Fragpiper

Such a shame. As someone who actually played it all the way through it was an engaging story with highly likable characters. I found it significantly more fun than the Jedi survivor games. Also the music was so perfect.

While I 100% Elden Ring, I had to use a guide. There was something highly enjoyable about being to load up Tsushima, master combat, and have just enough guard rails that you didn't need to reference any other material. I really think Sucker Punch nailed it and I hope they can stick the landing another time!

@carlos82 that’s my point. It is functioning as intended by the publisher. You may not like it, which is your right, but it’s granting you rights to play the game as intended.

@carlos82 there’s become this entitled view that the consumer should “own” the rights to something forever. A purchase is an acquisition of license to use a product in accordance with the terms of the publisher. It doesn’t matter if the “full” version or a key is on a disc. The product works as intended and grants you rights to play a game as supported by the publisher.

The real issue is if a platform stops supporting a game. But these are two separate issues that wouldn’t matter if you had access anyway to discs of such games as Concord, Evolve, or that 2k game that came out the same time Overwatch did.

Consumers don’t have more rights to a game than a publisher does and if they wish to not purchase a game bc of the format that’s their prerogative. But it’s a losing battle.

These articles really need to stop. While acknowledging there are subset of modern gamers who enjoy physical media collections, but the data shows it’s a shrinking pool of people. The transition to digital is inevitable and had happened in almost every other industry. Gamers aren’t special.

The story is so bad/thin in these games I felt cheated in the end and the gameplay isn’t enough to get me to play anymore

The map didn’t need to be any larger than Tsushima. They’ll be approaching AC Valhalla bloat soon

@LavenderShroud In the Life is Strange series they show what other choices players made as you wrap up a chapter. I think it’s kind of cool

Human Mourn Watch Necro mage here!

Just got it setup. I’ve been playing Veilguard this week on my base model and launching it on here I completely understand when people say it seems like the picture came into focus. Instantly pleased with it.

I think it’s funny how it’s “review bombing” when it doesn’t fit the industry’s narrative. If people don’t like it or decisions developers made they can express it. Do I care one flip about their reviews? Not at all. Not sure I’ve even ever visit the Metacritic site. But they can have at it.

Meanwhile I’m just enjoying the game.

@themightyant sort of. Movement of discs is only half the story. Total gaming revenue is like 95% digital - it’s massive . So that’s where developers follow. DLC, season passes, micro transactions, etc

@nessisonett That's a nonsensical comment that is like saying a modern laptop without a floppy drive is a not a premium product. Or a sports car isn't premium because it doesn't have a CD player. Tech marches on and market forces are driving it. I am grateful that Sony isn't making me spend more money on the console just because the minority of players are using discs. If you want discs, you have the option to add on. Calling it less than premium because it doesn't include it is ridiculous.

If they charged $100 more and included the drive would it suddenly be premium?

The problem with Ubi is that they knee-jerk react to the .001% of online who get upset over everything which makes things actually seem like a controversy even so the vast majority just don’t know and don’t care. And then articles like this get made when they reverse course and they look incompetent.

@The_Wailing_Doom such valid points. It’s like the physical media hold outs want to “tax” the people who prefer digital by making everyone pay for disc drives. I applaud Sony for coming up with such an equitable solution as to offer disc drives to people who want them without being ugly external drives and allowing the rest of us the option of not needing to pay for hardware we wouldn’t use.

It’s so utterly mind blowing that PlayStation is now the best place to play Xbox games.

@Skeletor85 same. Except I just got one month of Ubisoft+ on Xbox. So I paid $20 for the experience… perhaps that’s not the best model for them…

@MrPeanutbutterz a little like saying $1000 for a phone means the phone shouldn’t have ads. I think there’s a wee bit of gamer entitlement in assuming just bc you pay almost cost or under for hardware that provides a service that you don’t need to pay for that service.

I don’t mind the ads at the free tier of Xbox (and PlayStation if they go that route) but I find it annoying that they are there for paid tiers as well.

@IamJT 35 and couldn't have said it better myself.

@Pranwell and so are most people. Heck the entire PC market is. lol. Across the whole gaming sector 95% of revenue is digital. Companies follow the money and they see that people WANT digital. I know it doesn’t fit the narrative of those die hard physical fans but it’s just reality.

@Dodoo sounds like my typical Friday night 🥳

Got my Pro (not 30th) in the US!

I thought Outlaws was good (and I'm normally not the biggest Ubisoft fan). But I also paid $20 for the month of U+ and was done. Can't imagine U+ is helping them any.

@Rich33 Not sure I agree. They're sticking to their script - "it will offer fidelity mode at 60fps." You either want it or you don't. The spec game probably isn't going to be the thing that sways a bunch of people.

@Andy22385 The data says game sales are about 17% physical. Individual case-by-case can see larger fluctuations.

@LowDefAl mm sort of. 17% of game sale revenue came from physical. I know that Nintendo and Sony first parties are higher than that but as an industry they’re going to follow the money. And with 95% of all gaming revenue digital (including DLC, etc) it’s starting to become an acceptable loss if it means not needing to support physical hardware and supply chains

@jrt87 insightful comment. I agree. I play multi platforms on Xbox. That being said, I enjoy playing Sony exclusives on PlayStation, but you’re right it goes long stretches without me playing it bc of slow release schedules.

nods For whatever reason gaming is the last major holdout of physical media that requires a dedicated device to enjoy (unlike books, which require no dedicated device; you just pick the book up). If physical was still a major sector of profitability, they wouldn’t be making consoles without disc drives. PC gamers have media-less for like what? The better part of two decades? Wouldn’t be surprised if next gen is the last of discs.

The thought of yet another “hero/extraction shooter” makes me sad. They had an opportunity to make a great single player experience. Bungie used to do that. Not since their Xbox days. Its turned into just a shill of its former self trading in compelling stories and experiences in exchange for micro transactions and RNG gambling simulators

@Pranwell I'm with you. It would be because those of us who actually work and make money to buy nice things are... well, working. They on the other hand, can spend time on these boards channeling angst at their inability to afford it by trying to convince themselves they don't see a difference.

@Sergo Different strokes and all. I've played both Jedi games and I finished Outlaws this weekend. Outlaws story was light years better than the Jedi games and just more fun.

@NoHope but really the point is revenue/profit. They don’t necessarily care about which product it is. That’s what keeps the lights on and shareholders happy. If money is made from DLC then a company has more incentive to retask resources to make more of it. Certain IPs only exist as vehicles for DLC, meaning the development of games is seen as possibly a loss leader for attachment rate.

It doesn’t matter if it’s full games or DLC, they’ll follow the money. I know it’s been said before but PC gamers haven’t had physical games in what, 20 years? The industry knows it will not fundamentally affect their profits and then they don’t need to support the hardware anymore. (And fwiw many like me would rather see the company save money by not including the drive).

I think it’s a little like when we transitioned from discs to streaming. There was a period of time that Blu-ray players started to have streaming services built in (deep cut - remember the Netflix streaming disc you would put in a networked DVD player???). And then standalone streamers came about and the majority of money was made with streaming, so companies had little incentive to maintain disc drives. The gaming industry is in the same place. These companies know where their money is made. They’re just following the consumer spending.

@NoHope Your logic isn’t checking out. Console gaming is 83% digital. If Sony genuinely thought they were leaving money on the table by not including drives they would put the drives in.

Here’s another breakdown that goes a little deeper. There’s plenty of articles like this out there that break it down.

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/95135/digital-to-make-95-of-video-game-revenues-in-2023-or-174-5-billion/index.html

@NoHope https://www.trade.gov/media-entertainment-video-games-sector#:~:text=The%20video%20game%20industry's%20global,and%20PC%20games%20(23%25).

I will never have a PC. I don’t even have a desk. I use my MacBook at my dining room table if I need to work. I would just simply stop gaming if I needed a PC.

@DonJorginho A big draw of this console is that the graphics could look identical to fidelity mode, but they're bumped to 60fps.

@LogicStrikesAgain 95% of all gaming revenue was digital in 2023. So yes.

Sony knows the removal of disc drives won’t have any tangible effect on their software sales.

@LastSaneManOnEarth preach. I would love to see an average age and income level of commenters. I work and make money so I can buy things like this if I want.

I would posit the majority of PS5 owners don’t spend time on forums like this so the representation here of established, working adults here is probably much, much lower compared to much younger, income-limited gamers on this forum.

@Xbox_Dashboard Like others said sometimes you play for the story and don't care about combat... for instance - if I go back and replay the Uncharted games I would love an option to not have to worry about combat and just enjoy the story. Pretty much any Kojima game I'd be just fine if they had that option too. I think some of it could be age and time availability too. Probably 15 years ago I never would have thought about turning on a no-death mode, but now... I def would consider.

Good. About time.

@Cloud39472 honestly it doesn’t matter what source of sales are. If 96% of the sales is in digital that means what it means. Publishers can avoid the cost of production and distribution of content that makes up 4% of sales and reduces profitability. Like it or not - the death of physical media production has helped increase margins on game production helping keep costs down. Adjusting for inflation game prices have actually decreased by about 25% since the 80s. Game prices need to be bolstered by bolstered by “shovelware” as you call it to keep base game costs down. But regardless of what it is, the industry will follow the money bc it is, at the end of the day, a business that people rely on making money so they can get paid.

@PuppetMaster it’s completely the prerogative of the publisher to determine a product’s availability status. They make it and decided on its longevity. You have no right to say that your desire to “preserve” it supersedes the actual owners wishes and licensing decisions. Just because something is physical doesn’t mean that the licensing terms are any different. You are confusing owning physical media with ownership of the content.

Cards on the table - the preservation that most people talk about has to do with distributing ROMs online illegally and not giving royalties to the proper owner.

Now all that being said. If you like collecting plastic that’s your prerogative and Godspeed with giving Limited Run your money. You’re just in the very, very small minority of gamers.

@OldGamer999 "In ways we don't want it to." Not true - you speak for a minority.

I personally want to reduce our global reliance on plastic. So I say kill physical.

Per Pushsquare, 4% of sales are physical. So your "we" is more like a rounding error than a minority.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2023/11/physical-games-represented-just-4percent-of-sales-for-playstation-last-quarter

There wasn't much to leak...

@IamJT we know there’s 34M subs across the tiers. Even if you play super conservatively and say $10 a pop (which obviously it’s more bc of ultimate) you’re looking at $4b in revenue annually. I don’t understand the comments that say we don’t know.

@get2sammyb Spencer has said "[Game Pass] makes money." Microsoft is a company that relies on profits; if they saw their service wasn't profitable they would eliminate it. The Verge reports 34M GP subs... which is roughly $7B they're pulling in on it annually and Xbox has said they spend ~$1B on GP content.

@TheCollector316 Incorrect. Game Pass makes money.

https://www.vgchartz.com/article/459235/phil-spencer-game-pass-is-profitable-spends-over-1-billion-to-add-3rd-party-content-to-game-pass/#:~:text=Sign%20up%20today!-,Phil%20Spencer%3A%20Game%20Pass%20is%20Profitable%2C%20Spends%20Over%20%241%20Billion,Content%20to%20Game%20Pass%20%2D%20News&text=Microsoft%20Gaming%20CEO%20Phil%20Spencer,the%20service%20itself%20is%20profitable.

It’s just business; how the real world works. I never cease to be amazed at how whiny employees from this sector can be.

@Green-Bandit oh well if there are YouTube videos that must mean it’s true ;]