It honestly shocks me how surprised Ubisoft were that a game that releases in a good state, with few bugs, is something that will sell better than a game rushed out, bug laden and clearly in need of more time in the developmental oven. How can a company as big as Ubisoft not already know this? How can they possibly expect to realise decent profits on a game that ends up with rubbish reviews, and with people openly warning others off from buying it? That they were shocked when a game that receives good reviews and positive word of mouth, after having been delayed until it was in a good state, says all that is (was) wrong with Ubisoft and the games industry in general.
All we can hope it that all publishers see the difference that more time can make to their profits, and that they allow developers the necessary time to get their games right.
Personally, I really enjoyed the second game, and have played through it a few times now. That said, I said as soon as Ramsey was announced as Ellie that she was the wrong actress, and to me, there is no getting away from that. I thought she did a reasonable job in the first season (I don't think she is a bad actress), but not excellent, and whilst she looked the right age for the first game in the first season, she is far from right for the second. How the producers could not have foreseen this, I don't know.
I've said many times now that that when it came to the second season (and possibly the third) that there should have been brand new content separate from the game. This would have given more content for us to watch, and also allowed time for Ramsey to age (hopefully) so that in the third (or preferably fourth) season she looked old enough to represent the time jump more accurately. Why the producers felt the need to dive straight into making the second game, I have no idea. They have brought much of this criticism upon themselves both with their choice of actresses, and also their basically rushing through the game content. They could easily have had 5 or 6 seasons, but now they are more likely to be done in 3...
If the rumours are true, @LogicStrikesAgain, and Microsoft are in the process of making a high-end PC-lite console that could easily cost around £1000, I think it would make it such a niche product that there is no exclusive in the world that could make people choose to buy it for that reason alone.
No. I am 100% convinced that Microsoft are seeking the profits, and are now well aware that the biggest profits are to be made on the PlayStation. Yes, they are handing 30% to Sony, but better to have 70% than nothing from their own console except falling subscription numbers.
Let's face it, the only reason we are seeing one time Xbox exclusives on the PlayStation is because Microsoft are not making sufficient money through sales on the Xbox and PC via either direct game sales or subscription fees. If profits were healthy, they would have no need to look elsewhere.
Now you could argue that selling games on the PlayStation is extra profit, but then why not have a period of exclusivity on the Xbox first? Why port your games really quickly, or day one? Doom could have been a timed-exclusive, and the period of exclusivity for Indiana Jones could have been longer or permenant, but no, they want that profit now, not in a year or twos time. Clearly the way things are going on the Xbox is unsustainable, hence their rapid push into PlayStation territory...
Nope, @DzarkGaz. Not going to happen. Microsoft are making so much money from the PlayStation, that they have moved into overdrive with putting their games here. The Genie is out of the bottle, and it is not going back in.
Microsoft have found that there is much, much, much more money to be made on PlayStation than on their own platform, and with sales of their console being so weak, they won't look to change their current strategy now.
Next generation (if there is one) will see every single game that Microsoft release coming to the PlayStation, with most, if not all, games coming day and date too.
Why would Microsoft turn their back on easy money? They didn't get to be a trillion dollar company by making stupid decisions, and to try and put the exclusivity barrier around their console now would be a monumentally stupid decision....
Come on, @Titntin. You know me, and you know I was not bragging. However, that said, Diablo and CoD are now owned by Microsoft, and regardless of how they obtained them, it is Microsoft that are reaping the rewards from the sales, so I do not accept that point.
It was just a fun little comment because Xbox has historically been accused of having no games, so to be honest, to see even one in the 60 is still an achievement when you consider the thousands of games that are available to play.
Thus, from the following, when bought, the proceeds go to Microsoft:
1. Call of Duty: Vanguard
2. Crash Bandicoot
3. Diablo 2
4. Diablo 4
5. Dishonoured
6. Grounded
7. Pentiment
8. Psychonauts
9. Spyro
10. The Outer World
That, by my reckoning accounts for 16.6% of the games listed, which is pretty good for Microsoft, I would suggest.
It was meant as a light-hearted jest, not a brag, because as you well know, because we speak often, I think Microsoft have done the dirty on Xbox, and it won't be long before their consoles (and probably Game Pass) are but a distant memory. To my mind, Microsoft have absolutely nothing to brag about...
And you know what will happen, @Northern_munkey, everyone is saying I cannot play this game, or that game, because it runs at 30fps, and then GTA6 arrives at 30fps and they'll buy it regardless.
Any game that announces that it runs at 30fps, you see people left and right saying how they will not play it, but the truth is, they probably wouldn't have been playing the game anyway, yet the moment a game they really want to play rolls up, 30fps is suddenly no problem.
Something like this just exemplifies gamers double standards...
I disagree, @LifeGirl. It is dead as far as Xbox is concerned because they have surrendered, Their games have been on the PC day and date for years, and now they are putting them on the PlayStation too, and soon all their games from this generation will make the transition to the PS, and all their games will be day and date on the PS too. It's just a matter of time before that happens.
As for PlayStation, they will still pursue at the very least timed exclusivity. Xbox has only had one AAA timed exclusive this generation in S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2. In that same time, the PlayStation has had numerous third-party exclusives and timed exclusives.
PlayStation is hands down winning the console sales race this generation (as they did last generation), and so they can pursue third-party exclusives, whereas Microsoft cannot for the Xbox. Clearly the practice is working for Sony, and so they will double down on this in the future. Of this I have absolutely no doubt. Will they be timed-exclusives as opposed to wholly exclusive? Yes, most likely because game development is so expensive these days and those costs need to be recouped. However, I would be utterly gobsmacked it Sony gave up on having at least timed-exclusives...
They've done just the first game, @rjejr, so as to milk the franchise for everything it is worth on the PlayStation. In 4 to 6 months time, we will see Gears of War 2: Remastered, and then 4 or 6 months after that, the third game.
In August 2026 or August 2027, we will be getting Gears of War: E-Day too...
Not possible, @aj21009! No way could Microsoft sell more games because for years we have heard that Xbox has no games. How can they possibly sell what they do not have...? 😉
I'll be killing freakers by the dozen in Days Gone: Remastered. Loving the game just as I did back when it originally released back in 2019, and although I have not played it since, I seem to remember much of the story, which is striking to me because I have a terrible memory...
I appreciate that you want to show off the best of the best images, @get2sammy, and that they come with the Pro, but bearing in mind that the vast majority of us have a base model, wouldn't it be more relevant to more of us to show the sort of images most of us will see...?
I'm not sure eventually is the word I would use, @Neither_scene. I think Microsoft are already heading in that direction. Right now, in many Countries, you cannot even buy a new Xbox console, and although Microsoft have said their will be another generation to follow the Series, I'm starting to have my doubts, as everything is beginning to point in the direction of them leaving consoles in the dust, and becoming just a publisher...
This is the issue for me, @Medic_alert. What this video does, to my mind, is demonstrate that Microsoft is more interested in making advance to the PlayStation gamer, than they are the loyal Xbox gamer. This just feels like this Microsoft taking a further step away from the Xbox platform, and though it might be just a small step, it will eventually see them leave the Xbox console in the past, and Game Pass, as we know it will cease to exist, likely morphing into a first-party only service that may well find it huge market on the PlayStation...
Thank you, @ShogunRok. Do you continue playing the game (and thus review them) at home, or is it strictly a workplace thing? Or, does that also depend on how much you are enjoying the game? And, can you claim overtime if you continue working on your review by playing a game at home? 😂
Understood, @ShogunRok. Thank you. I'm always curious as to how a reviewer plays a game they are reviewing; do they play it as they would if they were playing the game for their own enjoyment at home, or do they rush through it and potentially miss much that a game has to offer...?
Really looking forward to this, and hoping it is up to the standards of the Reboot but better than Eternal, which was, for me, simply too frantic with too much platforming involved. Dark Ages looks far more like the type of Doom I will enjoy.
I have the Collector's Edition, and both the Elite and Standard Limited Edition controllers on pre-order, so to say that I am a fan of Doom is an understatement. I cannot wait to get by grubby mitts on it...
As someone that started playing video games in 1972 with Pong, I can honestly say that Baldur's Gate 3 is hands down the best game ever made, and that Larian are the best of the best developers. I have over 3000 hours in BG3, and now that the final additions are out, I look forward to playing the game again in the very near future. It is simply sublime...
Do we know if we have to learn full combos to play the game, as is suggested in the above piece, or is it press one button for a light attack, and another for a heavy. Press it 2 or 3 for a harder hit.
If it is press 3 different buttons, press up on thumbstick, and the left trigger followed by a pause and then all of that in reverse, then you can count me out as I just cannot remember anything that gets too complicated. Just let me mash a button, and I'll be more than happy,,,
Back before BG3 released in full, when at that point I had only played the Early Access version, I was speaking with someone on these very forums, and was saying to them that BG3 would likely be the best game ever released. This other person, was having none of it, instead insisting that Spiderman 2 would hold that mantle, and indeed, would win Game of the Year in 2023. Of course, I contested this, and we had this long back and forth. Now, I have to say, I was bloody well right! Larian are easily the best developers out there, and BG3 is simply sublime. The best game ever made.
I did play Spiderman 2, and enjoyed my 27 hours that I play. However, even after more than 3000 hours playing BG3, I still want to play more of it, and now, with this update, I cannot wait to begin another playthrough...
This is a game that holds high interest for me. I enjoy Star Wars, though wouldn't call myself a fanatic over it. However, I do really love XCOM and turn-based games, so this combination puts the game very high up my most anticipated games list. Really looking forward to what they might reveal on Saturday. Hopefully we'll get a release date too, or at least an approximate one...
I'll happily play Days Gone again. Loved it the first time round, and was very disappointed when the sequel didn't happen. Still, at least we got Concord (and all those other wonderful Live Service games)...! 🤪
Cannot wait to play this! This is in my top 3 most anticipated games this month. Now it may have taken the number two spot (with Expedition 33 in first). So looking forward to this...
I first played Pong in 1972...! Take a look at that game, and just how very basic it was, and then ask yourself, should people have given up making video games at that point because the it didn't offer us what we now take for granted. Fast travel 50 years and we are seeing astounding things achieved in video games that would never have been dreamt of back then.
Or perhaps we should have given up on the idea of having a mobile telephone after the telephone was invented in 1876. I mean, it took more than a 100 years for the house phone to go mobile!
My point is, technology takes time to be perfected, so who knows where this technology will be in 10, 20 or 30 years? Or indeed, what it will be capable of. Progress has to start somewhere.
Unfortunately, I see this type of article as being written here to either push an anti AI agenda, or, more likely, in the hopes of garnering huge community engagement via anti-Microsoft sentiment. How we respond, says a lot about us as individuals...
Cool, @Jimmer-jammer. Thank you for the tip. I'm not sure that I have seen either of those talismans, but that may just be because I haven't been paying sufficient attention...
Finally got round to starting Metaphor: ReFantazio, which I am very much enjoying. Currently about 32 hours into it, so I'm not sure how much longer I have left to go...
People will respond just as they did with £70; they will either continue to buy at full price, or continue to wait for a sale. If people want the game badly enough, they'll pay top dollar. If they can wait, they will. I don't see much change with an individuals behaviour if prices go up still further, and after a while, we will just accept it as the norm...
I think it needs to be remembered that each of these games was available on the Game Pass, sometimes for several years. And whilst it is a popular sport on this and other sites to knock Xbox, many people on these sites own both a PlayStation [b]and]/b] an Xbox, so many people who predominantly game on a PlayStation will have already played these games and not felt the need to double dip...
Do we happen to know whether you need to have played the first game to enjoy the sequel, @LiamCroft? I played the original when it first came out, and have forgotten the story, so basically I'm asking whether I need to zip through the first game again in order to refresh my memory. Thanks...
I still have my sealed Collectors Edition of the first game, and now have pre-ordered the Collectors Edition of the sequel too. Really looking forward to this. Right now, it could well be my most anticipated game, along with Expedition 33...
As is so often the case, a 'leaker' attempts to weasel themselves out of a disproven rumour that they helped to spread. Of course, had the rumour been correct, they would have gladly basked in the glory of having been proven right, using it to show that they have a proven track-record, when the truth is that all they did was make an educated guess in the first place.
Way too much credence given to some of these 'leakers', and their missteps usually are far too often forgotten...
Certainly looks like something I'd enjoy, as I love my Sci-Fi. I will probably try out the demo too, though I hope it doesn't spoil the story too much...
Again, @LogicStrikesAgain, I understand what you are saying about monopolies, but if you look at it another way, if you are paying £10 for Prime, £10 for Disney and £10 for Netflix, then you are forking out £30 for subscriptions. If Disney were to become the only one of the 3, and had all the output, you would only need to subscribe to Disney. Then the question is would they charge £30? More? Less? The honest answer is we don't know. The cynic in us says it would be more, but the truth is we just don't know, and it is just as possible that instead of forking out £30 each month on subscriptions, you may just pay £20 or £25...
It may be that the future is subscription based, @LogicStrikesAgain, but I think Game Pass as it currently exists will cease within the next 5 years. The next Xbox is likely to tank hard. And I mean hard! More than 50% of GP subscriptions are from those that have an Xbox. Some estimates put that as high as 80%. Microsoft recently put up the prices of GP, and also released their profits that showed just a 2% increase in revenue growth for Game Pass. These figures were put out not long after the release of CoD, so when you factor in what should have been a significant increase in new subscribers alongside the price increase, it actually paints a particularly bleak set of figures for GP. Estimates put the Series console sales at 30 million, which would suggest that there are at least 15 millions subscribers from console sales alone, although that figure could be as high as 24 million, or anywhere in between. Thus if the next Xbox does indeed tank and sells 20 million, or just 15 million units, then the number of subscribers drops accordingly. What all this means is that there is a tipping point at which GP, in its current guise, will cease to be sustainable, and so Microsoft will have then just two options: 1. end it completely, which I think is the least likely option, or 2. turn it into a first-party only service, which is where I think they are heading. Once GP is a first-party only service, Sony will allow it on to their platform, just as they have with EA and Ubisoft.
So, the upshot is, whilst I do not think that sales will completely cease for games, just as they have not for films, I do think physical media will be phased out in the not too distant future. As for subscriptions, people will sign up to whatever services best fit their needs. I, for example, have Disney, Netflix and Prime, but I could pick and choose what I have, or don't have, and that will be what will happen with Game Pass. People will either opt to have it or they won't. And so, were Microsoft to buy an IP from Ubisoft, then it would simply mean you could subscribe to them if you wanted, or you could buy the game, but in many ways, the fewer services that you need to subscribe to in order to play games, the better. I'd far rather all films were on Netflix, for example, as that would mean I could do away with Prime and Disney...
Comments 1,437
Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows Can't Stop the Ubisoft Rot of Star Wars Outlaws and XDefiant
It honestly shocks me how surprised Ubisoft were that a game that releases in a good state, with few bugs, is something that will sell better than a game rushed out, bug laden and clearly in need of more time in the developmental oven. How can a company as big as Ubisoft not already know this? How can they possibly expect to realise decent profits on a game that ends up with rubbish reviews, and with people openly warning others off from buying it? That they were shocked when a game that receives good reviews and positive word of mouth, after having been delayed until it was in a good state, says all that is (was) wrong with Ubisoft and the games industry in general.
All we can hope it that all publishers see the difference that more time can make to their profits, and that they allow developers the necessary time to get their games right.
That said, I won't hold my breath...
Re: The Precinct (PS5) - GTA-Style Sandbox Is a Dynamic, Addictive Cop Movie Homage
Every patrol is different, and although tedium does start to set in as the campaign approaches its conclusion
As a retired cop myself, @ShogunRok, this sounds like most shifts I worked!
Really looking forward to playing this. See if I feel like I'm recapturing some of my past glories... 😂
Re: Just Like the Game, The Last of Us 2's TV Adaptation Is Getting Review Bombed
Personally, I really enjoyed the second game, and have played through it a few times now. That said, I said as soon as Ramsey was announced as Ellie that she was the wrong actress, and to me, there is no getting away from that. I thought she did a reasonable job in the first season (I don't think she is a bad actress), but not excellent, and whilst she looked the right age for the first game in the first season, she is far from right for the second. How the producers could not have foreseen this, I don't know.
I've said many times now that that when it came to the second season (and possibly the third) that there should have been brand new content separate from the game. This would have given more content for us to watch, and also allowed time for Ramsey to age (hopefully) so that in the third (or preferably fourth) season she looked old enough to represent the time jump more accurately. Why the producers felt the need to dive straight into making the second game, I have no idea. They have brought much of this criticism upon themselves both with their choice of actresses, and also their basically rushing through the game content. They could easily have had 5 or 6 seasons, but now they are more likely to be done in 3...
Re: The FTC Is Still Fighting Microsoft's Activision Buyout, and It's Not Going Well
If the rumours are true, @LogicStrikesAgain, and Microsoft are in the process of making a high-end PC-lite console that could easily cost around £1000, I think it would make it such a niche product that there is no exclusive in the world that could make people choose to buy it for that reason alone.
No. I am 100% convinced that Microsoft are seeking the profits, and are now well aware that the biggest profits are to be made on the PlayStation. Yes, they are handing 30% to Sony, but better to have 70% than nothing from their own console except falling subscription numbers.
Let's face it, the only reason we are seeing one time Xbox exclusives on the PlayStation is because Microsoft are not making sufficient money through sales on the Xbox and PC via either direct game sales or subscription fees. If profits were healthy, they would have no need to look elsewhere.
Now you could argue that selling games on the PlayStation is extra profit, but then why not have a period of exclusivity on the Xbox first? Why port your games really quickly, or day one? Doom could have been a timed-exclusive, and the period of exclusivity for Indiana Jones could have been longer or permenant, but no, they want that profit now, not in a year or twos time. Clearly the way things are going on the Xbox is unsustainable, hence their rapid push into PlayStation territory...
Re: The FTC Is Still Fighting Microsoft's Activision Buyout, and It's Not Going Well
Nope, @DzarkGaz. Not going to happen. Microsoft are making so much money from the PlayStation, that they have moved into overdrive with putting their games here. The Genie is out of the bottle, and it is not going back in.
Microsoft have found that there is much, much, much more money to be made on PlayStation than on their own platform, and with sales of their console being so weak, they won't look to change their current strategy now.
Next generation (if there is one) will see every single game that Microsoft release coming to the PlayStation, with most, if not all, games coming day and date too.
Why would Microsoft turn their back on easy money? They didn't get to be a trillion dollar company by making stupid decisions, and to try and put the exclusivity barrier around their console now would be a monumentally stupid decision....
Re: 60+ PS5, PS4 Games You Should Buy in PS Store's Next Level Savings Sale
Come on, @Titntin. You know me, and you know I was not bragging. However, that said, Diablo and CoD are now owned by Microsoft, and regardless of how they obtained them, it is Microsoft that are reaping the rewards from the sales, so I do not accept that point.
It was just a fun little comment because Xbox has historically been accused of having no games, so to be honest, to see even one in the 60 is still an achievement when you consider the thousands of games that are available to play.
Thus, from the following, when bought, the proceeds go to Microsoft:
1. Call of Duty: Vanguard
2. Crash Bandicoot
3. Diablo 2
4. Diablo 4
5. Dishonoured
6. Grounded
7. Pentiment
8. Psychonauts
9. Spyro
10. The Outer World
That, by my reckoning accounts for 16.6% of the games listed, which is pretty good for Microsoft, I would suggest.
It was meant as a light-hearted jest, not a brag, because as you well know, because we speak often, I think Microsoft have done the dirty on Xbox, and it won't be long before their consoles (and probably Game Pass) are but a distant memory. To my mind, Microsoft have absolutely nothing to brag about...
Re: Rockstar Silences the Sceptics, Confirms GTA 6 Trailer Was a Mix of Gameplay and Cutscenes on Base PS5
And you know what will happen, @Northern_munkey, everyone is saying I cannot play this game, or that game, because it runs at 30fps, and then GTA6 arrives at 30fps and they'll buy it regardless.
Any game that announces that it runs at 30fps, you see people left and right saying how they will not play it, but the truth is, they probably wouldn't have been playing the game anyway, yet the moment a game they really want to play rolls up, 30fps is suddenly no problem.
Something like this just exemplifies gamers double standards...
Re: 60+ PS5, PS4 Games You Should Buy in PS Store's Next Level Savings Sale
Removed
Re: Unsurprisingly, Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Future May Not Be PS5 Exclusive
I agree with everything you say, @Rich33...
Re: Unsurprisingly, Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Future May Not Be PS5 Exclusive
I disagree, @LifeGirl. It is dead as far as Xbox is concerned because they have surrendered, Their games have been on the PC day and date for years, and now they are putting them on the PlayStation too, and soon all their games from this generation will make the transition to the PS, and all their games will be day and date on the PS too. It's just a matter of time before that happens.
As for PlayStation, they will still pursue at the very least timed exclusivity. Xbox has only had one AAA timed exclusive this generation in S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2. In that same time, the PlayStation has had numerous third-party exclusives and timed exclusives.
PlayStation is hands down winning the console sales race this generation (as they did last generation), and so they can pursue third-party exclusives, whereas Microsoft cannot for the Xbox. Clearly the practice is working for Sony, and so they will double down on this in the future. Of this I have absolutely no doubt. Will they be timed-exclusives as opposed to wholly exclusive? Yes, most likely because game development is so expensive these days and those costs need to be recouped. However, I would be utterly gobsmacked it Sony gave up on having at least timed-exclusives...
Re: Gears of War: Reloaded Remasters the Original Game This August, Confirmed for PS5
They've done just the first game, @rjejr, so as to milk the franchise for everything it is worth on the PlayStation. In 4 to 6 months time, we will see Gears of War 2: Remastered, and then 4 or 6 months after that, the third game.
In August 2026 or August 2027, we will be getting Gears of War: E-Day too...
Re: Gears of War: Reloaded Remasters the Original Game This August, Confirmed for PS5
Not possible, @aj21009! No way could Microsoft sell more games because for years we have heard that Xbox has no games. How can they possibly sell what they do not have...? 😉
Re: Expedition 33 Is Increasing in Popularity with Each Successive Week
Really looking forward to playing this. Just need to finish Days Gone: Remastered first...
Re: PS5 Exclusive Ghost of Yotei Rockets Right to the Top of PS Store Pre-Order Charts
I've managed to pre-order the Collector's Edition. Really looking forward to playing this...
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 579
I'll be killing freakers by the dozen in Days Gone: Remastered. Loving the game just as I did back when it originally released back in 2019, and although I have not played it since, I seem to remember much of the story, which is striking to me because I have a terrible memory...
Re: Days Gone PS5 Is a 'Really Good Piece of Work', Say Tech Experts
Thank you, @get2sammyb. I meant no malice in my comment...
Re: Days Gone PS5 Is a 'Really Good Piece of Work', Say Tech Experts
I appreciate that you want to show off the best of the best images, @get2sammy, and that they come with the Pro, but bearing in mind that the vast majority of us have a base model, wouldn't it be more relevant to more of us to show the sort of images most of us will see...?
Re: UK Sales Charts: Expedition 33 Debuts in Second Place, Almost All Sales for PS5 Version
I'm not sure eventually is the word I would use, @Neither_scene. I think Microsoft are already heading in that direction. Right now, in many Countries, you cannot even buy a new Xbox console, and although Microsoft have said their will be another generation to follow the Series, I'm starting to have my doubts, as everything is beginning to point in the direction of them leaving consoles in the dust, and becoming just a publisher...
Re: A PS5 Exclusive DOOM: The Dark Ages Trailer Isn't Sitting Well with Xbox Fans
This is the issue for me, @Medic_alert. What this video does, to my mind, is demonstrate that Microsoft is more interested in making advance to the PlayStation gamer, than they are the loyal Xbox gamer. This just feels like this Microsoft taking a further step away from the Xbox platform, and though it might be just a small step, it will eventually see them leave the Xbox console in the past, and Game Pass, as we know it will cease to exist, likely morphing into a first-party only service that may well find it huge market on the PlayStation...
Re: Oblivion Remastered: Everything New and All Changes Compared to the Original Oblivion
Thank you, @ShogunRok. Do you continue playing the game (and thus review them) at home, or is it strictly a workplace thing? Or, does that also depend on how much you are enjoying the game? And, can you claim overtime if you continue working on your review by playing a game at home? 😂
Re: Oblivion Remastered: Everything New and All Changes Compared to the Original Oblivion
Understood, @ShogunRok. Thank you. I'm always curious as to how a reviewer plays a game they are reviewing; do they play it as they would if they were playing the game for their own enjoyment at home, or do they rush through it and potentially miss much that a game has to offer...?
Re: Oblivion Remastered: Everything New and All Changes Compared to the Original Oblivion
Have you had a review copy for long, @ShogunRok? Or are you starting today like the rest of us...?
Re: DOOM: The Dark Ages Doubles Down on Story in Badass New Gameplay Trailer
Really looking forward to this, and hoping it is up to the standards of the Reboot but better than Eternal, which was, for me, simply too frantic with too much platforming involved. Dark Ages looks far more like the type of Doom I will enjoy.
I have the Collector's Edition, and both the Elite and Standard Limited Edition controllers on pre-order, so to say that I am a fan of Doom is an understatement. I cannot wait to get by grubby mitts on it...
Re: Star Wars Zero Company Is XCOM Meets Clone Wars, Comes to PS5 in 2026
Very much my type of game. Really looking forward to this one...
Re: Stellar Blade's Hyper-Realistic $3,600 Statues Sold Out in Minutes
Thank you, @REALAIS...
Re: Stellar Blade's Hyper-Realistic $3,600 Statues Sold Out in Minutes
How tall are they?
Re: Opinion: Baldur's Gate 3 Was Already a 10/10, But Updates Have Made It an All-Time Masterpiece
As someone that started playing video games in 1972 with Pong, I can honestly say that Baldur's Gate 3 is hands down the best game ever made, and that Larian are the best of the best developers. I have over 3000 hours in BG3, and now that the final additions are out, I look forward to playing the game again in the very near future. It is simply sublime...
Re: Bloober Team's Cronos: The New Dawn Has Dead Space Vibes in Promising New Gameplay
I'll happily pre-order this game based on the above video alone (although I have seen other stuff that they have shown). I for one cannot wait...
Re: Round Up: New Crimson Desert Previews Raise Concerns Over Open World RPG's Intense Combat
Is KCD combo combat, @IronCrow86?
Re: Round Up: New Crimson Desert Previews Raise Concerns Over Open World RPG's Intense Combat
Do we know if we have to learn full combos to play the game, as is suggested in the above piece, or is it press one button for a light attack, and another for a heavy. Press it 2 or 3 for a harder hit.
If it is press 3 different buttons, press up on thumbstick, and the left trigger followed by a pause and then all of that in reverse, then you can count me out as I just cannot remember anything that gets too complicated. Just let me mash a button, and I'll be more than happy,,,
Re: Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 Out Now on PS5, Full Patch Notes Are Utterly Gigantic
Back before BG3 released in full, when at that point I had only played the Early Access version, I was speaking with someone on these very forums, and was saying to them that BG3 would likely be the best game ever released. This other person, was having none of it, instead insisting that Spiderman 2 would hold that mantle, and indeed, would win Game of the Year in 2023. Of course, I contested this, and we had this long back and forth. Now, I have to say, I was bloody well right! Larian are easily the best developers out there, and BG3 is simply sublime. The best game ever made.
I did play Spiderman 2, and enjoyed my 27 hours that I play. However, even after more than 3000 hours playing BG3, I still want to play more of it, and now, with this update, I cannot wait to begin another playthrough...
Re: Star Wars Zero Company Is Respawn's Turn-Based Tactics Game, Full Reveal This Weekend
This is a game that holds high interest for me. I enjoy Star Wars, though wouldn't call myself a fanatic over it. However, I do really love XCOM and turn-based games, so this combination puts the game very high up my most anticipated games list. Really looking forward to what they might reveal on Saturday. Hopefully we'll get a release date too, or at least an approximate one...
Re: RPGs Reportedly on the Rise as the Live Service, Battle Royale Trend Falters
Who could possibly have predicted this... 😒
Re: Horde Assault Show Off Days Gone PS5 Remaster at Its Very Best
I'll happily play Days Gone again. Loved it the first time round, and was very disappointed when the sequel didn't happen. Still, at least we got Concord (and all those other wonderful Live Service games)...! 🤪
Re: Round Up: PS Plus Extra Game Blue Prince Is One of the Highest Rated Puzzlers Ever
Cannot wait to play this! This is in my top 3 most anticipated games this month. Now it may have taken the number two spot (with Expedition 33 in first). So looking forward to this...
Re: Rumour: An XCOM-Like Rainbow Six Spin-Off Is in the Works for PS5
Very excited for this as XCOM are in my top 5 favourite franchises of all time...
Re: Microsoft's AI Obsession Continues with Atrocious Copilot Version of Quake 2
I first played Pong in 1972...! Take a look at that game, and just how very basic it was, and then ask yourself, should people have given up making video games at that point because the it didn't offer us what we now take for granted. Fast travel 50 years and we are seeing astounding things achieved in video games that would never have been dreamt of back then.
Or perhaps we should have given up on the idea of having a mobile telephone after the telephone was invented in 1876. I mean, it took more than a 100 years for the house phone to go mobile!
My point is, technology takes time to be perfected, so who knows where this technology will be in 10, 20 or 30 years? Or indeed, what it will be capable of. Progress has to start somewhere.
Unfortunately, I see this type of article as being written here to either push an anti AI agenda, or, more likely, in the hopes of garnering huge community engagement via anti-Microsoft sentiment. How we respond, says a lot about us as individuals...
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 575
Cool, @Jimmer-jammer. Thank you for the tip. I'm not sure that I have seen either of those talismans, but that may just be because I haven't been paying sufficient attention...
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 575
I like to do everything too, @Jimmer-jammer, so I guess I have at least another 70 hours to go then, and that's without all the restarts... 😂
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 575
Finally got round to starting Metaphor: ReFantazio, which I am very much enjoying. Currently about 32 hours into it, so I'm not sure how much longer I have left to go...
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your Thoughts on Potential $80 PS5 Games?
People will respond just as they did with £70; they will either continue to buy at full price, or continue to wait for a sale. If people want the game badly enough, they'll pay top dollar. If they can wait, they will. I don't see much change with an individuals behaviour if prices go up still further, and after a while, we will just accept it as the norm...
Re: Analyst Firm Predicts Some Pretty Unimpressive Sales Numbers for Xbox Ports on PS5
I think it needs to be remembered that each of these games was available on the Game Pass, sometimes for several years. And whilst it is a popular sport on this and other sites to knock Xbox, many people on these sites own both a PlayStation [b]and]/b] an Xbox, so many people who predominantly game on a PlayStation will have already played these games and not felt the need to double dip...
Re: Death Stranding 2: Everything We Know So Far
Thank you for the response, @LiamCroft. Tis appreciated...
Re: Death Stranding 2: Everything We Know So Far
Do we happen to know whether you need to have played the first game to enjoy the sequel, @LiamCroft? I played the original when it first came out, and have forgotten the story, so basically I'm asking whether I need to zip through the first game again in order to refresh my memory. Thanks...
Re: Death Stranding 2: Everything We Know So Far
I still have my sealed Collectors Edition of the first game, and now have pre-ordered the Collectors Edition of the sequel too. Really looking forward to this. Right now, it could well be my most anticipated game, along with Expedition 33...
Re: Rumour: New God of War PS5 Game Returns to Greece This Year
As is so often the case, a 'leaker' attempts to weasel themselves out of a disproven rumour that they helped to spread. Of course, had the rumour been correct, they would have gladly basked in the glory of having been proven right, using it to show that they have a proven track-record, when the truth is that all they did was make an educated guess in the first place.
Way too much credence given to some of these 'leakers', and their missteps usually are far too often forgotten...
Re: Metal Eden PS5 Gets Blistering Gameplay Trailer, Demo in April
Certainly looks like something I'd enjoy, as I love my Sci-Fi. I will probably try out the demo too, though I hope it doesn't spoil the story too much...
Re: Star Wars Goes Tactical for New PS5 Game Reveal from Former XCOM Staff
Love XCOM, and Gears Tactics, so am very interested to see what they do with this.
You have a typo in the third paragraph, @LiamCroft. You have THROUGH instead of THOUGH... 😉
Re: After Gobbling Two Publishers, Now Xbox Has Been Sniffing Around Ubisoft's IP
Again, @LogicStrikesAgain, I understand what you are saying about monopolies, but if you look at it another way, if you are paying £10 for Prime, £10 for Disney and £10 for Netflix, then you are forking out £30 for subscriptions. If Disney were to become the only one of the 3, and had all the output, you would only need to subscribe to Disney. Then the question is would they charge £30? More? Less? The honest answer is we don't know. The cynic in us says it would be more, but the truth is we just don't know, and it is just as possible that instead of forking out £30 each month on subscriptions, you may just pay £20 or £25...
Re: After Gobbling Two Publishers, Now Xbox Has Been Sniffing Around Ubisoft's IP
It may be that the future is subscription based, @LogicStrikesAgain, but I think Game Pass as it currently exists will cease within the next 5 years. The next Xbox is likely to tank hard. And I mean hard! More than 50% of GP subscriptions are from those that have an Xbox. Some estimates put that as high as 80%. Microsoft recently put up the prices of GP, and also released their profits that showed just a 2% increase in revenue growth for Game Pass. These figures were put out not long after the release of CoD, so when you factor in what should have been a significant increase in new subscribers alongside the price increase, it actually paints a particularly bleak set of figures for GP. Estimates put the Series console sales at 30 million, which would suggest that there are at least 15 millions subscribers from console sales alone, although that figure could be as high as 24 million, or anywhere in between. Thus if the next Xbox does indeed tank and sells 20 million, or just 15 million units, then the number of subscribers drops accordingly. What all this means is that there is a tipping point at which GP, in its current guise, will cease to be sustainable, and so Microsoft will have then just two options: 1. end it completely, which I think is the least likely option, or 2. turn it into a first-party only service, which is where I think they are heading. Once GP is a first-party only service, Sony will allow it on to their platform, just as they have with EA and Ubisoft.
So, the upshot is, whilst I do not think that sales will completely cease for games, just as they have not for films, I do think physical media will be phased out in the not too distant future. As for subscriptions, people will sign up to whatever services best fit their needs. I, for example, have Disney, Netflix and Prime, but I could pick and choose what I have, or don't have, and that will be what will happen with Game Pass. People will either opt to have it or they won't. And so, were Microsoft to buy an IP from Ubisoft, then it would simply mean you could subscribe to them if you wanted, or you could buy the game, but in many ways, the fewer services that you need to subscribe to in order to play games, the better. I'd far rather all films were on Netflix, for example, as that would mean I could do away with Prime and Disney...