Hypnotoad107

@freddquadros “What a PS5 Pro will bring that justifies an entirelly new console?”

If they put out a console that could consistently do 4k/60 or maybe get some raytracing in there, I’d buy one and pass my vanilla PS5 down to my son. I’d have no problem spending $650/$700 or so on something like that. That’s still cheaper than a gpu upgrade for the pc.

@jdv95 “that's the thing though,there are zero rumors about a xbox series upgrade in a world where there are tons of rumors about big MS projects”

Could you imagine the L Xbox would take over and over if EVERY single game ran better on a PlayStation system, because they’re the only ones with a premium system. Ponies rubbing it in the faces of xbots after every single release, and bots trying to justify why they don’t need an upgraded system. It sounds horrible.

@thefourfoldroot1 “Maybe they will make MS put COD on plus for as long as it is on Gamepass. Day and date. At a reasonable price to Sony.”

This is where Sony’s massive market share hurts them. A “reasonable price” is a dollar amount that would recoup the money lost from sales. That’s how it works for Gamepass. Bigger games cost more money, because they would make more money selling the games. Because PS has such a massive number of players, it would cost more for Sony to get this on their subscription service.

MS obviously leverages their deep pockets to try to get advantages in some areas of the market. But it’s a safe bet that Sony leverages their superior market share advantage to get cheaper and better 3rd party deals and exclusives. Not surprising that they’d be asked to show the details of these deals so the regulating body can compare.

@uptownsoul “ Microsoft's quality since Game Pass is inconsistent at best...and bad at worst.”

Review scores don’t seem to back up this statement at all. Xbox had a dry 2022 as far as AAA titles (though Grounded, Pentiment, and As Dusk Falls were all great smaller titles). But metacritic scores of Xbox games that have released this gen compare well to Sony games. Microsoft even won Metacritic’s publisher of the year award n 2021. They’re doing fine. They look like they’ll have a decent 2023, as well. I’m excited to see what Sony has coming this year. Spiderman 2 is going to be huge, but I’m curious if they have a couple of surprises up their sleeve.

@thefourfoldroot1 Yup, fantastic deal. I actually have about $300 in points right now that I might use towards a new PS5 when the new model comes out. I’ll probably have $400 or so by that time depending on if I pick up FF16 on launch or not. A lot depends on release dates for me. If Starfield comes out around the same time, I’ll play that and wait for a sale on FF16. Definitely a lot of choices.

@PenguinLtd I play almost every PS 1st party exclusive and I love them (Ghost of Tsushima was probably my favorite game of last generation, maybe Sunset Overdrive, it’s close), but Xbox/Gamepass has quite a lot to offer as well. Most of those PS5 games take me a couple of weeks to beat, then I’m typically back to Gamepass filling in those gaps. It’s also nice, that you can buy any 3rd party games with MS points pretty easily. I even buy PS5 games with MS points, occasionally. I personally think both consoles are really great right now, which is a nice change of pace after PS was so dominant last gen.

I’m down. I’ve held off on buying a 2nd PS5 for the game room because I don’t like the aesthetics of the original PS5. I’ll definitely pick one up if there’s a good redesign. I’m mostly digital now, but I do have a few discs that I’d like to have a drive for.

@Dezzy70 Fair enough, but you know those were common sentiments before the intent to acquire was announced.

@Dezzy70 “I WOULD LIKE ACTIVISION TO STAY INDEPENDENT.”

It seemed that everybody hated Activision before the possible acquisition. Everybody was down on CoD. Everybody hated Activision for killing off teams to make them CoD support studios. Everybody hated Kotick. Everybody thought that the company was being ran into the ground. Now people want them to remain that way? Weird.

I gave it a 9. Definitely my game of the year (Grounded over on Xbox is my runner up). I thought they really stuck the landing with the story. I didn’t give it a 10 because I think it did have some pacing issues. I definitely felt some sequences dragged on a bit too long (you know which ones I’m talking about). And the issue that people are talking about with companions revealing solutions to the puzzles is definitely an issue. That said, the combat and story are so great that the issues seem minor in comparison. What a fantastic game.

@UltimateOtaku91 “One company comes to mind and it ain't sony”

Obviously MS talked to him, but I’m not sure why you think Sony wouldn’t. They are trying to acquire studios, as well, do you not think they’re interested in Kojima? I’d actually say there’s a near zero chance that Sony DIDN’T approach him about being acquired.

Im definitely interested, but I’ll wait until a few more games come out. I’m hoping for a price drop on the hardware and some of the games by then. As others have said, I’m sure the initial shipments will sell out, and the scalpers will get a nice pay day, but I think it won’t be long until we see them readily available.

@TrickyDicky99 “Imagine what this game could of been if not designed around a PS4.”

It might’ve looked prettier, but then we might be stuck at 30 fps. Then gamers would be complaining about the low framerates. Personally, I’ll take the 120 hz, but to each their own.

That said, I do believe you are right on it not selling as well as GoW 2018. I feel that a little bit of 3rd person narrative adventure fatigue is setting in on the general gaming populace. I feel these console bundles with the game are being done to hide that fact, a bit. To be clear, though, those are my personal favorite types of games on PS. I’m sure it will still sell great, overall.

If Sony wants to do this, it’s understandable to give your best customers priority service, but I dont think it’s something you want to say out loud.

@Nyne11Tyme I think something that isn’t brought up enough is how much easier and cheaper it is for Sony to get timed exclusives than it is for Xbox. The devs make more money because it’s on a larger platform AND more people play their art, so they get more exposure. Of course, a studio rather sign deals with Sony than they would with MS. We saw what happened with both Titanfall 1 and Sunset Overdrive at the beginning of the XB1 generation. Sunset Overdrive, in particular, was a fantastic game that nobody played.

Edit: I’m going to throw in the fact that Japanese developers are much more loyal to national brands, also throwing another wrench in the works for MS trying to sign Japanese timed exclusives. I think Japanese devs much rather have their games on a Japanese console.

@UltimateOtaku91 “whilst xbox is buying games that sell better on the competition to make the competition weaker”

Bad argument. If you think Sony isn’t getting FF7R as an exclusive to make the competition look weaker, then you are absolutely fooling yourself. Sony is just able to do it for much cheaper because they are in a position of power. Both companies like to flex their muscle. In Sony’s case, their muscle is their superiority in install base. They can leverage that for cheaper exclusive rights, due to the larger base. Getting exclusive rights to Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo would be much cheaper for Sony than it would be to Xbox. To overcome the install base deficit, Xbox flexes their muscle, which is their vast wallet. They probably got tired of Sony getting all the timed exclusives due to the larger install base and just decided to outright buy the publishers instead.

@get2sammyb “As has been pointed out many times, the deal has yet to be approved by regulators. They owe nothing to PlayStation, but they still need to prove to governments that this $69 billion (!!!) purchase should go ahead.”

I agree they still have to prove that, but Jim is acting like Microsoft should be giving PS CoD with parity on both systems in perpetuity. Three years seems reasonable to me, but Sony is completely within their rights to reject this offer, as well. Neither party should make a deal that they aren’t satisfied with.

This is kind of embarrassing. What does Xbox owe PlayStation. If Jim doesn’t like the deal, they should counteroffer with something better.

@Grimwood Sid Meier’s Pirates! (original) was considered one of the best games around back in the day. Really great game. Looking forward to seeing how they do with this. I actually really enjoyed the naval combat in the AC games.

I have no problem with Ubisoft games. I don’t play all of them, but I get some decent enjoyment from the ones I do play. I never feel pressured to purchase MTX’s in any of the ones I play, and I definitely don’t feel they’re predatory. And on top of all that, they typically release their games in pretty decent shape. Not really sure why they get all the hate.

@frankmcma “The two day embargo let thousands of articles go up which made it seem like 30 new and exclusive games.”

This is literally why they do it. It’s just marketing. No big deal. In the end, they’re all just trying to make money.

I wish I could say that I’d like to move on to a new crew, but I hated the ending of ME3 so much that I’m fine with them taking a mulligan. I know not everybody feels that way, and I respect that.

@Grimwood “ How is series s always included in sales comparisons? Its 250 bucks (i got mine for 230 even) and always available, of course it will be sold way more often”

What does this even mean? It’s included for the same reason Switch is on the chart, even if it has inferior tech. It’s included for the same reasons PS4 and PS4 Pro are grouped together on sales charts, they play the exact same games. This statement comes across as whiney.

@RBMango I think it’s probably incredibly difficult to find enough top tier talent to start a AAA studio from the ground up. Maybe a studio that is smaller in scope. Talent in the industry is currently at a premium. They’d probably have to poach like crazy. I think this is why the acquisitions are happening at such a breakneck pace.

I played quite a lot of this in my mowing off-season on Xbox. I always listen to Sacred Symbols while mowing, so over the winter I put this game in and listened to my podcast once a week. As previously stated, it’s a nice, relaxing game.

@nomither6 Halo, Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5, Flight Sim. I really enjoyed my time with all of those games. They were all fairly well received. I don’t play them for 100s of hours, but I played them, beat them, and moved on.

@TheArt “ I feel like this is what triggered MS”

I completely agree with this. Sony was going around buying up a lot of limited time exclusives, leaving MS with less and less. And you have to assume Sony can get the exclusives a lot cheaper than MS could based on the size of their user base. I feel MS just said “screw it, we’ll buy the company”.

@meistergeister “ Remaining multi-plat makes micro$oft aka microshaft looking reallyyyyyyyy bad”

My guess is this was a stipulation that Bungie required. I’d be surprised if Sony bought Konami and left Metal Gear or Castlevania multi-plat. If they did leave it multiplat, I bet MS would be willing to talk about deals to put each other’s games on both consoles.

@nomither6 NGL, I’ve been playing some pretty good games from Xbox this past year. Not sure I’m in agreement with your statement. Both these consoles have been really great this gen.

I thought it was pretty great in the first half and really went downhill for the last 90 minutes. Hellblade 2, Cuphead, Horizon, Space Marine 2, and Plague Take 2 all look really good to me. I’m excited to see what Quantic Dream does with Star Wars, and I’m interested to see if Crossfire X ends up being any good. I also love Monolith games, so I’m curious to see how Wonder Woman is. Pretty solid show, imo. Not a lot of PS exclusive stuff if that’s what people were looking for, though.

Ghost of Tsushima is the best game I’ve played this year (a little late to the party), but from this list, Halo would get my vote. The mp is outstanding.

Personally, I’d remove Deathloop and Ratchet & Clank and replace them with Returnal and Forza Horizon 5. Doesn’t matter though, because It Takes Two should be GOTY.

I have a passive interest in the campaign. I might pick it up when it goes on deep discount. Probably will be playing Halo this year. I also like Battlefield, but I’ll wait to see the reception before I pick it up.

@UltimateOtaku91 Personally, I think they should all charge what they want and let the consumers decide if it’s worth it or not. No way I would pay $50 for this, but maybe some people will. No one is making anyone buy anything. If Horizon wants to charge for an upgrade, they should feel free to do so.

@UltimateOtaku91 “ The fact is if this was for Nintendo or Xbox then it would be praised. ”

This doesn’t seem right. Xbox’s last third party showcase was universally panned by fans and critics alike. And I’m sure if this was an Xbox showcase, you would be on the sister site criticizing this showcase.

That said, Death’s Door is a fantastic game. Looking forward to Little Devil, as well.

@FatalBubbles And here I worried I was being to subtle 🙃

@Col_McCafferty “ Want a laugh, read the story about this game on PureXbox!”

Fanboys are the worst. I’m so glad there aren’t people like that on this site.

@4kgk2 “ This show was way better than Xbox e3 show just saying”

I thought both shows were great. Xbox has some great offerings, as well. Tremendous variety if you own both systems.

Definitely excited for GoW2, Spiderman 2, and Wolverine. Definitely a decent show, but I’m glad I have both consoles this gen. Dev cycles are just so long now.

I just want Sunset Overdrive 2. Okay, I’d also like a look at GoW2.

@Gamer83 I personally love acquisitions. I feel like 1st party releases are always better than the multi platform games. Better quality on all my consoles.

@wiiware That purchase was an absolute coup. I can’t believe they only paid $200 million for them and Codemasters went for $1.2 billion. One of big blunders by Microsoft was not wanting to make Sunset Overdrive 2 when Insomniac was practically begging MS to let them.

Played it not too long ago on Xbox. It’s pretty good, but I prefer Quantum Break, personally. I’m a sucker for a time travel story, though the final boss sucked.

When I started it, I wasn’t completely sold, but it really takes off when you get to explore the minds. The hub world is kind of meh, but the mind levels are ingenious. Definitely on my GotY short list. It’s up there with Death’s Door and Ghost of Tsushima for me (finally played it this year .

Really excited for Deathloop. Undecided on whether to pick it up on PS5 or wait for it on GP. Battlefield also looks so good.

I think a lot of people are missing his point. Sony definitely implied that the rift warping was made possible by the ssd. Since those parts are on rails, that’s not really the case. Like many people have pointed out, though, being misleading and using misdirection is fairly standard practice in marketing, so it really isn’t a big deal. And obviously the game would be a lesser product on older systems. I don’t believe he’s claiming otherwise.

@Col_McCafferty “ we're being asked to subsidise it's release on GP”

You seem upset MS is doing this. What were you expecting them to do? I mean, if you don’t want GAmepass, that’s understandable, I guess, but it’s kind of weird to complain that they would expect you to pay for something when you aren’t subscribed to the service. We’re you hoping they gave it to all PS owners for free?

@Salt_AU Nice. I have a disc PS5. I’d like a digital PS5 for my game room.

@Salt_AU On top of it being in Game Pass, I think that overall, the Xbox crowd is moving to digital even quicker than Sony fans are. Probably spurned on by Game Pass and the Series S (I still haven’t met anyone that has a digital PS5).