Fiendish-Beaver

And the reason they did not give the game to Digital Foundry a month back so that they had more time to do their analysis is what...?

Metal Eden is a fun game. I do recommend that people give it a go...

It's crazy how much better Extra is when compared to Premium...

Fantastic, @datamonkey! Thank you for the tip. I'll look into it. Much appreciated...

I haven't, @datamonkey, but having read your comment, I think I'll look into it. Thank you...

You have not put Greedfall 2 on the list, @get2sammyb. It comes out next week, and I have just pre-ordered it...

On my PS5 Pro I am playing Resident Evil: Requiem.

On my Series X I am undertaking a single Master Horde in Gears 5 each day.

On my PC? Nothing, as I don't like gaming on PC.

On my Switch? Nothing whatsoever, same as the past 3 years as I prefer gaming on my other two consoles, and I really don't like the controller I have for it...

I know the dev kits for the PS6 are being used right now because my neighbours colleague has one (he used to supply us with codes for PlayStation games too, but Sony have clamped down on that now)...

Could you not have gone 50+ and then 60+, @get2sammyb? I would liked to have seen the real ages because a lot of us will be over 40. I'm 62 and feel unrepresented by the poll... 🤣

I would want it mostly to have my Xbox library on the newest console, @lazarus11. I have over 1700 digital games, and if the PCBox will play them best, then that is what I would want it for. Also, I would hope that Microsoft have found a way to make gaming on a PC much more like gaming on a console, as I am not a fan of PC gaming as such...

I don't disagree, @get2sammyb. I don't think it is Xbox gamers clamouring for the console, I think it is a last ditch attempt by Microsoft to remain in the console business.

I have said it many times before, but I think that Microsoft will stop supplying the PCBox about 3 years after they introduce it. I think they are expecting around 10 million lifetime sales over the course of an entire generation, but it will sell so poorly on release that it will probably sell fewer than 2 million within the first three years, at which point Microsoft will pull the plug (and probably pull Games Pass with it)...

If the PCBox does support Steam (as has been suggested), then the Xbox Store will die a very sudden death. Not only are Steam keys for games cheaper than console games, but games are often cheaper even at launch on Steam, and the Steam sales cut the pricing of games lower than seen on consoles too. Who will want to pay for a game on the Xbox Store when you can save £10 to £30 on a game on the day of release? Basically, it will mean that Microsoft will get nothing from any games sold on the system they provide. Utterly ridiculous

I think the difference is that PlayStation is doing alright, @get2sammyb, whereas Xbox has to change direction if it wants any chance of a future at all...

More than happy for Sony to be doing this. I buy a PlayStation for the exclusives, and if people want to play these games, then that is all they can do. I hope the decision pays off by drawing still more people into the ecosystem. Good on Sony for having the understanding of the importance of exclusives...

Xbox is in the trouble it is in right now because of the disaster that was the launch of the Xbox One. One of their responses to that disaster was to begin porting their games to PC as a means to draw in more revenue. That move immediately meant that any PC gamer, who had also previously bought an Xbox console, suddenly found that they did not need an Xbox console. Whilst is won't have been a huge number of people that had both a PC and an Xbox up until this point, there will still have been some. And of course, Xbox ramped up putting their games on PC until the point was reached where it became absolutely everything day and date.

Microsoft then began porting their games to PlayStation after flagging sales of their consoles, flatlining Game Pass subscriptions, and faltering game sales. In order to increase revenue they turned to PlayStation, which then meant that PlayStation gamers no longer needed to own an Xbox in order to play future Xbox games. Again, we are not talking tens of millions of gamers that own both an Xbox and a PlayStation, but it probably will be in the low millions.

The point I am getting at is that wherever Sony puts their games, there will be people who then do not need a PlayStation. It has been pretty disastrous for Xbox, but they needed to do it. Sony is not in the same position. They do no need to put their games elsewhere, and there is undoubtedly some revenue damage by putting their games on PC and Xbox, although Live Service games are a completely different entity as they need to be absolutely everywhere if they are to thrive.

By no long porting their games to PC, Sony are making the smart determination for their brand, and for their consoles. Unfortunately, it is long past too late for Xbox; the damage has been done and is very likely terminal. Microsoft will do great things as a publisher, but their console is limping towards a painful end...

You'll love it, @Cakefish. I really enjoyed my time with it...

I finished Code Vein 2 last week and it is an excellent game. Absolutely loved it...

It is too late for Xbox, @General-Foley. An accumulation of exclusives takes time to build up, as does consumer confidence. Add to that Microsoft would need to accept for probably the entirety of the next generation, their first-party offerings would sell very few copies on the Xbox if the game were only available on Xbox, and we all know that Microsoft would not be willing to accept that. Plus, of course, the next Xbox is rumoured to be a PC, so unless they could somehow limit it to the Xbox side of things, it would be on the PC too anyway.

Microsoft would also need to restructure Game Pass and remove day one first-party games entirely. Games would need to be on sale on the Xbox only, and not go on to Game Pass for at least 12 months. All of that leads me to believe Microsoft will not change anything in relation to exclusivity.

Sadly, I don't think there is any saving Xbox now. Microsoft will go on to be the worlds biggest publisher with great success, but Xbox consoles will become a collector's item...

It does make sense, @lazarus11. When should the game be shown as working properly? The day before release? The day of release? Sometime after release?

If you want to buy into the game at the earliest opportunity, and be there day one, you want that confidence that you are not going to be facing another Cyberpunk situation.

I would argue that fixing the game the day before it is released is then too late to market it to the gamer. Great that its fixed, but it's going to hurt sales because people will not have pre-ordered it because they won't know that it has been fixed. Information takes time to disseminate. Bad news travels faster than good, and if they want to tell us all is good, they need to do it faster than a just the day before.

People will want time to view the video evidence, and to see the likes of Digital Foundry reviewing what has been shown. All of that takes time, and we are rapidly entering a period of time where time is running out prior to release. Unless, of course, your happy to blindly pre-order, and then wait a few months (or in the case of Cyberpunk 12 months) whilst the game is fixed...?

Then the answer is very simple, @lazarus11; delay the game until the framerate is stable. Then show us footage of the game running well.

If the game has problems that will need fixing after launch, it should not be launched until they are fixed...

I've said this time and time again; Sony should stick to exclusives as it is why I buy their consoles every single generation.

Porting their games to PC, and now latterly PlayStation, is a major part of Xbox woes because you could play their games elsewhere. You did not need an Xbox.

Live Service games are completely different as they live or die based on the size of their community. It absolutely makes sense to seek out as many gamers as possible by going to other platforms.

I'm glad that Sony has finally realised this...

Nothing to hide? Show us then. It really is pretty simple, isn't it...?

Hopefully people will keep their jobs, but I highly doubt it. Chasing this mythical cash cow that is a successful Live Service game has cost developers hundreds of millions, and so many jobs. So few games turn out to be successful. It really begs a question over these companies decision making...

Only one that interests me from that list is Pragmata, but I will definitely be pre-ordering it anyway, so I'll not bother to watch the showcase. Hopefully those that do watch it enjoy that which is shown...

Do you happen to know whether the existing guitar peripherals will work with this game, @Quintumply? Or do we have to buy the new ones? Thanks...

Thank you, @Kiltedhaggis. I have always made no secret of the fact that Xbox was my home, and always found it a little ridiculous that if you criticised Xbox in anyway, that made you a PlayStation fanboy. It is pretty childish, at the end of the day. It does not happen often, but when it does it never ceases to surprise me.

Thng is, I take no joy from the woes Xbox is facing, and only want the best for them. The better that Xbox does, the more it will drive Sony to do better. It's a win/win all round.

Hopefully Xbox can turn things around, but I do have my doubts, unfortunately.

Regardless, it is very interesting to watch the gaming industry right now, because I think there are few certainties right now, no matter where you prefer to play...

When Helldivers 2 hit the Xbox, there were a bunch of people absolutely insistent that this meant Sony would be porting more and more of their tentpole titles over to the Xbox. I kept telling them that they were wrong. Very wrong!

I kept telling them that the best they would expect to see hit Xbox were Live Service games, and maybe, if they were lucky, they would land there day one too.

So many times I was rebuffed, and told I was wrong, that Helldivers 2 was just the start, and Sony would port their single-player games too. It was the beginning of an avalanche. Sony believed that exclusives were a thing of the past, and that is why they hired people to do the ports. I responded repeatedly, that this was not the start, that Live Service games should be regarded differently, and that the people that Sony hired could actually have been hired to deal with those very same Live Service games. I kept being told I was wrong.

They. Just. Would. Not. Listen...!

Now, really, what are the chances that if Sony are no longer going to port their single-player games to Steam, that they will do so for Xbox regardless? Personally, I would put those chances at absolutely zero...

Absolutely, @Weebleman! This is really good news for me as it will be the very first game that I play on my newly acquired Pro. I decided to get the game on PlayStation, rather than on Xbox, even though I could have bought the game for £5 less had I bought it for the Xbox. I did so purely because I wanted to see whether I would notice all the bells and whistles that the Pro apparently brings to the game.

I cannot wait to play it tomorrow evening. Sounds like we will all be in for quite a treat...

I'm absolutely stoked for Saros. It cannot come soon enough. Definitely a day one buy for me...

Thank you, @themightyant. Requiem is the one that made me decide to get a Pro because it looks like it will play so much better there. The article that spoke about all the Pro tweaks for Requiem also made me realise that games I am really looking forward to such as E-Day and Fable will also likely play best on the Pro, and this sudden realisation has made me switch to using my Pro as my main from here on out...

Thank you, @Balaam_, @ShogunRok and @Oram77. I appreciate the feedback...

I bought my Pro two weeks ago, @ShogunRok, but have not played it yet. Don't shoot me, I am finishing a game off on my Xbox before basically moving to PlayStation, and I am saving my Pro for Resident Evil: Requiem, which will be the first game I play on it.

Something in the above article raised a question within me; you say 'better resolutions when PSSR is enabled'. Does the PSSR come on automatically, or do I have to switch it on (or off) myself? Thanks...

I'm hoping there will be a decent Collector's Edition for the game, though I am not sure whether to get it by way or pre-order because I did that with Spiderman 2, only for it to be offered for half what I paid some time later. I'm definitely going to be getting the game though...

Just Resident Evil: Requiem for me from that list, and it will be the first game that I shall buy for my PS5 Pro, which I have owned for 2 weeks but not played on at all. Indeed, RE:Requiem is the reason that I finally decided to get a Pro because it has many extra features that I hope will show the console off for me.

Really looking forward to the game, though I am concerned that there maybe too many stealth parts for me when playing as Grace. Hopefully I wrong about that, and I will enjoy the whole game in it's entirety...

They actually only have two permanent staff on Pure Xbox, @dskatter. It just might be neither of them are working at the moment, bearing in mind it is 9 p.m. on a Friday evening in the UK where they both live...

I said last year that I thought Spencer would retire this year. He has had it rough for the past two years because Nadella has undermined him at every opportunity. Spencer says one thing, and then Nadella tells him to do the opposite. It's made Spencer look the bad guy, when in fact the blame lies with Nadella.

I said time and again that I don't think Spencer believes the path that Nadella has put Xbox on is the right one for Xbox, and now look at Xbox. It is suffering mightily, and it is Nadella's doing, but Spencer takes the heat.

I dread to think what Nadella will do now. I am not 100% convinced the PCBox will see the light of day, and I think Game Pass will be gone inside 5 years too, probably much sooner.

As for Bond, I never really liked her. I always thought she was a bit smarmy, and had a superiority complex. I'm not sadden to see her go. I also think she was a Nadella 'Yes woman', but I think the reason she has gone is that Nadella promoted someone else into Spencer's position.

Just have to hope that Asha Sharma has the best interests of Xbox at heart, and is able to stand up for Xbox and against Nadella, though I highly doubt it because likely as not Nadella has promoted Sharma into that role precisely because she will do what he tells her, no questions asked...

There's no doubt that Sony put Stellar Blade at the front of people's minds, and they should be given credit for that.

Hopefully it does get an Xbox release because I often see comments from people hoping to play it over there, and more people playing the game is better for the developers. It's not like it's a Sony first-party title, after all...

Thank you, @Areus...

Thank you, @Quintumply. I wonder why few developers use it then because the results are beautiful...

I will be pre-ordering Mortal Shell 2 as I absolutely loved the first game.

I will also be keeping an eye on ONTOS, which I have been unaware of until now, but I do love a Sci-Fi game, and also horror, so it could be something well worth playing...

Do we know whether any other games have used the engine, @Quintumply? Or whether any upcoming games are doing so? Thanks...

I have zero interest in the game itself, but I do love a Collector's Edition that has some kind of model included, so I might just pick this up despite telling myself not to buy as many CE's this year...!

I know no one likes the sound of this, but imagine being Microsoft and attempting to tackle this issue. With one third of the player base that PlayStation has, there are far fewer options for them to make do this.

I guess the only advantage they have is that they also expect to sell one third of the number of consoles that PlayStation do too. However, we have already seen them raise the prices of their consoles repeatedly, and aggressively raise the prices of Game Pass too. Both, I would argue, have probably had an adverse impact on their business with even fewer consoles being sold and many Game Pass subscribers either downgrading their tier or quitting the service altogether.

I'm sure Sony have watched things unfurling on Xbox with a keen eye, and will do their best to avoid similar mistakes...

Personally I love a challenge, and am more than looking forward to this game. Cannot wait to try it out on my brand new Pro...

You'd like to think the would change a component here, or a component there, @Oram77, but the device is built as a whole with each component impacting another, made to sing as a choir, not as a solo. In other words, you cannot just change one component without potentially having to change several others. It then means that the costs in redesigning the device costs so much as to make it unviable. Better to release the PS6 as currently envisaged now, than release an updated version in a few years time because as much as it would be nice, and indeed better, to have a later model, the costs of the earlier model would still need to be recouped somewhere, and the chances are they would add it to the asking price of the PS6 anyway, so you would be paying a premium for the device, which could have cost less had you had it earlier. I just don't see Sony doing this because to alter the PS6 now would likely cost them hundreds of millions of pounds and they are not likely to want to swallow that cost themselves. They will pass it on to us. Like it or not, we are going to get the PS6, as originally conceived, and not one that has been changed later down the line. If it is not going to change, then we might as well have it now, and not wait for it. And as I said, people do not have to buy it if they do not want too.

As for technology having plateaued, I agree we are not going to see massive changes no matter when it arrives. If you really want the next PlayStation to feel significantly different from the PS5, you are probably best to get the PS7 and skip the PS6 altogether, and even then, the changes may not feel all that impactful.

The difference is, that usually the components come down in price meaning that when you upgrade, you are usually paying the same or just a little more than the previous generation. That's not happening right now, and indeed, it may not happen for some time, if ever again. We are in very uncertain times, in that regard...

Exactly, @Bamila! And that is precisely why celebrating a delay makes absolutely no sense. The costs to Sony to change the components in the PS6 now would be astronomical. Therefore, we might as well have that tech in our hands now, than wait for it, only to find when we do get it that it is massively outdated (in tech terms). And as I said, if you don't want to buy the PS6 then you do not have too, the choice is up to the individual...

Oh, yes, @Oram77, I absolutely know that. I'm a child of the early 60's so I have seen tech come, age, and go forever. It matters not when the PS6 releases, it will have tech within that was already a year or two out of date at the conception stage. But that is the point; if the PS6 were to release next year, containing tech from 2025, then it's only 2 years out of date. If it releases in 2030, then the tech is 5 years out of date. However, that only reflects the year of release. If the PS6 releases in 2030, and the generation lasts 7 years, before the PS7 then rocks up in 2037, then before we even have chance to buy the PS7, the architecture within the PS6 will be 12 years out of date. This is why I don't think the delay really helps us...

I think the biggest issue with the delay, is that potentially, we will be getting 2027s tech released in 2029 or beyond. Probabilities are that the components and architecture is already locked down tight, and will not be changed no matter when the console releases, so in reality, if you want to experience the tech when it shines the brightest, you want it to release at the earliest opportunity. 2027s tech will look somewhat older in 2030 when compared to the latest tech available at that time.

If Sony were going to change the components within the PS6 in 2029 to be the best available at that time, then fine, the delay may benefit us, but the truth is that they won't. Sony have already determined what they will use, and that is what we will get no matter when it releases.

The other thing to consider is that if the PS7 comes out 7 years after the release of the PS6, and the PS6 comes out in 2030, then we will still be using tech available now (which will already be slightly out of date even if it were to release this year!), some 11 or 12 years after it was at its best!

Plus, at the end of the day, if you don't want to upgrade in 2027, then you do not have to. Indeed, you do not have to upgrade at all. It's entirely optional...

Cronos: The New Dawn was the best game I played last year (and I played a lot of games!). It was simply fantastic. I cannot recommend it highly enough...

Agreed, @graymamba. Obviously I knew there was a risk of the PS6 releasing next year, and I am fine with it if it does, but if I can get 2 or 3 years out of my Pro before the PS6 releases, then all the better.

I am looking forward to the update to PSSR because I think it could be something quite special...