GamingFan4Lyf

@Jay767 You know people can like both Xbox and PlayStation right?

It is allowed.

People should try it more and spend less time measuring the size of their plastic box.

@ShogunRok With the way Bioware has been shuffled around within EA, I am sure it's not the studio it used to be.

It probably lost some key people with the Bioware Mythic merge...and then subsequent split 3 years later.

Wouldn't this whole dispute essentially make any development environment exhausting and hostile until it gets resolved?

I don't see how dropping one project in favor of something else is going to magically make the problem disappear.

Sounds to me like this whole studio is going to go up in flames in the near future.

@JustinZed Was going to comment the same thing, but you beat me to it!

The double-edged sword of having such a commanding lead in the premium gaming market is that Sony can pretty much screw things up for its audience and studios and still maintain that lead as the rest of the gaming community - who are simply locked into the PlayStation ecosystem to play Fortnite, COD, [insert popular sports title for a region], etc. - don't care about any of this.

Sony is pissing away money like it’s got Microsoft bank accounts!

Sheesh, at this rate, you won’t be seeing any of Sony’s “bread and butter” single-player experiences until PS6!

I think Switch 2, much like the Switch, will be some people's primary console and most people's secondary console.

Cool, maybe this new venture will live up to the AAAA dream.

@Flaming_Kaiser The point I was making was that, if more than Nvidia were taking RT seriously, you could have Demon's Souls Remastered with real RT without the significant performance hit (and ridiculous hardware costs) - with the added benefit to artists not putting so much blood sweat and tears into lighting those highly detailed environments convincingly.

@stinkyx Unfortunately for Microsoft, it appears many gamers switched to PlayStation, want Microsoft games, but don't want to buy the Xbox to play them.

The idea of "if you want to play Microsoft games, then buy an Xbox" didn't work.

@PorkChopExpress Totally agree.

My cheap butt will ensure that when I am playing something that is F2P...I am doubling down on that "F" part! 😂

I got the Double Pack (which contains Rebirth and Remake) for ~$58.

Rebirth's new lighting is such a wonderful improvement on PC. Honestly, I feel like it brought it up to par with Remake - which I felt had way better lighting than Rebirth.

@ButterySmooth30FPS @Ultimapunch Ray-tracing is more than a gimmick - at least from a software development standpoint. It's expensive because only one company seems to actually care about it.

Tessellation used to be incredibly expensive and now it's trivial because there was actual focus on the R&D of the technology from more than a single company. It had a significant impact in terms of visuals as well as asset development improvements.

People need to stop looking at ray-tracing in terms of it making things dramatically better looking and see it as more of a viable tool for developers to not have to handcraft certain lighting details - especially as complex as environments can become.

Keep in mind, artists have had YEARS of "faking it" - and they do an incredible job of lighting scene's convincingly.

But as environmental details are getting more and more complex, it's getting harder to "fake it". Real-time RT alleviates that pain by simply turning on the light and moving it around in order to get the desired look (much like lighting a set of a movie).

But with Nvidia being the only major player who cares, it's expensive and isn't advancing as fast as other technology in the past.

The DualSense 2 Controller is going to be wild!

Is it really hate or just IP fatigue?

@Bez87 @Fishmasterflex96 Agree with both of you, though, I honestly wish Microsoft would release a paired-back version of Windows that mimics the behavior of SteamOS.

Yes, I know people will say "that's the Xbox", but I want open-platform and not a close ecosystem that the Xbox console lives inside.

SteamOS may be amazing, but it still lacks in compatibility compared to Windows. That's something that a hypothetical "Windows for Games" could potentially alleviate.

Love it, or hate it, the Xbox Dashboard actually is a great model for "Windows for Games". Steam, GOG, Epic, etc, could all have their own tabs in the same way that EA Play has it's own tab - it can all be navigated with a controller with no issues.

Yes, I realize that would nullify Microsoft Store as I am sure the only major revenue that Microsoft has for the Microsoft Store is through Xbox (and Game Pass PC), but I am sure Microsoft will still make just as much money (if not more) just by making an "everything box" that leverages other storefronts.

System settings could be handled differently depending on whether this OS is installed on a PC or through a verified "console" - where the "console metadata" would allow developers to have settings presets to match the console hardware and in-game settings would get automatically set if it detects that the game is running on the console rather than a PC.

It could still have like an "Advanced Options" toggle when in "console mode" - just provide a warning that changing things could cause performance issues - for those who still would prefer a little more control over their game visuals.

For PC users, having a Windows for Games could mean better performance for games since it could theoretically dedicate more resources towards games specifically.

But, if SteamOS does come out with something for consoles and full-fat PCs and works with basically everything, I'd use that over Windows in a heartbeat.

I put it in Rest Mode when I am actively playing through games just to ensure that any game patches are downloaded and installed overnight.

If I know I won't be playing the console for a while, I will put it in Shut Down mode.

At the moment, it's shut down and will be for the foreseeable future.

Sony will be fine unless someone comes out with a system that can easily run Steam, Epic, GOG, etc. on a TV with the same ease-of-use conveniences as a console (that plays both Sony games - because it can't control an open platform, Microsoft games, and every other game in between) that also doesn't charge for online play.

At that point, I think PlayStation could see an uptick in lost revenue simply for the free online play alone.

At the moment, there will be some deciding to go PC over console (like I did), but it's not something that will hurt Sony in the long run.

Unlike PC days of old, AI upscaling and Frame Generation will extend the viability of your PC making them more than capable of running newer games longer than before (barring hardware failures, that is).

At first, I thought this was like Microsoft-official based on the headline only to find out it's from a third-party peripheral manufacturer.

The current Game of the Year winner should be enough to tell the video games industry that you don't need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make a game worthy of winning the Top Prize.

As long as I get the best version of whatever Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Donkey Kong, etc. game is released, I am not too worried.

Nintendo engineers have squeezed an incredible amount of “power” out of Switch, and I am sure they will be able to do the same with Switch 2 with great success.

I think Sony should just switch Concord to being a film/series franchise.

The episode from Secret Level was actually pretty good. I actually wouldn't mind a movie or animate series based on the lore that was established for the game.

As far as continuing the Live Service trend...how about growing Helldivers franchise instead? It's been successful so far and could be taken very far with the right investing rather than gambling on more studios to making more live service games. Sony already has a "hit" on its hands...expand it!

On one hand, I understand the draw of GTA - for a lot of gamers, it was their "right of passage" into "mature gaming".

On the other hand, the "edgy" appeal of the series kind of wears off as you get older and you realize it's more just an accurately sad mirror of modern culture that makes you want to facepalm at yourself for showing any interest in it at all.

I remember playing the original GTA...you know, when the primary gameplay loop was stealing cars...and I thought it was so "cool" that the game had foul language, and I could play a crook and wreak havoc.

Now, I see it as rotting brain cells and nothing else. There is nothing appealing about GTA at 43.

Also - Get off my lawn!

So...uh...has this finally met Square Enix sales expectations?

Asking for a friend.

I'll continue playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. If I finish it either today or tomorrow, I'll start The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone here!

Also, happy gaming!

It would be sad (for Bethesda) if Virtuous is able to do a "Bethesda game" better using UE5 than Bethesda could do with Starfield using its own engine.

Heck, Obsidian is doing better at "Bethesda games" than Bethesda.

@Bunchesopuppies They fall over and get back up actually - LOL!

It was one of things I experiment with and, sure enough, they don't become a spot on the ground.

I will have some time off, but I won't really have any more or less time to game than my normal week.

But, in the time I do have to game, I will be continuing to enjoy Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and whatever I have installed on my PC as a palate cleanser if I need a little break from Indy.

I have only Switch games on my Christmas list, so I may dive into one of those games as well.

Sadly, the PS5 will remain off for the foreseeable future.

So now both the developer and Sony know that the userbase wants the game on PS4/PS5!

And knowing is half the battle....

While I haven't play all of the Like a Dragon series (I have played 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2, and a little bit of 3), I only play them in Japanese.

It just feels...right.

While this game isn't up my alley, the tech behind the cloth behavior actually sounds really cool!

This is the kind of tech we should be seeing in games as hardware gets more powerful - even in instances where it's not being used to titillate, but just to simulate real-world behavior.

@OldGamer999 For the same reason GPU makers created AI upscaling - to take some of the strain off of the GPU/CPU by pushing image quality duties to the AI cores instead.

I know I'd never be able to run Cyberpunk 2077 completely maxed out and with full path tracing at 80 - 90 fps (@1440p output) if it wasn't for the AI cores in the Nvidia 4070 Super working their magic.

That kind of stuff you just aren't going to get relying on a software-based upscaler.

Sure, it's all "fake", but if it still feels responsive with a gamepad and looks the part, what does it matter?

PSSR is basically in v1.0. I think, where it needs the most work is denoising - don't know if that's something that has to wait for a 2.0 or something the model can be trained to handle, but that's its weak spot.

I bought this one on Steam mainly to support the developer.

Combat is a tad janky and the gameplay loop is a little repetitive at times, but it's still good. It is more risqué than I expected - especially that one cutscene very early in the game.

I think people were hoping for something more "Silent Hill" over something I'd like to call Horrorpunk (I don't think that's a thing...but it should be!)

Does this game have a 120Hz mode on consoles? If not, it should. I seem to recall my PC can max this game out in like the 250+ fps at 1440p. No reason PS5/PS5 Pro couldn't run this at 120. I'm not trying to be braggy or anything, just pointing out the game is pretty light on hardware.

At least Microsoft is putting its platforms first - as it should. Even if the games come to other platforms, Microsoft should absolutely focus on ensuring that games for its own platform are the best that they can be for the hardware.

I would think people here would absolutely understand that as Sony ensures its first-party games are the best they can be for PlayStation consoles before working on any PC port.

@Loamy I second, third, fourth, and millionth that people need to check out Cowboy Bebop.

Also, while I am very much a subtitled guy for anime, Cowboy Bebop feels "at home" watching it dubbed as I feel like the "cool factor" comes across a lot better.

Such an amazing series.

I am intrigued by the game. I liked the trailer. I liked the 80's aesthetic (did anyone notice the CD-Rs in her CD collection?! I know I did).

As far as product placement, it's fun to see, but I could take it or leave it. I can understand where some people may feel like it's an unnecessary expense in a time when the games industry spends way too much money to make games as it is.

I have been playing it on PC. I should really see how well it plays now as the most recent patch supposedly improved Full RT performance.

I actually was getting really good performance thanks to playing in DLSS Balanced and utilizing Frame Generation (input latency with a controller felt great), but any extra native frames are always welcome!

I hope this PS5 Pro patch is a good one! I know there have been a few "duds" along the way, but time should hopefully iron things out as Sony trains PSSR to be more effective.

Things have come full circle:

The team behind Like a Dragon are making a Virtua Fighter game.

Like a Dragon series spawned off of lessons learned and ideas from Shenmue.

Shenmue's original concept was to be a Virtua Fighter Adventure game.

I'll be skipping this one.

Cool for those who want the "Best of Souls" co-op boss battle experience, but I prefer the grand adventures over lather, rinse, repeat gameplay loops.

Finally, something from Naughty Dog that isn't The Last of Us or Uncharted related.

Man, this looks brutal!

I may double dip on this one.

I would at least wait for a technical review as, from what I have seen, FF7 Remake Integrade wasn't a great PC port.

Can't wait to see what it is! I love his games.

And...since it's being published by Epic Games, it will most definitely have a PC release.

Obsidian is doing Starfield better than Bethesda.

@AhmadSumadi I may be old school, but, when you have a high-end sound system, there is a noticeable difference between something that is streamed using Dolby Digital Plus and the lossless TrueHD (or DTS-HD MA) found on physical media.

Dune is a great example. There is just a richer bass and cleaner sound to the already incredible soundtrack. Plus, I have noticed that, for whatever reason, surround effects are a lot more pronounced when using a physical disc (or an uncompressed ripped copy of a physical disc) vs the streaming variant of the same film.

I feel like it's the difference between watching something at home vs experiencing it in the theater.

But, alas, I am a dying breed. The masses couldn't care less as most either use a soundbar, TV speakers, or watch from a phone/tablet.

As someone who still buys physical UHD (granted, I rip them into MKV and use a media player to watch them) this makes me sad.

@dskatter I don't like Bethesda RPGs. I try, but I lose interest very fast. I mean, I do think it should be played by as many people as possible, but it's not something I care about either.

There really is such a thing as "too much" and I feel like their games are full of too many distractions.

If a game is 20% main story content and 80% unrelated side content, I lose interest. Plus, I don't feel like the side content has any real reward for doing it. Getting an above average piece of loot isn't a reward to me. The "experience of doing it" also isn't a reward for me.

This is generally why I prefer JRPGs as they are like 80% main story content and 20% side content. That side content usually results in something useful - like a powerful weapon or armor piece.

@SuperBloodborneMaker You're miffed about Starfield - which didn't exactly set the world alight - yet PlayStation still got/are getting:

Doom 1 & 2
Quake Remastered
Quake 2 Remastered
Fallout 4 PS5 Upgrade
Doom Eternal PS5 Upgrade
Elder Scrolls Online PS5 Upgrade
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Doom: The Dark Ages

Not to mention that, unlike Sony as a publisher, PS5 upgrades from Microsoft-owned Bethesda games don't carry a $10 upgrade fee.

But, [expletive] Microsoft for keeping Starfield exclusive (for now).