Comments 12

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 606

Grackler

Finished Spider-man Remastered last night. First PS5 game (I switched to a PS5 Slim from a Series X); really enjoyed it and an emotional ending! Did a lot, not 100% in every region of NY, but enough to satisfy me and max out the skills.

Not sure what to get next. Thinking maybe GT7 or Demon’s Souls? I’ll probably go back to Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch first; very close to the end now, just got to get to the last boss (and do any more shrines/depths light roots I feel like)

Re: Anime-Inspired Racer JDM: Japanese Drift Master Is Coming to PS5, But Only After Xbox

Grackler

Seems like an odd order of release for a Japanese-centric game (Steam/Xbox first, Switch Playstation later!).
The Steam page has a laundry list of post-release improvements (including handling right at the top, all the way down to split-screen), so it may be testing the water on Steam/Xbox and releasing a more polished game on PS5/Switch 2 later to (hopefully) better reviews and a bigger splash in Japan?

Certainly looks fun in a Ridge Racer way, but I would want a driving game to be mostly feature complete and have a set physics/handling system before I dipped in (would be frustrating to have handling get patched to be different 3 cups in or whatever!), so I won't try until the updates are done (hopefully by PS launch?).

Re: PS6 Release Date Touted for 2027, Cheaper But Less Powerful Than Next Xbox

Grackler

Personally; I think Sony would be wise to target early to mid-2028. Covid and a slow, long cross-generation period means sales have taken a while to pick up, and household budgets are tight. Costs of chips are worryingly high right now too (but likely to crash down if AI does). Finally Nintendo seemingly waited an extra 6-12 months to build up sizable stock; and it really helped get the ball rolling. I think Sony would be wise to do the same for the PS6, a small delay and release away from the console’s first Christmas period to help smooth out the likely spike in sales.

Re: Talking Point: Are You Getting Sick of Sony's Supposedly 'Samey' Approach to Story Telling?

Grackler

I don’t think this is “Sony game” specific. Media in this era often has dark themes of revenge and grief. Usually as a justification for violence (which if anything makes much more sense in a game, which typically feature fighting and killing). I’m more sick of it on TV to be honest, it isn’t that common in games and fits much better typically. A literal God of War fighting and killing in grief makes more sense than the weirdly incandescent rage that multiple, apparently “heroic”, TV and film leads have been fuelled by recently.

I’d also argue Sony themselves (with Spider-verse films and KPDH) have been the best studio making action-driven film content with more positive protagonists. But it’s tougher to make this work in a game setting, an it’s not like Sony are flooding the market with story driven AAA games (they take ages to make and no-one else is really at it!).

Re: Nintendo Is Displaying Hubris Which Would Make Even PS3 Era Sony Blush

Grackler

@doctommaso God, I wish 90% of gamers could understand this point. Games aren't getting more expensive, they just arent getting cheaper at the same rate they have for years. Ars Technica has a great article on this with some insightful charts.
When bread or petrol (or wages!) go up people seem to understand inflation, but when it's a video game logic flies out the window!