Comments 582

Re: Red Dead Redemption 2 'Probably' Wouldn't Have Happened without GTA 5 DLC Cancellation

Dogbreath

I personally desperately wanted GTA V single player DLC (ideally two packs like GTA IV) and was bitterly disappointed by the focus on online rubbish instead.

The truth is they'd rather milk the credit cards of fools than make proper expansions. I'm not buying the RDR2 explanation/excuse at all.

Personally I'm not a fan of RDR2 anyway. It's clunky, sluggish and fully of unnecessary busy work that doesn't add to the experience. Prefer the original.

I'd take the GTA V expansion thanks.

Re: Concord's Disastrous Demise Could Help Push for Better Consumer Rights in UK

Dogbreath

Aren't car manufacturers legally obliged to ensure the supply for spares for something like a decade after the car is produced?

Seems reasonable that video game manufacturers should have to guarantee a similar level of service (server support for say 2 or 3 years), or alternatively can "buy themselves out" of the obligation by offering pro-rata refunds based on how long the game had been out.

If going for the former, they could outsource server support to third party firms, with funds to support it being ring-fenced for that purpose at launch.

Re: Obsidian's Already Trying to Improve The Outer Worlds 2's Poor Presentation on PS5 Pro

Dogbreath

@themightyant yup, I’ve seen plenty of PSSR implementations that looked absolutely fine to me. Even in games where it is criticised, it is certainly not on a par with the original grass shimmer in Horizon Forbidden West at launch.

I am very sensitive to frame rate and frame pacing, but for example even the flickering that has been demonstrated in Outer Worlds 2, is not something I tend to notice when zipping around the place shooting.

In the real world, we do not zoom in on a few square inches of screen and hold it static such that we can observe these artefacts.

Not saying PSSR is perfect of course, as a regular user of DLSS on my PC, it is clear that PSSR still requires a bit more time in the oven. That said, I’d rather use it than not use it, and my default position in any game menu is to turn it on.

Re: Sony Stands with Japan's Creators in AI Copyright Crackdown

Dogbreath

Ultimately policing AI is the same as policing me.

You don’t ban me from watching your work, and I don’t see that you can ban AI from training on it either.

We (humans or AI) can both produce our own work, using what we’ve observed of others as inspiration.

The test is whether that individual work infringes on copyright e.g. per the Horizon case.

Re: Be Sure to Download The Outer Worlds 2's Day One Patch Before Playing on PS5

Dogbreath

@REALAIS I totally respect that position for heavy gamers. When World of Warcraft released in my younger years I easily spent more than a hundred hours a month on it. 40 hours a week minimum I expect!

Nowadays I'm nearly 50, career, partner, community volunteering at weekends etc. I get 90 minutes gaming a few nights a week so don't come near the limit.

So for people of my age or lifestyle, that's where actually because our gaming hours are low, spending £2500 on a PC with a £1000 GPU upgrade every 2 years just doesn't make sense versus a £200 per year sub (which often comes with a £60 game).

Re: Retro Mario Kart Rival Races to PS5, PS4 in Street Racer Collection

Dogbreath

It was alright actually. Personally we preferred Mario Kart back in the day though so I wouldn't agree with those critics.

However I dislike the way Mario Kart has gone since then with its massive wide sweeping tracks (it's hardly "karting" anymore) and the RNG weapons getting even more annoying.

So for my money and time, I'd take Street Racer over any other variant of Mario Kart bar the original.

I hated World and would have seriously regretted buying it if it wasn't bundled with the console.

Re: Thief PSVR2 Game Gives VR Players Something to Look Forward To

Dogbreath

I remember playing the 2014 Thief game on PC back in the day using NVIDIA's short-lived 3D vision thing.

I'd hoped by 2025 that such graphics were possible in VR, but this looks a step back and not as atmospheric graphically as the 11 year old title.

I can accept that if it is running at native res/frame rate though.

Guessing it will play similarly to Vampire: The Masquerade, so I guess it will ultimately be judged against that.

£4.99 v £22.99 hmmm

Re: 'Fame Does Not Create a Trademark': Sony, Tencent's War of Words Over Horizon Rip-Off Rage On

Dogbreath

@BAMozzy hundred percent agree. There is nothing original in Horizon to copy. The game is itself a collective of existing generic ideas.

Something like The Great Giana Sisters (for those old enough to remember) is where I think the line is drawn.

Or the misleading store front images of all the Truck Sim games on various consoles. They in my view try to trick consumers on consoles by making them think via the name and thumbnail, that they are part of the exceptional Truck Simulator series on PC, when in reality you are getting dross.

Re: PS5's Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Draws Closer with Naughty Dog Recruitment Drive

Dogbreath

I am definitely seeing this as a cross-gen title, and that is despite the fact I think PS6 won’t appear until 2028.

Even in the worst case scenario, I predict a very short window between this game being released and the PS6 launching.

So in my view anyone with an interest in this game, and who is considering buying a PS6, should avoid playing this game on PS5 so as to avoid having the experience unnecessarily held back by hardware.

At the minimum, I expect a small backwards compatibility patch when the PS6 launches, but more likely a native PS6 version showing off all the new hardware features.

Although in truth, what I’ve seen so far of the game, which isn’t very much, doesn’t get my juices flowing.

Re: Talking Point: Is PS5 Really in Competition with TikTok?

Dogbreath

I’m Gen X and have always viewed gaming as the “new” disruptive tech that killed off pastimes of old from the 70’s and back, like Airfix, Scalextric, board/tabeletop gaming and Subbuteo.

But wise up old man, you are past it!

I need to accept that Video games are becoming the Airfix and Subbuteo. The kids these days see it as the old, and whilst many enjoy it, they have screen time activities that were science fiction to me in the 80’s and 90’s.

Re: Sony Bend's PS5 Game Cancellation Could Be Seen Coming, Says Ex Dev

Dogbreath

Every time I see Bend mentioned, I bang my head on my desk.

When I bought my original PS5 I was looking forward to Days Gone 2 within a few years.

It would have made a tidy profit. The stupidity is off the scale. Everyone lost.

Developing these Live Service games is like spending all your spare cash on lottery tickets instead of putting it in savings or shares.

You have a one in a million chance of winning big, but in reality are guaranteed to end up with nothing.

Where as the other option will always leave you with a nice pot.

Re: Be Sure to Download The Outer Worlds 2's Day One Patch Before Playing on PS5

Dogbreath

@CallMeDuraSouka using GFN means no root kit DRM (Denuvo etc) that risks slowing or messing up my PC (that I use for my side hustle photography) and requiring a complete fresh Windows install to clear it off. Can't afford the downtime.

No fan noise. No excess heat (especially in the summer with no AC).

Parity of experience - 4k, 120fps, HDR, VRR.

Ability to switch the PC off, go to the living room, fire up the OLED and Nvidia Shield and continue from where I left off.

That's why. Plus as I've said before, for the same price as a bungled PS5 Pro port, I can buy a PC key and month of streaming sub. Zero cost.

You guys must be really wedded to your precious trophies, to tolerate developers chucking sloppy conversions at you and charging the earth.

It goes both ways though. I bought Borderlands 4 on my Pro as the PC port was trash.

Something about eggs and baskets....

Re: Rumour: PS Portal Could Be About to Get Even More Compelling

Dogbreath

@rjejr yes I'd concede that "enormous" is not really accurate.

I actually think Sony thought it would flop like PSVR 2.

It was almost as if they'd developed the thing, knocked out some stock and thought "Damn this ain't gonna sell, but let's send it out to die and recoup what we can".

I was one of the few voices who were saying that it would be a success at the time. I think Sony were actually shocked at how well it’s sold, especially as the marketing has been a bit half hearted, and still is.

So perhaps replace the word "enormous" with the word "surprise"!

Re: Be Sure to Download The Outer Worlds 2's Day One Patch Before Playing on PS5

Dogbreath

@REALAIS rich?

PS5 is the expensive "money to waste" option.

My PS5 Pro cost the equivalent of 3 years of GFN, for which you get a vastly superior experience, no subscription for cloud saves and far cheaper games.

Just saying if we keep receiving garbage ports, I'm going to divert my money to other platforms. Sony needs to crack some heads and get a grip.

Nothing to do with Xbox (I sold my XSX).

Re: Rumour: PS Portal Could Be About to Get Even More Compelling

Dogbreath

@Exerion76 you are forgetting the survey a month or so back that showed a vast percentage of gamers buy less than one game a year.

Loads of PS5's are owned by kids with no money who literally just play Fortnite, and a lot of adults who played COD once a few years back and use it only as a home movie streaming box.

We on this site are a tiny niche and not representative.

So to sell a £200 peripheral to 5% of people who typically bought the main product for the 55" or larger sofa experience, is pretty good going.

We probably on this site who buy loads of stuff, are in the top 10% to 20% of gaming consumers.

So they have sold this thing to a quarter to half of us! Us being the market for this device.

Re: Rumour: PS Portal Could Be About to Get Even More Compelling

Dogbreath

This is the future. Every game in your library [within reason) available to stream from launch via the cloud.

The disaster that is ADSL is dying out. Soon practically all homes will have fibre or something similar to my Virgin 1gb connection. New WiFi standards proliferating as ISP’s upgrade your hubs.

Streaming with no detectable latency or compression.

GFN is already superior to playing locally on PS5 Pro, and why would you select “potato” graphics quality on your heavy, hot, expensive, battery thirsty Steam Deck or the rumoured new PS handheld, when future variants of portal run at “ultra” and you are only holding a lightweight screen and tiny battery.

I’ve crossed a line this year in that I’ve purchased games on Steam and played them to completion on my PC and TV, without even having Steam installed, let alone the game.

Re: Hardware Review: RIG R5 Spear Pro HS - Entry Level PS5 Headset Has Surprisingly Great Audio

Dogbreath

@Jacko11 I'm not a heavy user of mine admittedly, but I never examine it closely when I do use it.

This convo just prompted me to grab it off the hook and take a close look.

Looks like new, same as it looked when I pulled it out the packet on release day. Immaculate.

Around the exact same time I bought the Elite, I also purchased a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 4's to use with my iPad. Not exactly cheap (£200 ish) and they are in an absolutely disgraceful state. The black stuff is flaking off the ear cushions.

My SteelSeries Arctis 7X get a LOT of use with my PC and they are also mint like the Elites. Despite being my most used headphones. Highly recommend their quality.

Re: 'Significant' Layoffs Are Set to Hit Amazon Game Studios

Dogbreath

@Stevemalkpus I've been a massive TR fan since a sweaty-palmed 20 year old version of myself purchased the original for PS1 on launch day!

Personally I think I'd rather have nothing, than have whatever they were going to spew out. They have no respect for the IP and no creative passion or real talent.

They simply have the IP and need to shove it out there to earn some money for them.

I'd prefer if they'd let it sit in the wilderness for a good 10 years. Start working up some early concepts in the mid-2030's, release in the early 2040's if I'm still alive then.

I'd like to see a big leap. Similar to the jump from the 1996 to 2013 versions. I don't see the in-development game really doing much that Rise/Shadow didn't do. Just prettier graphics but with a low frame-rate and a load of stutter.

Re: Sony's Rumoured Handheld May Be Years Away, But Ghost of Tsushima Is Steam Deck Verified Now

Dogbreath

I'd still rather play it on a streaming handheld console at full graphics settings, than play a compromised and cutdown version on a standalone handheld with onboard processing, given that I can count on one hand the number of times per year that I’d play outside of my own or a friends/family network.

That’s just in terms of the graphics alone, let alone the extra cost, weight and heat of a standalone handheld.

I do take my switch on holiday, where there is a very poor Wi-Fi network, but that’s an entirely different kettle of fish with an entirely different type of game collection and experience. I don’t buy games like Witcher or cyberpunk for it as an example.

Re: Former Battlefield Boss Says Video Games 'Can't Be Built By An Al'

Dogbreath

Some parts will, some parts won't.

I don't want to explore spaces dreamt up by an AI. It's a bit like procedural generation (see Starfield). It has no soul.

I'd rather explore a space that a living breathing human crafted from their imagination.

However, I'm sure AI will be smashing out building-block art assets in no time. You can imagine AC Syndicate if it were made in the future, with AI using historical photos as a reference to churn out masses of high quality authentic assets.

Gameplay as well is something I think only a human could understand what is good and bad.

AI won't create games until AI is capable of reviewing games and telling me why I should buy it or not. I don't think Push Square staff have anything to worry about for decades.

Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows Update 1.1.4 Brings Major Additions, Full Patch Notes Revealed

Dogbreath

Really like this game. Controversial take.... but for a few minor issues I'd prefer it over GoY.

The dual protagonist thing really started to grate on me. E.g. turning up at a quest giver and then suddenly in the cut scene the other character is there with you?!?! Appearing like the shop keeper in Mr Ben as if by magic. What the hell?!

Yasuke should really have had his own DLC where he was the only playable character and Naoe had the main campaign.

Or done the Odyssey/Valhalla thing where you pick one.

But otherwise I really love the graphics and prefer it to the arty style of GoY/GoT. Enjoyed the gameplay of both characters too in their own way.

Shock horror a third party title that runs great on Pro too. Glad they are supporting it continuously. May go back at some point.

Re: Halo's Worst Level Will Be Much Improved on PS5

Dogbreath

My recollection (has been a long time) was that particular level was the most egregious for copy-paste repeating scenery.

It felt like you were going in circles through the same section 20 times, whilst be attacked by a bunch of balls.

Although many levels had that problem, and repetition goes at least as far as Halo 4 from what I can remember although I quite enjoyed that first 343 exclusive game.

Can't recall much of 5 as I hammered through it in co-op with my brother and it was pretty forgettable bar a few moments.

Re: PS6 Could Be the Only Next-Gen Console Charging for Online Multiplayer

Dogbreath

@RoomWithaMoose sure mate. Whatever you say.

When Sony ramp up their PSN sub price and fleece everyone big time for cloud saves and online play, feel free to go buy your latest AAA's on Nintendo Switch 2 instead.

Annual subscription key code for Switch Online is only £12.99.

That will be the monthly cost of Essential by then, but as you say, it's an easy to switch to Switch 2 (no pun intended). It's nothing like comparing a Ford with a Ferrari.

It's just like going from a Ford Focus to Vauxhall Astra. You can hardly tell the difference. Just a plastic badge on the hood.

I will be playing next gen games on a PC or Geforce Now and pay the sum total of £0 per year for my cloud saves and online play, whether via Steam, Epic, Ubisoft or Xbox storefronts etc. So I don't have a lot of skin in this game.

If you are happy then good luck to you pal!

Re: PS6 Could Be the Only Next-Gen Console Charging for Online Multiplayer

Dogbreath

@RoomWithaMoose Ferrari are in the same market as Ford. They both sell cars but are in a different niche.

On no planet are they targeting the same customers and competing with each other.

I should know the Internet well by now, and that you always will find people who will argue the sky is green and the grass is blue, but I'm still shocked that people are trying to argue that Nintendo has any relevance to this discussion.

It's embarrassing to this website. Nothing Sony do in this regard would cause people to buy a Nintendo instead. They are essentially selling entirely different products.

Re: PS6 Could Be the Only Next-Gen Console Charging for Online Multiplayer

Dogbreath

/sigh

Switch 2 is not a direct competitor to PS6.

I have one and even after 6 pints on a Friday night after work, I still wouldn't be hammered enough to ever consider it as being in the same market as my PS5 Pro or PC. Come on guys, be sensible for once.

With the new Xbox likely having access to multiple PC market places, charging for online play or cloud saves on the Xbox store front will be untenable.

So I'm not sorry if people don't like to hear the truth, I'm giving it to you anyway:

Sony will be the only one charging, and boy are they going to ratchet up the cost and exploit their AAA home console monopoly and give a right pasting to those of you who won't entertain switching and are essentially a captive audience.

Re: Halo Confirmed for PS5, Remake of First Game Out in 2026

Dogbreath

I assume the draw is the graphics upgrade which will appeal to PS5 and Xbox players.

Although I've already played one remaster.

I don't see much of a draw for PS5 fans being thrilled at "finally getting to play it", as there have been ample opportunities over the years to pick up used Xbox's for the price of a packet of crisps and play it.

Re: Bethesda Is Working on New Fallout Games, Todd Howard Confirms

Dogbreath

With Starfield having failed in the sense that it clearly won't become an established IP like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, it's pretty much common sense that Bethesda need to be working hard on both an Elder Scrolls and Fallout games.

So not the most surprising story.

Can't knock them for trying a new IP though. We always whinge about sequels.

Still it's weird to think that the PS5 generation is unlikely to see a new Fallout or Elder Scrolls game. I don't see either coming until the PS6 is in our hands. At best I see which ever is release first being a simultaneous release on PS5 & PS6.

These things happen. PS4 never actually saw a new GTA game, and PS5 won't see an Uncharted.

Re: The Outer Worlds 2 (PS5) - Mechanically Fantastic RPG Struggles to Be Memorable

Dogbreath

@EfYI well I think the obvious one is that it's not a PC replacement. Not all games are on GFN and your can't tinker and mod games as much, although there are mod support in a number of games now.

You also can't use it for word processing etc or Web browsing. It's more a mega console.

Typically one would say buy a mini PC for £400 which does all your office tasks, photo editing and light video editing work.

Then pay £200 a year for Geforce Now that gives you £2500 RTX5080 gaming rig performance and free upgrades for life.

Essentially GF Now is far cheaper than the delta between an entry level laptop and an absolute monster PC.

The issue is still that some games are missing. E.g. Want to check out Outer Worlds 1? Alas it ain't on it. Neither are Rockstar and a lot of WB games.

Will GTA 6 be on it? Who knows.

For a console gamer though it's handy to get a cheap key and a month sub when the console version is awful. GFN is not quite "your only game system" just yet unfortunately.

Re: Rumour: New Halo Game Heading for PS5, Will Almost Certainly Be Announced This Week

Dogbreath

Played them all on Xbox.

Reach was my favourite by a country mile. Good fan service for those who'd played the previous games.

As I've said in other posts, they are good games but not the system-sellers they are made out to be.

Always suffered from repetitive scenery. The original had repeated copy-paste sections where the scenery would repeat half a dozen times and you didn't know if you'd accidentally gone back the way you came.

Even later games had the same annoying repetitive mechanic of "you are on tram type platform. Tram moves 20 metres then oh noes it's deactivated, you have to get off, kill enemies and activate a power generator to get the tram going again".

REPEAT x 10. I lose the will to live.

Occasionally there were sections where you are running down the side of some giant construct etc but whilst they break up the monotony and repetition, they aren't enough.

As for the last game Infinite.....what an absolute heap of boring garbage. I bounced off that hard.

1 to 5, including Reach (I never played ODST) are 8 out of 10's though. Worth checking out if you have the patience for the dull repetitive stuff.

Re: Fallout 76 Finally Gets a Native PS5 Version Next Year

Dogbreath

I skipped the game at launch but played it 5 or so years ago, I believe that was before the major expansion that added NPC's. Cost me £7 or something!

I actually found it surprisingly decent. I just played it solo and generally enjoyed the environmental story telling and audio logs in various locations that told a story in the absence of NPC's.

Got my money's worth.

I wouldn't pay £50 for it or anything like that, but at a sale-price I'd recommend people give it a go if they like Fallout.

I do recall exploring a house that some whale had built and it was pretty impressive, but I had zero interest in getting into all that.

Re: Mark 10 Years of Fallout 4 with a PS5, PS4 Re-Release Next Month

Dogbreath

@Oram77 in fairness Bethesda have at least been releasing new games. One may not love Starfield, but it's a decent competent game.

ND get stick because remasters are literally all they have released!

The last new ND game I purchased at launch and actually enjoyed was Uncharted 4 in 2016! If I'm being generous I could say Lost Legacy in 2017!

I don't even want to talk about the "other" game.

Re: Xbox Boss Believes Sony's Strategy of Console Exclusives Is 'Antiquated'

Dogbreath

Game development costs are only going in one direction.

Whilst it is undisputed that Microsoft have lost the console war, I don't think it is necessarily a win for Sony in the long term.

Their business model will come under increasing pressure when they become a lonely little walled off enclave, with the rest of the free world on the outside playing on open PC-based formats. Whether PC in the home, game streaming like GFN, or whatever Xbox are offering.

Sony have to release enough very expensive, very long lead time exclusives to make it worth investing in their hardware. I'd say they are already borderline on that this generation, and relying heavily on remasters. With soaring costs, the numbers increasingly aren't adding up, and the release cadence definitely isn't adding up.

There may come a time when I say "nah I can just wait for the PC release of Horizon 3" and it's not worth dropping £1200 on a PS7 come 2035.

Re: The Outer Worlds 2 (PS5) - Mechanically Fantastic RPG Struggles to Be Memorable

Dogbreath

@Fiendish-Beaver yup and actually if one has a decent internet connection and uses the same website:

Rather than paying £59.99 for the juddery PS5 version of Outworlds 2....

Just pay £33 for the PS6 patched version instead, and get to experience that three years early.

How?!?!

One month of Gamepass Ultimate for £12.99
One month of Geforce Now Ultimate for £20

Boom! Play it on an RTX5080 top spec gaming rig worth £2500. If you can finish it in a couple of weeks, you can spend the remaining two weeks playing Avowed.

Re: Sep 2025 USA Sales: Ghost of Yotei PS5 Boycott Fails, Sequel Sells 'Great'

Dogbreath

@DennisReynolds no they were never doomed as they made a good game.

There was some threat to sales, not massive, but enough to warrant taking action given the current climate and the way the wind was blowing.

I'm criticising the idea of boycotts by the way, and not taking the side you think I am.

Boycotts for such reasons are daft. The culture in the media/entertainment industry is well known. As I said, the senior leadership at SP privately share the fired employees views, as will most of the staff.

Unless you share their extreme ideology, everyone at ALL of these firms hate you.

I know they hate me, but shall I never buy a western game again? Of course not. I just accept it for what it is and stick to the basic principles of only buying good games.

GoY's weaker sales are nothing to do with any of the politics you've all been hammering in the comments.

It's a sequel where there will be some drop off from those who played the original, there is some fatigue over the setting, and general loss of interest in that open world Ubisoft formula, which if we are honest, is what the game boils down to behind the artistic flare.

Everyone wants it to be about their politics. Sorry but it ain't.

Re: Sep 2025 USA Sales: Ghost of Yotei PS5 Boycott Fails, Sequel Sells 'Great'

Dogbreath

@DennisReynolds I'd put it to you that SP would have stood for that 5 years ago (so long as the "right person" was mocking the demise of the "wrong person") but changing tides and consumer sentiment changed that.

The employee felt very comfortable saying such things publicly in front of their work colleagues, because they knew it would receive approval and was in effect a virtue signal within their hivemind circles, despite the abhorrent nature.

That tells me everything I need to know about the corporate culture at SP, and that the firing was motivated by the potential damage to sales, not because they viewed it as distasteful (I bet senior managers are posting the exact same stuff on their burner accounts).

I was still going to buy the game anyway if it was good though. I know exactly what extremist views are held by the corporations and staff in the Western games industry, so if I cared about that I'd never buy another Western produced game.

Re: PS Portal Still a Huge Success as Sony Reportedly Preps PS6 Handheld

Dogbreath

@CallMeDuraSouka yes the Portal had a range of issues, not least the notorious refresh/stutter problems. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but there are some tech deficiencies and Sony are far from the best streaming service out there, although they have impressively overtaken Xbox.

Yes, I prefer streaming from GFN than playing locally on my PC.

Same experience using Ultimate (4K, 120fps, HDR) but with zero fan noise, no excess heat during the UK summer heatwave, and brand new games aren't installing their vile root kit DRM's with all the associated problems on my machine!

Plus my own PC and GFN were using RTX4080, whereas a month back I got a £1000 RTX 5080 upgrade at the amazing price of £0, versus buying the card myself.

Re: PS Portal Still a Huge Success as Sony Reportedly Preps PS6 Handheld

Dogbreath

I am a big game streamer, mostly using GeForce now ultimate which is genuinely like renting a £2500 PC for £200 per year, and without any heat, noise, electricity drain or upgrade costs. I actually prefer it over my real PC of a similar spec.

The Portal is an absolutely fantastic idea, but poorly implemented and with a middling service behind it.

A future iteration with GF Now quality levels will be incredible.

It makes me wonder why anyone would want to pay two or three times the price, for a heavier and hotter device with a fraction of the battery life, with worse graphics, just for the 1% of time they spend using it outside of a network and therefore can't stream.

The days of handheld gaming devices that have onboard processing, are numbered in my opinion.