeal to most of the potential audience. The trick is to make it easy to play but hard to master, such that new/less experienced players can play the game and feel good about it, and hardcore players can find hidden depths.
What doesn't work is when the game is so tricky, that the new/less experienced player only has the option of a baby mode where it practically rides itself. That's not satisfying.
Although I've even seen Youtubers get their girlfriend to play it on the easiest mode possible and it was still unplayable with them crashing constantly.
The Dark Souls of racing games, only with the default mode being a 0 damage run, whilst naked and only holding a blade of grass.
Re: Fallout Season 2 Heads to New Vegas in New Trailer, Debuts 17th December
The end of Season 1 was met with pure relief from me, as they didn't do a Witcher, RoP or TLoU to it as I'd feared prior to broadcast. Bravo.
Heck not just relief, it was actually enjoyable with all the main characters/actors being superb.
Really looking forward to this, but in the current climate with Amazon and the rest of the industry desperate to lose as much money and destroy as many IP's as possible, you can never be sure that the writers haven't messed it up.
Re: The Next Horizon Game Is an MMO by NCSOFT for PC, Mobile
As soon as I see the word “mobile” it’s a hard pass.
Even though I have a PC.
Sorry, not with a barge pole.
Re: PS5 Is the Second Fastest Selling PlayStation Ever in the US, Despite Price Hikes and Production Issues
The price hasn't been hiked. The value of the currency went down due to printing trillions.
It's a perception issue as to the person holding the devaluing paper notes, it looks like the price is going up.
If you get in your car and put it in reverse, it looks like the car parked next to you is moving forward....
Re: Sony to Stimulate Japanese PS5 Sales with Cheaper, Language Locked Model
@Rich33 mate they've literally just done something heinously anti-consumer and flying in the face of globalisation, by purposefully and unnecessarily region locking a product, for the specific purpose of forcing consumers in the UK to pay an excessive price.
That's as sinister as it gets.
Re: Sony to Stimulate Japanese PS5 Sales with Cheaper, Language Locked Model
@Rich33 Sony have done it "because they can".
They have a monopoly in the UK and the Switch isn't as direct a competitor.
In terms of monopoly/competition law, how they got the monopoly is irrelevant.
If they have a monopoly and rip off UK consumers, they can't as part of their defence use "lol Xbox sucked, not our problem" as mitigation.
That's not how it works. They've also shot themselves in the foot as they previously made a case (in their submissions for the UK authority investigation into the Activision deal) for why a single party having a monopoly would be bad for consumers!
Re: Sony to Stimulate Japanese PS5 Sales with Cheaper, Language Locked Model
@Rich33 nail on the head.
It's locked to Japanese to prevent other markets from benefiting from lower pricing.
Like many large corporations, Sony are all in favour of globalisation when it allows them to exploit cheap labour and cheap dirty energy by manufacturing in China, but less in favour of globalisation when we wish to do the same by sourcing our consoles or games from other markets with cheaper prices.
After all the investigations into Microsoft over the Activision blizzard deal, perhaps someone should take a look at Sony’s disproportionate market power, that they are using to overprice in Western markets and rip off consumers. In particular, their anti-competitive practices in relation to how games are sold.
This is why I am more than happy to purchase legal (not stolen) grey import PC/Xbox game keys via key sites that acquire them from other markets e.g. eastern Europe or Asia. It is notable that Sony games cannot be acquired in that manner as they keep a tight control so that they can charge exploitative prices in certain markets.
If I have to compete on pay for my job, against someone from Poland who has far lower living costs, then I should be able to buy products from Poland at lower prices to level the playing field.
Globalisation is either good for everyone or bad for everyone. It shouldn’t just be large corporations who reap the benefits whilst the everyman incurs the costs.
Re: Promising PS5 Story Game Mixtape Is Delayed to 2026
@nessisonett Yeah agree, I'm like "looks cool, sounds cool, ummm what exactly is it you do?".
Re: PS5 Fans Say Ghost of Yotei Plays Better, But Can't Match Ghost of Tsushima's Story or Hero
I maintained since day 1 that Jin was a charisma vacuum. As dull as dishwater and not someone I empathised with.
I didn't care much for that whole thing about being torn between fighting honourably or not. As a player I didn't give a damn and have no moral compass or code of honour.
Much prefer Atsu and the revenge plot, which is as old as time itself but always something I can vibe with.