Comments 563

Re: Your 2024 PlayStation Wrap-Up Will Be Available Starting Next Week

GeeEssEff

@Bagwag82 Introversion vs Extroversion is one aspect I think. Some people’s idea of relaxation is sitting in front of the TV/Playstation for some quiet time. For others it is being out and about socialising. When I talk to my extroverted friends about their standard evening/weekend plans they sound exhausting to me and I imagine my ideal weekend of chilling at home with the wife sounds boring as hell to them. Different strokes for different folks and all that!

Re: PlayStation Boss Hermen Hulst: AI Won't Replace the 'Human Touch' in Game Development

GeeEssEff

It’s the way the world is going and honestly I think games made using AI and incorporating AI could be interesting. Not necessarily saying good or bad but the prospects are definitely interesting. I’m thinking:

  • Open ended RPGs which write the story as you go depending on your near limitless choices (think BG3 with absolutely no ceiling).
  • GTA style games taking place in entire countries rather than a single city. Imagine stealing a plane in Gatwick and parachuting into Newquay!
  • FPS games where the NPCs actually show human like intelligence rather than the “AI” we have accepted as good: Hide behind cover, pop out, unload magazine, duck back down.

Humans have always strived to make things quicker, cheaper and simpler and AI is just the next evolution of that. Will it replace jobs? Almost certainly, but probably about as much as self service tills have replaced jobs in supermarkets. You still need a couple of staff members to handle that unexpected item in the bagging area but they can get through more customers with less resources. I think in 10-20 years time AI is just going to be as intertwined with our lives as the internet. It will come with downsides but so has nearly every major advancement in human history.

Re: Feature: John's PS1 Memories

GeeEssEff

I was also a Sega Megadrive kid. The turning point for me was going to my neighbours one weekend afternoon and watching him play the polygonal magic which was Tomb Raider on his brand new PlayStation. I actually feel sorry for the chap now because pretty much every Sunday from then on he would find me ringing his doorbell desperate to play some Playstation. I wonder if it was him that convinced his parents to move house a few years later to escape this weird younger kid. Either way watching and playing games like Soul Edge, Resident Evil and Wipeout completely changed what I thought a game could be.

Re: PlayStation Thanks the Fans with Emotional 30th Anniversary Montage

GeeEssEff

I remember Christmas Day 1996 opening my PS1 with Crash Bandicoot. I think the only Christmas I have been more excited for is when I got my PS2 four years later. While it’s cool being an adult and being able to buy these things yourself there is something magical about the build up to Christmas Day as a kid when you know you are going to get a new console. Certainly more magical than hammering refresh on an Amazon order screen to try and secure a PS5 day one.

Re: Astro Bot Blasts Past Elden Ring, Currently 2024's Highest-Rated Release

GeeEssEff

@Deoxyr1bose I think I am going to get UFO 50 in the steam sale this weekend to play on the deck. I was hoping for a slightly deeper discount but it looks well worth the price.

On topic out of the nominees Astrobot would probably clinch it for me. I’ve not played Wukong or Metaphor and despite Eldren Ring being my goat I disagree with a dlc being in the running no matter how big it is. My personal GOTY though is probably Unicorn Overlord.

Re: Kadokawa Wants Sony's Full Commitment with Buyout of Entire Company

GeeEssEff

I’m not for or against the acquisition but I will say that Sony have done right by FromSoftware over the years. They were the publisher and assisted in development for the original Demons Souls so who knows if Dark Souls, Bloodborne or Elden Ring would even exist without that relationship. I don’t watch much Anime so don’t really have a dog in that fight but I have played and loved every Soulsborne game by FromSoftware so would hate to see them stagnate under a Microsoft or Tencent. At least history tells us that Sony believes in and cares about these games.

Re: Rumour: Mortal Kombat 1's Future DLC Cancelled After Poor Sales of Khaos Reigns

GeeEssEff

I have been known to buy the odd character or DLC pack for fighting games in the past but MK1 was just a disappointment so was never going to get extra money out of me. It might have fared a bit better if its release wasn’t sandwiched between SF6 and Tekken 8, both of which felt like a massive step forward in their respective series….MK1 felt like a step forward with its ideas but a step back in gameplay.

Re: Secret Level's Concord Episode Has a Trailer, and It Feels Really Weird

GeeEssEff

@rjejr It’s by the creator of Love, Death and Robots on Netflix which is pure anthology. Completely unrelated episodes, each with their own wildly different animation styles so I’m guessing this is going to be the same sort of thing. If you’ve never seen it I can’t recommend it enough and definitely worth a watch to get you in the mood for Secret Level.

Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard's First PS5 Update Out Now, Adds Mass Effect Armour, Fixes Bugs

GeeEssEff

I’m about 4 hours in. It’s been linear so far and I’m hoping it opens up a bit soon but I’m still very much enjoying it. The combat is satisfying, the skill tree looks super customisable and even though I wasn’t a fan of the art style in the reveal I think it really suits the game, it’s beautiful! I’ve always been a gameplay over story person so the acting and dialogue hasn’t bothered me all that much and it’s definitely not the worst I have seen.

Re: Random: Forward-Thinking PlayStation Gamer Spends $2,000 on 24 Years of PS Plus

GeeEssEff

This article isn’t really doing the actual Reddit post much justice. The guy found a loophole where he could buy 24 years worth of PS Plus essential and upgrade all those years to Premium for one payment of $200. I personally wouldn’t do it but if the service remains the same or similar he has got 24 years for a significant discount, fully paid up front. He needed to do it in bulk to make it worthwhile and it certainly seems excessive but Sony have been pretty good at honouring subscription commitments one way or another when they change the service. Unless they retire PlayStation consoles or go out of business entirely there’s a good chance he has saved a chunk and dodged future price hikes. Definitely a bit of a publicity stunt but I also respect a ridiculous, ballsy effort to save some money.

Re: Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Dev Surgent Studios Puts Game Team on Hiatus

GeeEssEff

@ShadowofSparta “You start feeling like you’re not really a person to them”…this is the heartbreaking realisation that put into words how I feel when I look at some of these comment sections nowadays. When people assume a minority character can only exist in a game entirely because of a tick box that group ceases to be human and instead becomes a tool. The thousands of years of history or the vast culture get reduced to an idea that these characters can ONLY exist to support white straight males rather than in their own right.

@Ainu20 I hope you’re right that it’s in the death throes. The younger generation are way more accepting of people’s differences nowadays which is awesome. It’s just a lot when you just want to log in to see what is the latest gaming news and instead are faced with a barrage of hate. Your right it’s almost impossible to know whether it’s better to try and educate or just ignore but I’m moving towards the ignore option because I just don’t have the energy.

Re: Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Dev Surgent Studios Puts Game Team on Hiatus

GeeEssEff

@Kienda Believe me I am discouraged with society as a whole as well. Gaming is meant to be an escape from all that. I am old enough to remember when gamers themselves were marginalised for being weird nerdy loners and as such it seemed to be a much more accepting and liberal community. This seems to have gone out the window with the gaming boom.

I think my point is I’m here to talk about games not to talk about whether those games exist to push some imaginary agenda. When you see more and more games ridiculed, criticised and their failures celebrated simply because the main character is a person of colour it stops me feeling like a member of the community and more like an outsider. Tbf the Push square team is great at moderation but when these people’s comments get deleted they see this as a validation of their views rather than an opportunity to reflect on their relationship to race.

Re: Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Dev Surgent Studios Puts Game Team on Hiatus

GeeEssEff

@ShadowofSparta It’s getting truly depressing. Some of the comments on recent articles suggest gamers are getting worse for this “everything is DEI” rubbish. Particularly the Unknonw 9 review here and the Alan Wake 2 a year on article on Pure Xbox. As a mixed race man I’m getting very close to just completely disengaging with the gaming community because what I thought was a vocal minority seems to be a much larger subsection who are gathering confidence every time they see someone else post some ridiculous “it’s woke” comment.

Re: Opinion: The Price of Playing PS5 Games Day One Is Getting Higher and Higher

GeeEssEff

I’m going to be controversial here but I’m actually not against early access with deluxe/premium editions. These £80/£90/£100 editions with DLC, skins, season passes and all that jazz have been around now for the best part of a decade, they are nothing new. At least with some of them nowadays you might get 3-5 days early access on top.

I’m seeing a lot of “if people are stupid enough to pay for it” comments etc but at the end of the day people put different values on different things and shouldn’t be judged for how they spend their money. If they can afford it, being able to play a game for a whole weekend before it releases on a Tuesday for example might be worth the extra £20. Only game I have done it for is BG3 when I had a completely free weekend for early access but my next 3 weekends were jam packed with plans. It was a no brainer for me.

Re: PS5 30th Anniversary Orders Screwed Up by Argos in the UK

GeeEssEff

@LowDefAl my closest is also tucked into the back of a Sainsbury’s…it’s a 3 minute drive for me so I would use it all the time if it ever had anything in stock.

@Member_the_game My favourite pre order was the Xbox One from Game. They didn’t accept payment at the time you made it but instead took payment for all pre orders at the same time a few weeks before it released. The thousands of simultaneous charges for the exact same amount triggered NatWests security procedures and all payments got blocked…everyone affected had to contact Game directly to sort it out which I imagine their customer service lines had a ton of fun handling.

Re: PS5 30th Anniversary Orders Screwed Up by Argos in the UK

GeeEssEff

Every time I try and use Argos I am amazed they are still in business. They never seem to have anything I want in stock for delivery and my only option is to travel to the “nearest” store which has it. This is almost never one of the three stores within a 10 mile radius of me. A British staple that I don’t want to see go under but they seem to be getting worse every year.

Re: Gallery: PS5 Pro Is Looking Sleek in These Official Shots

GeeEssEff

I’m not a fan of the original design tbh. This improves the look of it slightly but it is still obnoxiously big and impractical. Personally id be happy with an unassuming box which takes up minimum space in my tv unit, is easy to move and doesn’t require a stand….especially if that stand is sold separately. Xbox consoles have PS beat on design this gen for my personal tastes.

Re: Poll: Are You Sold on PS5 Pro?

GeeEssEff

£700 is a massive ask and the upgrades nowhere near justify the cost for me. Particularly when it lacks a disk drive. This makes me increasingly worried about the base cost of a PS6.