Ironically, getting a SteamDeck back in February is why I’ve not picked up my Portal in months, and recently dropped to the Extra sub from Premium.
The ability to play so many PS4 era and indie games natively wherever I am is brilliant. I don’t dislike the Portal and have been impressed with some of the streaming but, perhaps it’s an age thing, natively run titles on a handheld is a bit of a red line for me. Love the S2 for the same reason.
Looking forward to seeing some gameplay, and the resulting million or so articles and videos analysing it frame by frame.
Have Netflix so will watch it there. If I didn’t I’d watch it the following morning on YouTube. A lot of drama over something so unserious, gamers can be a mad lot!
Will only really miss the F1 games as a result of this and am hoping Codies either escape at some point or the licence goes elsewhere. F1 is pretty cosy with Saudi itself so that aspect won’t be a problem for them.
The press release screams AI adoption to me and I fear cuts to help pay for the new debt, because it definitely won’t come from lower profits and dividends/bonuses!
That’s me done with EA, which I pretty much was already with the exception of the F1 games.
I fear for ‘normal’ EA employees and wonder whether the extra £8m the CEO got this last year was a last cash grab before the deep cuts/challenges come.
To have to recoup £20bn is surely going to put massive strain on their bottom line leading to staff cuts and even more monetisation.
@ShadowRJ I like option 1, I’m not sure the others would work. Option 2 would be very expensive I imagine.
Even if Sony controlled the physical printing to a degree, as long as it remained an option I assume that would work for most. As technology progresses I think the disks would increasingly become like game key cards though, but that’s still better than nothing for those that want physical.
This comments thread highlights exactly why Sony need to come back and clarify some things, even though I don’t believe they’ll change the key decision re a move to digital.
They need to clarify/highlight the point re other retailers being able to sell game codes - people have either missed this or are deliberately overlooking it.
They need to provide assurances re ongoing access to digital versions. To be fair, they should just point to the PS3 here as that’s had 20 odd years of store support, with the ability to download your games still for the ‘foreseeable future’. The PS3 approach feels perfectly reasonable to me whilst also being economically viable.
Not ideal for the physical folk but would at least provide some clarity and assurance.
The overreacting from some is probably encouraging Sony to engage less, as any further comment from them will only push the worst online folk to get louder again, and drown out any sensible debate on the subject.
Ultimately, if Sony don’t do more I think Governments will start paying more attention so I think it’s in their interest to get ahead of that.
Their worst nightmare is governments forcing a situation where we can buy a game from any digital storefront and it has to be playable anywhere. So I go to Steam and buy a game and then use it on my PS5. I’d probably love that for the competition between stores but it would be technically complex (and expensive) to manage and likely push up price of consoles and subscriptions as Sony would make much less from the games themselves.
No easy answer basically, other than perhaps allowing for physical but as an expensive niche element for those who really want it - see vinyl music!
I’m interested because it’s Insomniac and they’re consistently great, but I’ll wait for reviews/feedback before going for it - especially at full price.
I want to know more about the variety in the game. Whilst Spider-Man involved a lot of fighting with goons you also had the big world to explore. Here, if it’s more linear, and one corridor after another of fighting, that feels like a ‘wait for the first sale’ game for me. (With the added bonus of not going day one for a Sony 1st party title, which would hopefully send a message if enough people did - I say that as a digital person who’d like to see more comms from Sony.)
@Vaulthunter I really like it, it’s probably the thing I’ve gamed on most since getting it in Feb. I got the 1TB OLED.
I enjoy the handheld aspect, and ergonomically it’s miles ahead of the Switch 2. I got the Mobapad joy cons for the Switch and that’s made a huge difference though.
I like Steam, but I’ve found prices often pretty close between that and the console stores. You do get some great discounts but I’ve found the thing to do is wish list and wait for discounts in the bigger sales.
I knew the tech limitations going in. I love the OLED screen, but the 1080 resolution and slightly bigger size of the S2 is nice, so they’re about a draw for me. Whilst the deck is easy to use, as a console player the S2 is still ahead as a proper console for ease of use. In gaming mode though the deck is pretty close.
I got the deck for older games and indies, and I’ve been able to play a few things not on S2. I was interested to try Steam. For those games it’s great. For new AAA I’ve stuck with the PS5. S2 is for Nintendo and some indies.
In hindsight, a PS5 and one handheld is enough! I think having both is the sweet spot but I’d have a tough time picking between S2 and Deck if I had to pick one.
Given prices though, and with the possibility of a PS handheld, I doubt I’ll go for a Deck 2 immediately!
If I’m Asha Sharma and hearing this from Bethesda themselves I’m not impressed.
They’ve had how long on this? I would be challenging that the losses are about controlling bloat and looking for efficiencies. I’d be challenging them to argue otherwise, which I suspect has happened, and they lost that argument - to the surprise of no one.
Todd Howard himself needs to be told to deliver or get out of the way. From everything I’ve seen about his involvement in projects now he’s the primary bottleneck, where he should be empowering his teams to deliver with reach back and direction from a distance.
I feel like I’m fairly future proof with a Pro and Switch 2. The appeal of a console to me, the simplicity and focus on games, is still there so I’ll likely stick.
It is the first time in a long time where I’m not looking at the next generation as an easy day one decision, but that’s largely down to cost and potentially how much benefit I’ll get for that initially.
If a Steam Machine 2 came out with competitive performance and a sensible price that’s the most likely place I’d move to as a primary device.
@1-Krazy-Superman A few points there, which I’ll try to address in turn. The only numbers that matter are the ones Sony, and only Sony, have informing them of not just the ratio of physical to digital but also the revenue spread as a result, and how they want their business to progress in the future. People can haggle over 5-10% here and there online but it all means nothing. I have a Steam Deck for Steam, and a Switch 2 and PS5, and use them all digitally by default. I find physical a faff, and make choices around the digital I buy based on what I think provides value to me. I tend to finish a game and move on, rarely going back, if I feel I’ve got my value at that point I personally feel less risk around that game disappearing - partly because that hasn’t happened in any meaningful way to me to date that’s felt unfair on Sony’s part. Any Sony console you’ve purchased to date does support physical media, so they’re meeting your need at the point of purchase. If the PS6 doesn’t, don’t buy it. Simple. Sony’s numbers will assume some drop off but not enough to warrant a physical element, and I suspect the handheld factors into this decision. If Sony removes a game licence digitally it’s my view that most physical will also break, the way they’re configured. History suggests we’ll also typically get 10-20 years plus before that happens and I trust my digital game to last that time. I’d trust a disk less, unless you just put it on a shelf, in which case what’s the point? It’s there to be played right? Even if some games do drop off digital, there are too many games for anyone to play already so at a personal level the chances of a big issue there is very low. (Game preservation is a different issue I accept). The nature of games, and the hardware, means perpetual availability is economically impossible in reality. The best we can hope for is clarity and ideally a long tail of support followed by moves to open source to allow those who want to to continue support. That’s how a lot of software works.
@OcelotsRevolver Good point. The algorithm has a chance to impact this although by the same token the algorithm might be making this look more severe to some and be completely blind to many others! I guess the volume of comments does tell a story, it’ll be interesting to see how sustainable it is.
This has got to the point where I’m finding it quite amusing. Not what Sony have done, but the (over) reaction to it and lack of response from Sony since.
I think they’ll surely have to address this at some point but I almost admire how they’ve stuck to their guns so far. Clearly they believe in the data and their strategy that tells them this is the way to go.
Any mention of it in the mainstream is already gone so for most this is already a non-issue.
Some of the hysteria over this has been eye opening. You wonder whether it’s the gaming or collecting that means most to some, and if it’s the latter I’d advise finding something else to collect - there are probably cheaper more varied options that use less plastic and take up less space!
@OcelotsRevolver It’s not controversial to state that people on gaming forums or watchers of gaming YouTube channels represent a relatively small minority of the hardcore. I mentioned this in the office and even the ‘gamers’ I knew in there either didn’t know or didn’t care.
Knowing whether an overwhelming majority of their customers do anything probably doesn’t matter here. What’s clear is that Sony do have the data and based on that data they decided the best course of action was to go all digital.
Agree with your other points. I don’t care about physical but if it became clear that what long term ‘ownership’ I have is being consistently eroded alongside rising prices I’d stop being a customer.
Waiting to see what Extra has otherwise it’s been a poor month for me.
I should start taking notes on these month to month to understand better if I’m really getting value?
I’m not one of the physical zealots currently having a fit but Sony’s approach to that issue has given me an incentive to assess more whether I want to be tied to them in the future. I’ve already cancelled my re subscription pending their comms and understanding more how they intend to manage digital going forward.
I’d usually be day one. I’m digital these days so that aspect doesn’t bother me.
Price clearly plays a part but it’s less about price and more about value for me, and I’m struggling currently to see how they sell it. I think the thing I would still go for is a handheld.
Handheld aside I’m increasingly likely to focus on my backlog and purchase specific games once on sale - I’m quite patient when I want to be!
Between my Pro, Switch 2 and Steam Deck I reckon the backlog I’ve got now plus some choice purchases through the next 12 or so months would probably see me occupied for the next 2-3 years!
Any increases in subscription prices will also mean I drop off that and focus on what I really want to play. Whilst the physical side of things doesn’t impact me, that change does encourage me not to blindly support PS and be more conscious of how I’m supporting them.
@Pat_trick Thanks, interesting- I’ll do some digging on that. I do think they will always struggle to be truly simpler than consoles when part of the selling point is the flexibility that inevitably makes some aspects more complicated.
I’ve quite enjoyed the additional options the deck gives. Getting GTA 4 running on it was a relative pain (desktop mode, new apps and add ons etc) but at least it’s an option, unlike PS5, so swings and roundabouts!
@Pat_trick Don’t have a steam machine, but as someone with a PS5, Switch 2 and Steam Deck the consoles are still far more straightforward to use than the deck, and much less likely to require faff to get things working.
The negative is you lose flexibility and the deck is often very console like, but it’s not there yet and people have been selling the machine’s price as ok because of that flexibility.
I’d pay extra for the ease of life personally which is why I like consoles. (I also love the deck)
Not too fussed myself as have been pretty much all digital for the entire PS5 generation. I get some people’s concerns but ‘ownership’ of games vs licenses means I don’t think this actually changes much, and if you can still buy digital codes elsewhere to use in the PS Store that also helps prevent a pure Sony monopoly.
It was an interesting contrast between this site and a football site I go on in response to this story. On the football site, where you’ve got a lot less ‘hardcore’ gamers and PS fans, there was collective shrug of the shoulders and most people saying they’d been digital for years anyway.
I suspect that is far more representative of the masses and why Sony have done this, and figured they could get away with it.
@HangryHero I agree. Doesn’t feel particularly different to what most other games do at launch. I guess people are just looking for things to get annoyed about or looking for reasons to have a go at GTA just because… It’s going to be a tedious few months in that respect!
I’m normally day one for a new console but at £1000, and with a relatively new Pro, I think I’ll stick.
What I would be interested in is the handheld.
I think people are underestimating the performance change we might see with the rumoured new architecture. It’s quite a step up over the PS5 and the Pro. If that shows early in performance gains I might cave, but I’d still go handheld first I think.
Will be interesting to see if they introduce new payment models alongside higher prices. Also, if things ever do calm down, will prices actually reduce? The cynic in me says no, or at least certainly not by as much as their costs do!
What I’m not clear on is whether the standard edition will include some customisation locations, just not all of them? Or, is the ultimate edition the only way to achieve this level of customisation?
Either way, I’m likely to go ultimate because if I’m spending £70 I may as well spend £90 and this only comes around every 10-15 years so I’ll make the most of it! Who knows, it might be the last of its type the way things are going!
I’m pretty much all digital across the board now, the only exception is on Switch. Seems to be a mostly console hold out now for physical now that steam dominates in PC.
I don’t buy the ownership aspect re physical vs digital as regardless you’re just buying a licence to play. Disks are generally pointless without a lot of patches day one too.
The exception I’d accept would be some sort of definitive edition a few years after release, say something like that came out for Cyberpunk now for example. If you’re getting that though the resale argument doesn’t really hold up as surely you’re looking to keep those and after a few years resale is less worthwhile.
I’ll admit part of it is laziness on my part. I like swapping between games without having to swap cards/disks!
PS6 handheld is my most anticipated device. I can wait on a PS6 console, especially if it’s getting close to £1000, but a handheld that can play my PS catalogue natively would be great.
It’ll all come down to specs and price, which with how things are at the moment is a worry.
That said, some leaks on the next handheld and console did seem to suggest Sony was being quite clever with the architecture and I think that would help with price but also help the handheld perform better than people imagine. AI upscaling to a 1080p display on more modern chipsets means 60fps for a lot of PS5 games shouldn’t be a problem.
Sony’s push for games to support a low power mode will only help the handheld too, there will be a library ready for it.
Not sure why they changed it so the cynic in me always gets suspicious. Overall though there seems to be lots of massive overreaction to it so far, as per!
My only frustration so far is I quite fancy playing Farming Sim 25 and that’s one of the last to come out!
I still believe, maybe hope rather than expectation, that PS6 will be a more sensible price than the Steam Machine. Somewhere around the Pro price or a touch higher perhaps.
I could live with that for a 1TB version with a controller included.
What this will do I limit me to one console/device per generation and likely mean I’ll have to commit long term to one brand (probably PS).
I had a Series X, and still have PS5 Pro, Switch 2 and Steam Deck. At the current prices I’ll never have that sort of diversity again. A shame in some ways, but possibly won’t actually impact my gaming time or enjoyment too much overall.
Seems like I’m one a decent number of 40 somethings following this. Some of you even make me (44) feel young! We were lucky enough to be a great age when GTA3, VC and SA all launched in quick succession. How times change.
Like others I’ve got a 12 year old who’s never seen a GTA game launch and by the time he can legally play a GTA game on launch he’ll probably be in his mid 20s!
Up to £80 I can live with for this, not happy but can live with. For all the effort that’s gone into it and knowing I’ll get 50-100 hours out of it I can justify the value in my case.
Told myself I wouldn’t get too excited about it but I can feel I’m getting sucked into the hype. I’ll still not preorder until a week or so before launch regardless, no point doing it any earlier for digital.
I’ve just dropped from premium to extra because I just wasn’t using my Portal and the streaming enough to justify it.
I’d have considered Essential or nothing but between me and my two boys we do make use of the extra catalogue a fair bit. A few times in the last year one of them has asked about a game and when searching for it I’ve been able to download it for ‘free’.
Clouds saves and online shouldn’t be charged imo, they should be a core service provided as part of the price you pay for the console. While extra still seems decent I’ll stick with it though, I think once my boys are older or pay for their own subs I’ll consider binning it altogether and just buying the games I want.
Have two boys age 12 and 8 and have no issue with this personally. I was winding them up about it last night.
They only really use YouTube of the things being restricted and we police that closely. Could we manage without the change, as a family, probably. Does that stop others being less responsible and potentially exposing my kids to issues by extension, no. See also, car seat belts!
I think some of the companies seen as missing from the commentary are only missing as they’re not the big names. This will be blanket legislation and so pull in the likes of Bluesky etc I expect.
It does feel difficult to effectively implement though as you’re still relying on parents and the ones whose failings this is basically responding to will fail again.
It’s also laughable for anyone to suggest a more conservative govt wouldn’t try the same. If you look across the pond the attempts to control information by the govt are far more egregious. The only reason a right leaning govt would step back from this is to go full libertarian, in which case all bets are off.
Agree with everyone re Roblox too. That either needs including or needs its own controls. It’s a shambles and the people running it are either evil, incompetent or both. To be fair to PS it’s easy to restrict access to that with the family app already.
I played the remastered version on Series X when it came out, as someone new to Halo / Xbox.
It’s fun and a good game but it’s also of a time and shows its age. I think a lot of people will play it now and wonder what all the fuss is about! To really understand what the fuss is about you probably had to be there!
@X-Curly-X A token effort to appease the Xbox fans who’ve been vocal about this. They’ve picked games likely to score well with their core but that wouldn’t sell so well they’ll be giving up huge money, especially as they’re on Gamepass.
Not particularly bothered about Gears, having played some of the old ones on my SX before selling it. Glad PS will have Fable and FH6 though!
Also not too fussed about exclusives. If it sharpens Sony up a bit that’s good for PlayStation. I don’t see this really moving the needle for Xbox sales either in a big way, it’s too late for the Series consoles and Xbox seem fixated on Helix, which is likely too expensive to really threaten the PS lead in consoles.
Lots to look forward to on either platform, exclusive or otherwise, so enjoy all the games everyone.
I really enjoyed it. Played it last night in one sitting. Fun story, good characters and perfect if you want a relaxing evening.
It’s a vibe game but it had the nostalgia factor for me, albeit I’m from the U.K. There are a handful of standout moments that were really excellent.
As someone who recently tried NTE as their first gacha game I found Mixtape’s simplicity and lack of a million layers of buttons and currencies etc a wonderful palette cleanser!
I get the cost incentive for physical, especially if you go second hand a lot for some bargains.
I’m pretty much all digital today, the odd Switch 2 cart is the only exception. Laziness played a part but so did minimising clutter in my house and saving plastic/shipping impact to the environment.
‘Collecting’ aside I really don’t see the point of physical these days though, on PS5 at least, as no physical game is complete without further downloads and will always need updates at some point too. Defeats the long term aspect of owning it I think. In S2 at least you have some fully formed games on the card.
@For-Kier That was my thought too and I think it would be attractive to a lot of people, and familiar given many people do it with their phones.
I did it for my XboxSX. Two years interest free with ultimate included was something like £24 per month. Felt like a great deal and I doubt I’d have got one otherwise!
I’m enjoying NTE, first gacha Ive ever played. There’s a lot in it but it doesn’t feel like a game that should take a reasonable sized dev team eons to make - it’s surprisingly robust at launch but not 100% polished.
Whilst I’m wary of poor working practices in China I think this also speaks to inefficient dev practices in Japan. So many cultures with long working hours aren’t actually more productive per employee than those countries, in Northern Europe for example, that have better work life balance.
Sometimes these commentators need to say their piece and then look inwards, rather than simply land their views of criticism of others.
As a gamer the gacha/open world and ‘one and done’ mix feels about right though. I like having a couple of games to keep going back to over months whilst majoring on something to completion per month.
Played around an hour last night. It’s the first gatcha game I’ve ever played.
On PS5 Pro it runs well and looks good. The presentation overall is impressive for something you can download for free.
The early gameplay seems fun, not too complicated or deep but works well. The characters are I guess what you’d expect of this sort of game. Not my usual thing but there’s a reasonable range of characters introduced early.
The city could be the star of the show. The very early section puts you in a small section of it and it looks great, is fun to walk around and explore and feels alive with plenty of things to do.
I’ll definitely keep following the main story and trying some of the side content.
The big caveat is the range of layers to the stats etc. I guess this is their way of incentivising lots of different activities for different rewards, but it’s a lot. It might become clearer with time but if I drop off it’ll be because this aspect becomes a pain or it feels like they’re forcing you to pay to progress, which to be fair doesn’t appear from reviews to be a real problem here.
Overall though, first impressions are good and I’ll continue exploring and give it some more time. For £0 even 2-5 hours of entertainment can’t be complained about!
The only thing that makes me think they might consider this and make a strong play, absorbing some financial impact, is if they think it’ll sell more of Helix and this is what they want as a way to put more of their AI software into homes.
If MS are going to push AI hard then, as the article says, they need a way to do this in the home as well as the office, and Helix would seem like a perfect way to do that.
Them going exclusive again wouldn’t move the needle for me, if anything I’m more likely to buy a Steam Machine and play the MS games on that.
I’ve had one freeze in 5-6 hours and other than that I’m really enjoying it. The world and its style just works for me.
I’ve got a mad week and weekend coming up so am going to stop now and it sounds like when I get back to it Sunday/Monday there might be a fix out that would make going back even easier.
Only criticism I’d level is how was this not spotted in QA? As for the game, having played a bit of it now I think a mix of over hype pre-release and fanboyism hasn’t helped it at all.
Managed 3-4 hours from the start over two sessions at 60fps/enhanced on Pro with no issues.
Ironically, it was when I then moved to 40fps in game having watched the Digital Foundry video about it that I got a crash shortly after. Not sure if that’s related! I was discovering a new location when it crashed.
No issues since, another 45 mins or so, having stuck with 40fps/enhanced since.
Really enjoyed my first evening with it albeit on 2-3 hours in.
I personally really like the aesthetic of the game which helps and although I’m not a massive Bethesda fan I do enjoy going through all the dialogue, searching out all sorts of stuff and I found the combat to be fun early on.
I would say also that despite the scale of the game I’m finding the menus etc quite intuitive so far.
Will be getting stuck in again this evening once I’ve enjoyed some of the decent UK weather!
Funny reading the comments on here and Pure Xbox about this game. Quite the contrast in outlook despite a consensus that it’s flawed in many ways.
It’s downloaded on my Pro and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into it later. I’m going in eyes open but at the same time I think/hope I’ll enjoy the vibe and world they’ve created.
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Re: 10 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for August 2026 Announced
Good selection I think. Will try and give KCD2 a go. I’ll either bounce off it due to the difficulty or become obsessed!
I wonder if this sort of selection will become more normal as a way of Sony starting to try to justify their no physical future!
Re: Your Steam Deck Can Now Moonlight as a PS Portal, with PS Plus Cloud Streaming
Ironically, getting a SteamDeck back in February is why I’ve not picked up my Portal in months, and recently dropped to the Extra sub from Premium.
The ability to play so many PS4 era and indie games natively wherever I am is brilliant. I don’t dislike the Portal and have been impressed with some of the streaming but, perhaps it’s an age thing, natively run titles on a handheld is a bit of a red line for me. Love the S2 for the same reason.
Re: Opinion: Ghost of Yotei Was a Weirdly Disappointing Sequel After Loving Tsushima
Tsushima’s story is arguably stronger, not much in it for me though, but in pretty much every other way Yotei improves on it I think.
Overall I loved both but I’m not sure we need another one, I would love to see Suckerpunch do something modern or sci-fi at some point.
Re: GTA 6 PS5 Gameplay Coming This Month, Here's When to See It First on Netflix
Looking forward to seeing some gameplay, and the resulting million or so articles and videos analysing it frame by frame.
Have Netflix so will watch it there. If I didn’t I’d watch it the following morning on YouTube. A lot of drama over something so unserious, gamers can be a mad lot!
Re: 'We're Entering This Next Chapter from a Position of Strength': EA Completes $55 Billion Buyout
Will only really miss the F1 games as a result of this and am hoping Codies either escape at some point or the licence goes elsewhere. F1 is pretty cosy with Saudi itself so that aspect won’t be a problem for them.
The press release screams AI adoption to me and I fear cuts to help pay for the new debt, because it definitely won’t come from lower profits and dividends/bonuses!
Re: EA's Controversial $55 Billion Buyout to Close Next Week
That’s me done with EA, which I pretty much was already with the exception of the F1 games.
I fear for ‘normal’ EA employees and wonder whether the extra £8m the CEO got this last year was a last cash grab before the deep cuts/challenges come.
To have to recoup £20bn is surely going to put massive strain on their bottom line leading to staff cuts and even more monetisation.
Re: Sales Data Paints a Very Grim Picture for Physical PS5 Games in the USA, UK
@ShadowRJ I like option 1, I’m not sure the others would work. Option 2 would be very expensive I imagine.
Even if Sony controlled the physical printing to a degree, as long as it remained an option I assume that would work for most. As technology progresses I think the disks would increasingly become like game key cards though, but that’s still better than nothing for those that want physical.
Re: Sales Data Paints a Very Grim Picture for Physical PS5 Games in the USA
This comments thread highlights exactly why Sony need to come back and clarify some things, even though I don’t believe they’ll change the key decision re a move to digital.
They need to clarify/highlight the point re other retailers being able to sell game codes - people have either missed this or are deliberately overlooking it.
They need to provide assurances re ongoing access to digital versions. To be fair, they should just point to the PS3 here as that’s had 20 odd years of store support, with the ability to download your games still for the ‘foreseeable future’. The PS3 approach feels perfectly reasonable to me whilst also being economically viable.
Not ideal for the physical folk but would at least provide some clarity and assurance.
The overreacting from some is probably encouraging Sony to engage less, as any further comment from them will only push the worst online folk to get louder again, and drown out any sensible debate on the subject.
Ultimately, if Sony don’t do more I think Governments will start paying more attention so I think it’s in their interest to get ahead of that.
Their worst nightmare is governments forcing a situation where we can buy a game from any digital storefront and it has to be playable anywhere. So I go to Steam and buy a game and then use it on my PS5. I’d probably love that for the competition between stores but it would be technically complex (and expensive) to manage and likely push up price of consoles and subscriptions as Sony would make much less from the games themselves.
No easy answer basically, other than perhaps allowing for physical but as an expensive niche element for those who really want it - see vinyl music!
Re: 'Please Play When GTA 6 Comes Out': AC Black Flag Resynced Will Add New Features to Keep You Aboard
This is why i won’t even start playing it until after I’ve done one run through of the GTA6 story.
It’ll be reduced in price by then and all the bug fixes and add ons will mean it’s the best version of itself.
I’m expecting to get into it early 2027, perhaps later if GTA keeps me busy all the way until Fable.
Re: This Wolverine PS5 Trailer Is Going to Sell a Lot of Copies This Holiday
I’m interested because it’s Insomniac and they’re consistently great, but I’ll wait for reviews/feedback before going for it - especially at full price.
I want to know more about the variety in the game. Whilst Spider-Man involved a lot of fighting with goons you also had the big world to explore. Here, if it’s more linear, and one corridor after another of fighting, that feels like a ‘wait for the first sale’ game for me. (With the added bonus of not going day one for a Sony 1st party title, which would hopefully send a message if enough people did - I say that as a digital person who’d like to see more comms from Sony.)
Re: July 2026 PS Plus Essential Games Available to Download Now
@Vaulthunter I really like it, it’s probably the thing I’ve gamed on most since getting it in Feb. I got the 1TB OLED.
I enjoy the handheld aspect, and ergonomically it’s miles ahead of the Switch 2. I got the Mobapad joy cons for the Switch and that’s made a huge difference though.
I like Steam, but I’ve found prices often pretty close between that and the console stores. You do get some great discounts but I’ve found the thing to do is wish list and wait for discounts in the bigger sales.
I knew the tech limitations going in. I love the OLED screen, but the 1080 resolution and slightly bigger size of the S2 is nice, so they’re about a draw for me. Whilst the deck is easy to use, as a console player the S2 is still ahead as a proper console for ease of use. In gaming mode though the deck is pretty close.
I got the deck for older games and indies, and I’ve been able to play a few things not on S2. I was interested to try Steam. For those games it’s great. For new AAA I’ve stuck with the PS5. S2 is for Nintendo and some indies.
In hindsight, a PS5 and one handheld is enough! I think having both is the sweet spot but I’d have a tough time picking between S2 and Deck if I had to pick one.
Given prices though, and with the possibility of a PS handheld, I doubt I’ll go for a Deck 2 immediately!
Re: The Elder Scrolls 6 Heavily Impacted by Xbox Layoffs, Team Morale at Rock Bottom
If I’m Asha Sharma and hearing this from Bethesda themselves I’m not impressed.
They’ve had how long on this? I would be challenging that the losses are about controlling bloat and looking for efficiencies. I’d be challenging them to argue otherwise, which I suspect has happened, and they lost that argument - to the surprise of no one.
Todd Howard himself needs to be told to deliver or get out of the way. From everything I’ve seen about his involvement in projects now he’s the primary bottleneck, where he should be empowering his teams to deliver with reach back and direction from a distance.
Re: Poll: Are You Considering Leaving PlayStation for PC?
I feel like I’m fairly future proof with a Pro and Switch 2. The appeal of a console to me, the simplicity and focus on games, is still there so I’ll likely stick.
It is the first time in a long time where I’m not looking at the next generation as an easy day one decision, but that’s largely down to cost and potentially how much benefit I’ll get for that initially.
If a Steam Machine 2 came out with competitive performance and a sensible price that’s the most likely place I’d move to as a primary device.
Re: July 2026 PS Plus Essential Games Available to Download Now
@1-Krazy-Superman A few points there, which I’ll try to address in turn.
The only numbers that matter are the ones Sony, and only Sony, have informing them of not just the ratio of physical to digital but also the revenue spread as a result, and how they want their business to progress in the future. People can haggle over 5-10% here and there online but it all means nothing.
I have a Steam Deck for Steam, and a Switch 2 and PS5, and use them all digitally by default. I find physical a faff, and make choices around the digital I buy based on what I think provides value to me. I tend to finish a game and move on, rarely going back, if I feel I’ve got my value at that point I personally feel less risk around that game disappearing - partly because that hasn’t happened in any meaningful way to me to date that’s felt unfair on Sony’s part.
Any Sony console you’ve purchased to date does support physical media, so they’re meeting your need at the point of purchase. If the PS6 doesn’t, don’t buy it. Simple. Sony’s numbers will assume some drop off but not enough to warrant a physical element, and I suspect the handheld factors into this decision.
If Sony removes a game licence digitally it’s my view that most physical will also break, the way they’re configured. History suggests we’ll also typically get 10-20 years plus before that happens and I trust my digital game to last that time. I’d trust a disk less, unless you just put it on a shelf, in which case what’s the point? It’s there to be played right?
Even if some games do drop off digital, there are too many games for anyone to play already so at a personal level the chances of a big issue there is very low. (Game preservation is a different issue I accept).
The nature of games, and the hardware, means perpetual availability is economically impossible in reality. The best we can hope for is clarity and ideally a long tail of support followed by moves to open source to allow those who want to to continue support. That’s how a lot of software works.
Re: Reaction: Sony Needs to Start Speaking to Us Again
@OcelotsRevolver Good point. The algorithm has a chance to impact this although by the same token the algorithm might be making this look more severe to some and be completely blind to many others! I guess the volume of comments does tell a story, it’ll be interesting to see how sustainable it is.
Re: Sony Ignores the Backlash and Returns to Social Media Almost a Week After Killing Physical Games
This has got to the point where I’m finding it quite amusing. Not what Sony have done, but the (over) reaction to it and lack of response from Sony since.
I think they’ll surely have to address this at some point but I almost admire how they’ve stuck to their guns so far. Clearly they believe in the data and their strategy that tells them this is the way to go.
Any mention of it in the mainstream is already gone so for most this is already a non-issue.
Some of the hysteria over this has been eye opening. You wonder whether it’s the gaming or collecting that means most to some, and if it’s the latter I’d advise finding something else to collect - there are probably cheaper more varied options that use less plastic and take up less space!
Re: Reaction: Sony Needs to Start Speaking to Us Again
@OcelotsRevolver It’s not controversial to state that people on gaming forums or watchers of gaming YouTube channels represent a relatively small minority of the hardcore. I mentioned this in the office and even the ‘gamers’ I knew in there either didn’t know or didn’t care.
Knowing whether an overwhelming majority of their customers do anything probably doesn’t matter here. What’s clear is that Sony do have the data and based on that data they decided the best course of action was to go all digital.
Agree with your other points. I don’t care about physical but if it became clear that what long term ‘ownership’ I have is being consistently eroded alongside rising prices I’d stop being a customer.
Re: July 2026 PS Plus Essential Games Available to Download Now
Waiting to see what Extra has otherwise it’s been a poor month for me.
I should start taking notes on these month to month to understand better if I’m really getting value?
I’m not one of the physical zealots currently having a fit but Sony’s approach to that issue has given me an incentive to assess more whether I want to be tied to them in the future. I’ve already cancelled my re subscription pending their comms and understanding more how they intend to manage digital going forward.
Re: Poll: $1,000 and No Disc Drive - Is PS6 Dead on Arrival?
I’d usually be day one. I’m digital these days so that aspect doesn’t bother me.
Price clearly plays a part but it’s less about price and more about value for me, and I’m struggling currently to see how they sell it. I think the thing I would still go for is a handheld.
Handheld aside I’m increasingly likely to focus on my backlog and purchase specific games once on sale - I’m quite patient when I want to be!
Between my Pro, Switch 2 and Steam Deck I reckon the backlog I’ve got now plus some choice purchases through the next 12 or so months would probably see me occupied for the next 2-3 years!
Any increases in subscription prices will also mean I drop off that and focus on what I really want to play. Whilst the physical side of things doesn’t impact me, that change does encourage me not to blindly support PS and be more conscious of how I’m supporting them.
Re: PS6 May Not Be the Only Fully Digital Console Next-Gen
@Pat_trick Thanks, interesting- I’ll do some digging on that. I do think they will always struggle to be truly simpler than consoles when part of the selling point is the flexibility that inevitably makes some aspects more complicated.
I’ve quite enjoyed the additional options the deck gives. Getting GTA 4 running on it was a relative pain (desktop mode, new apps and add ons etc) but at least it’s an option, unlike PS5, so swings and roundabouts!
Re: PS6 May Not Be the Only Fully Digital Console Next-Gen
@Pat_trick Don’t have a steam machine, but as someone with a PS5, Switch 2 and Steam Deck the consoles are still far more straightforward to use than the deck, and much less likely to require faff to get things working.
The negative is you lose flexibility and the deck is often very console like, but it’s not there yet and people have been selling the machine’s price as ok because of that flexibility.
I’d pay extra for the ease of life personally which is why I like consoles. (I also love the deck)
Re: PlayStation Consoles to Stop Getting Disc-Based Physical Releases in 2028
Not too fussed myself as have been pretty much all digital for the entire PS5 generation. I get some people’s concerns but ‘ownership’ of games vs licenses means I don’t think this actually changes much, and if you can still buy digital codes elsewhere to use in the PS Store that also helps prevent a pure Sony monopoly.
It was an interesting contrast between this site and a football site I go on in response to this story. On the football site, where you’ve got a lot less ‘hardcore’ gamers and PS fans, there was collective shrug of the shoulders and most people saying they’d been digital for years anyway.
I suspect that is far more representative of the masses and why Sony have done this, and figured they could get away with it.
Re: Talking Point: Is GTA 6's Dodgy Ultimate Edition a Deal-Breaker?
@HangryHero I agree. Doesn’t feel particularly different to what most other games do at launch. I guess people are just looking for things to get annoyed about or looking for reasons to have a go at GTA just because… It’s going to be a tedious few months in that respect!
Re: Rumour: PS6 Costs Sony Almost $1,000 to Make Right Now
I’m normally day one for a new console but at £1000, and with a relatively new Pro, I think I’ll stick.
What I would be interested in is the handheld.
I think people are underestimating the performance change we might see with the rumoured new architecture. It’s quite a step up over the PS5 and the Pro. If that shows early in performance gains I might cave, but I’d still go handheld first I think.
Will be interesting to see if they introduce new payment models alongside higher prices. Also, if things ever do calm down, will prices actually reduce? The cynic in me says no, or at least certainly not by as much as their costs do!
Re: Talking Point: Is GTA 6's Dodgy Ultimate Edition a Deal-Breaker?
What I’m not clear on is whether the standard edition will include some customisation locations, just not all of them? Or, is the ultimate edition the only way to achieve this level of customisation?
Either way, I’m likely to go ultimate because if I’m spending £70 I may as well spend £90 and this only comes around every 10-15 years so I’ll make the most of it! Who knows, it might be the last of its type the way things are going!
Re: GTA 6 PS5 Disc Hopes Seemingly Dashed by Rockstar Source
I’m pretty much all digital across the board now, the only exception is on Switch. Seems to be a mostly console hold out now for physical now that steam dominates in PC.
I don’t buy the ownership aspect re physical vs digital as regardless you’re just buying a licence to play. Disks are generally pointless without a lot of patches day one too.
The exception I’d accept would be some sort of definitive edition a few years after release, say something like that came out for Cyberpunk now for example. If you’re getting that though the resale argument doesn’t really hold up as surely you’re looking to keep those and after a few years resale is less worthwhile.
I’ll admit part of it is laziness on my part. I like swapping between games without having to swap cards/disks!
Re: PlayStation Boss Drops Biggest Hint Yet That PS6 Will Have a Portable Console
PS6 handheld is my most anticipated device. I can wait on a PS6 console, especially if it’s getting close to £1000, but a handheld that can play my PS catalogue natively would be great.
It’ll all come down to specs and price, which with how things are at the moment is a worry.
That said, some leaks on the next handheld and console did seem to suggest Sony was being quite clever with the architecture and I think that would help with price but also help the handheld perform better than people imagine. AI upscaling to a 1080p display on more modern chipsets means 60fps for a lot of PS5 games shouldn’t be a problem.
Sony’s push for games to support a low power mode will only help the handheld too, there will be a library ready for it.
Re: PS5 Costs Too Much, But These New Xbox Price Increases Are Just Absurd
Sony will surely be desperate to hold out until GTA launches to strengthen their claim that people should get a PS5 for it.
Maybe even telegraph a price increase from 1st December to get people on board sooner.
The other thing I’d love to see is clarity re the PS6.
Overall I just hope the bubble bursts soon and as it deflates we see some price correction, and companies don’t just hold where we are.
Frustrating times.
Re: 'Absolutely Terrible Idea': Nobody Likes Sony's New PS Plus Experiment
Not sure why they changed it so the cynic in me always gets suspicious. Overall though there seems to be lots of massive overreaction to it so far, as per!
My only frustration so far is I quite fancy playing Farming Sim 25 and that’s one of the last to come out!
Re: Opinion: The PS6 Cannot Come Out in This Era of $1,000+ Consoles
I still believe, maybe hope rather than expectation, that PS6 will be a more sensible price than the Steam Machine. Somewhere around the Pro price or a touch higher perhaps.
I could live with that for a 1TB version with a controller included.
What this will do I limit me to one console/device per generation and likely mean I’ll have to commit long term to one brand (probably PS).
I had a Series X, and still have PS5 Pro, Switch 2 and Steam Deck. At the current prices I’ll never have that sort of diversity again. A shame in some ways, but possibly won’t actually impact my gaming time or enjoyment too much overall.
Re: Valve's New Steam Machine Costs Almost Twice as Much as a PS5
Love my SteamDeck and was interested in the Machine but at that price, nope.
Happy to stick with the deck for indies etc and PS5 for the AAA stuff.
The good news is this, in addition to existing consoles, will ensure they’ve all got longevity if developers design games to run on all these devices.
The bad news is this bodes badly for the PS6 price, although I think Sony will do a better job managing their supply chain.
Re: Rumour: GTA 6 Price Potentially Leaked by European Retailer
Seems like I’m one a decent number of 40 somethings following this. Some of you even make me (44) feel young! We were lucky enough to be a great age when GTA3, VC and SA all launched in quick succession. How times change.
Like others I’ve got a 12 year old who’s never seen a GTA game launch and by the time he can legally play a GTA game on launch he’ll probably be in his mid 20s!
Up to £80 I can live with for this, not happy but can live with. For all the effort that’s gone into it and knowing I’ll get 50-100 hours out of it I can justify the value in my case.
Told myself I wouldn’t get too excited about it but I can feel I’m getting sucked into the hype. I’ll still not preorder until a week or so before launch regardless, no point doing it any earlier for digital.
Re: Sony Aims to Drive PS Plus Profits by 'Improving Service Proposition'
I’ve just dropped from premium to extra because I just wasn’t using my Portal and the streaming enough to justify it.
I’d have considered Essential or nothing but between me and my two boys we do make use of the extra catalogue a fair bit. A few times in the last year one of them has asked about a game and when searching for it I’ve been able to download it for ‘free’.
Clouds saves and online shouldn’t be charged imo, they should be a core service provided as part of the price you pay for the console. While extra still seems decent I’ll stick with it though, I think once my boys are older or pay for their own subs I’ll consider binning it altogether and just buying the games I want.
Re: UK Gamers Question Hobby's Future as Government Bans Kids from Social Media
Have two boys age 12 and 8 and have no issue with this personally. I was winding them up about it last night.
They only really use YouTube of the things being restricted and we police that closely. Could we manage without the change, as a family, probably. Does that stop others being less responsible and potentially exposing my kids to issues by extension, no. See also, car seat belts!
I think some of the companies seen as missing from the commentary are only missing as they’re not the big names. This will be blanket legislation and so pull in the likes of Bluesky etc I expect.
It does feel difficult to effectively implement though as you’re still relying on parents and the ones whose failings this is basically responding to will fail again.
It’s also laughable for anyone to suggest a more conservative govt wouldn’t try the same. If you look across the pond the attempts to control information by the govt are far more egregious. The only reason a right leaning govt would step back from this is to go full libertarian, in which case all bets are off.
Agree with everyone re Roblox too. That either needs including or needs its own controls. It’s a shambles and the people running it are either evil, incompetent or both. To be fair to PS it’s easy to restrict access to that with the family app already.
Re: Halo: Campaign Evolved Goes All-In on PS5 Pro Support as Xbox Bets Big on Rival Console
I played the remastered version on Series X when it came out, as someone new to Halo / Xbox.
It’s fun and a good game but it’s also of a time and shows its age. I think a lot of people will play it now and wonder what all the fuss is about! To really understand what the fuss is about you probably had to be there!
Re: Gears of War: E-Day Is Not Coming to PS5, Xbox Confirms Console Exclusivity
@X-Curly-X A token effort to appease the Xbox fans who’ve been vocal about this. They’ve picked games likely to score well with their core but that wouldn’t sell so well they’ll be giving up huge money, especially as they’re on Gamepass.
Re: Gears of War: E-Day Is Not Coming to PS5, Xbox Confirms Console Exclusivity
Not particularly bothered about Gears, having played some of the old ones on my SX before selling it. Glad PS will have Fable and FH6 though!
Also not too fussed about exclusives. If it sharpens Sony up a bit that’s good for PlayStation. I don’t see this really moving the needle for Xbox sales either in a big way, it’s too late for the Series consoles and Xbox seem fixated on Helix, which is likely too expensive to really threaten the PS lead in consoles.
Lots to look forward to on either platform, exclusive or otherwise, so enjoy all the games everyone.
Re: Why Is Everyone Acting So Weird About PS5 Game Mixtape?
I really enjoyed it. Played it last night in one sitting. Fun story, good characters and perfect if you want a relaxing evening.
It’s a vibe game but it had the nostalgia factor for me, albeit I’m from the U.K. There are a handful of standout moments that were really excellent.
As someone who recently tried NTE as their first gacha game I found Mixtape’s simplicity and lack of a million layers of buttons and currencies etc a wonderful palette cleanser!
Re: Physical Game Fans, Beware: Digital Downloads Hit an Astonishing 85% on PS5, PS4 Last Quarter
I get the cost incentive for physical, especially if you go second hand a lot for some bargains.
I’m pretty much all digital today, the odd Switch 2 cart is the only exception. Laziness played a part but so did minimising clutter in my house and saving plastic/shipping impact to the environment.
‘Collecting’ aside I really don’t see the point of physical these days though, on PS5 at least, as no physical game is complete without further downloads and will always need updates at some point too. Defeats the long term aspect of owning it I think. In S2 at least you have some fully formed games on the card.
Re: PS6 Release Date and Price Not Decided Yet, Says Sony
@For-Kier That was my thought too and I think it would be attractive to a lot of people, and familiar given many people do it with their phones.
I did it for my XboxSX. Two years interest free with ultimate included was something like £24 per month. Felt like a great deal and I doubt I’d have got one otherwise!
Re: Japanese Devs Think It May Be Impossible for Them to Make a Game Like NTE on PS5
I’m enjoying NTE, first gacha Ive ever played. There’s a lot in it but it doesn’t feel like a game that should take a reasonable sized dev team eons to make - it’s surprisingly robust at launch but not 100% polished.
Whilst I’m wary of poor working practices in China I think this also speaks to inefficient dev practices in Japan. So many cultures with long working hours aren’t actually more productive per employee than those countries, in Northern Europe for example, that have better work life balance.
Sometimes these commentators need to say their piece and then look inwards, rather than simply land their views of criticism of others.
As a gamer the gacha/open world and ‘one and done’ mix feels about right though. I like having a couple of games to keep going back to over months whilst majoring on something to completion per month.
Re: No Need to Brick It, LEGO Batman Primed for PS5 Release as It Goes Gold
Reviews pending it’ll be a toss up between this and 007 when I get back from some leave in late May.
The recent batcave preview looked great, clearly has tons of content.
Re: NTE Launch Guide: Release Times, Free Pulls, Codes, and More
Played around an hour last night. It’s the first gatcha game I’ve ever played.
On PS5 Pro it runs well and looks good. The presentation overall is impressive for something you can download for free.
The early gameplay seems fun, not too complicated or deep but works well. The characters are I guess what you’d expect of this sort of game. Not my usual thing but there’s a reasonable range of characters introduced early.
The city could be the star of the show. The very early section puts you in a small section of it and it looks great, is fun to walk around and explore and feels alive with plenty of things to do.
I’ll definitely keep following the main story and trying some of the side content.
The big caveat is the range of layers to the stats etc. I guess this is their way of incentivising lots of different activities for different rewards, but it’s a lot. It might become clearer with time but if I drop off it’ll be because this aspect becomes a pain or it feels like they’re forcing you to pay to progress, which to be fair doesn’t appear from reviews to be a real problem here.
Overall though, first impressions are good and I’ll continue exploring and give it some more time. For £0 even 2-5 hours of entertainment can’t be complained about!
Re: PSVR2 Will Take Off Again When Microsoft Flight Sim 2024 Arrives Later This Month
If this runs well I’ll be all over it. Could be amazing but performance in VR will be key! Fingers crossed they’ve cracked it.
Re: Rumour: Xbox Debating Whether to Make Its Games Exclusive Again
The only thing that makes me think they might consider this and make a strong play, absorbing some financial impact, is if they think it’ll sell more of Helix and this is what they want as a way to put more of their AI software into homes.
If MS are going to push AI hard then, as the article says, they need a way to do this in the home as well as the office, and Helix would seem like a perfect way to do that.
Them going exclusive again wouldn’t move the needle for me, if anything I’m more likely to buy a Steam Machine and play the MS games on that.
Re: Bethesda Now Aware of Starfield PS5 Crashing Issues, Aiming for a Fix This Week
I’ve had one freeze in 5-6 hours and other than that I’m really enjoying it. The world and its style just works for me.
I’ve got a mad week and weekend coming up so am going to stop now and it sounds like when I get back to it Sunday/Monday there might be a fix out that would make going back even easier.
Only criticism I’d level is how was this not spotted in QA? As for the game, having played a bit of it now I think a mix of over hype pre-release and fanboyism hasn’t helped it at all.
Re: Starfield Has a Serious Crashing Issue on PS5, PS5 Pro
Managed 3-4 hours from the start over two sessions at 60fps/enhanced on Pro with no issues.
Ironically, it was when I then moved to 40fps in game having watched the Digital Foundry video about it that I got a crash shortly after. Not sure if that’s related! I was discovering a new location when it crashed.
No issues since, another 45 mins or so, having stuck with 40fps/enhanced since.
Re: Starfield (PS5) - Better Than Ever, But Still No Space Skyrim
Really enjoyed my first evening with it albeit on 2-3 hours in.
I personally really like the aesthetic of the game which helps and although I’m not a massive Bethesda fan I do enjoy going through all the dialogue, searching out all sorts of stuff and I found the combat to be fun early on.
I would say also that despite the scale of the game I’m finding the menus etc quite intuitive so far.
Will be getting stuck in again this evening once I’ve enjoyed some of the decent UK weather!
Re: 'The Result Is Incredible': Cyberpunk 2077's Big PS5 Pro Update Arrives Tomorrow
Buys Starfield for a sci-fi fix prior to the Pro update.
Update comes out one day after Starfield… 🤦🏻♂️
Re: 'The List Is Crazy': Starfield Support and Updates Will Continue Following PS5 Debut
Funny reading the comments on here and Pure Xbox about this game. Quite the contrast in outlook despite a consensus that it’s flawed in many ways.
It’s downloaded on my Pro and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into it later. I’m going in eyes open but at the same time I think/hope I’ll enjoy the vibe and world they’ve created.