Intr1n5ic

Well done Sandfall, they absolutely smashed it.

It was the reason I bought an Xbox 24 years ago and I thought the game was excellent back then, I have no interest to revisit it though.

@WobberleyBob Yeah it's awesome, they nailed the gameplay loop, time flies when you're playing it.

Good to hear. This and Ball X Pit is all I've been playing recently.

Read the review, listened to the Mick Gordon track, immediately bought it. Strangely, digital is roughly £14 cheaper than physical here in the UK, there's a couple of quid off until the 16th as well.

@awp69 I know what it says, and the only way they'll meet that quota is by adding shovelware.

@awp69 A brand new game added less than every 5 days, yeah, that's not happening.

@KundaliniRising333 "Game Pass ultimate doesn't just do day and date first party releases"

No, they also charge a premium on top of your ultimate subscription to play most of them up to a week early, so the "day 1" subs can sit on their thumbs hoping a new game doesn't get spoiled for them before fomo causes them to capitulate.

@PlushiePlushie cheers plushie 👍

@Bat-Cat-Penguin Yeah I wouldn't be paying that, madness is right. Ultimately, it's down to Compulsion or Microsoft to request their game be put in a sale, very weird to increase it after all this time though.

@Bat-Cat-Penguin I just had a look because I couldn't believe it was still that much. It's been on sale a few times and was as low as £4.99 at one point, but strangely it hasn't been on sale for over two years.

This is a great site if you ever want to check that sort of stuff - https://www.dekudeals.com/

@BAMozzy Affordable by what metric though? Average hourly wage, disposable income, how many people are contributing to the purchase, or just in your opinion? It's an expensive hobby and always has been.

You could buy a digital PS5 at launch for £360, £10 more than the £350 launch of the PS4 and £70 less than the Xbox one, 7 years prior.

If you're suggesting Sony should have released a hamstrung option at an even cheaper price point this gen, I'm not sure I agree, and judging by the fact the X has sold more than the S, I'm not sure the market agrees either.

@BAMozzy I'm still struggling to understand how you've arrived at this "typical Console Price point". You keep saying $300 as if it's a fixed number that's held the same value for the decades and decades you mention. You're also making comparisons between products that have significantly different capabilities, along with cheaper components and manufacturing costs.

Mentioning PS+ as an added cost is strange, it's only required to play online, does Xbox and Nintendo not require the same, in fact, which company pioneered the idea of us having to pay to play this way?

Yes, a PS1 and Xbox both cost $300 when they released, that's the equivalent of $635 and $547 today. The Nintendo equivalent at the time was the Gamecube which launched at only $200, but that's still $364 today.

A PS2 was $300 at launch, the equivalent of $562 today, and the Xbox 360 core released at the same $300, $496 today, but also at $400 for a version with a 20gb hard drive, a necessary requirement for most, which today would be $661.

PS3 clearly dropped the ball attempting to release a console at $499 in 2006, that was cut significantly in the first year but would still be a lot higher than $300 today.

The PS4 was actually $400 at launch, $554 today, and Xbox one launched at $500, $693 today. The one S came out 3 years later at 3 different price points, but yes, the cheapest was $300, $403 today.

The Switch, which you keep including in this gen despite it obviously being part of the last one, was a much less powerful console that indeed was only $300 at launch, which is $395 today.

The Switch 2, Nintendo's actual console from this gen has just launched way above the $300 mark at $450.

The lowest Steamdeck configuration launched at the same price as the digital PS5, $400, so saying it was cheaper is inaccurate.

The Series S is the only outlier in your point and there's a reason for it. It was Microsoft's attempt to desperately claw back some market share with a much cheaper entry point. It was actually selling at more of a loss per unit than the X despite its lower cost, and hasn't been a particularly successful endeavour, selling less units than the X overall, at least in the US.

My point is, todays consoles have released below the inflation point of a 30 year number you're still measuring by. Sony launched one spec in disc and digital format, with the latter being $100 under the price of Microsofts equivalent offering.

Gaming has been an expensive hobby since its inception, and a dev trying to suggest todays prices are the reason why their game isn't meeting sales expectations is disingenuous, especially from someone who is old enough to know this industries pricing history.

@BAMozzy Of course this generation - particularly Playstation, targeted a Premium Console Launch Price of $500

Why particularly PlayStation? They announced their price after the announcement of the $500 Series X, not only matching it, but providing a $400 digital option with the exact same specs. They also weren't the first to raise the price of their hardware after launch this gen, something that hasn't happened previously.

Claiming two less powerful machines as the "base model" is a strange point, they're completely different products, one of which was released in 2017, and the other being a memory starved option that's been causing developers headaches for the past 5 years.

Also, what year is this that the "base" price of $300 is considered optimal by many for a console release? The original Xbox was $300 24 years ago, the PlayStation 1 was that price 30 years ago. Adjusting for inflation, I don't think that statement has ever been accurate.

Sony are so silly sometimes. The easiest way to diversify your catalogue is to spend 85+ billion buying everyone elses, problem solved.

It's 50 quid? 😂

There are far better games coming out this month that offer a lot more value for money.

Excellent news, great to see Studio Trigger at the helm again.

Such a stupid thing to get emotional about. It's a live service from a studio Sony doesn't even own.

It will be interesting to see how it sells though. I expect at the very least the 135,000 who petitioned for it are going to step up.

I would love a remake of 9 with an updated turn based formula.

@Nakatomi_Uk It hasn't been announced for gamepass.

@MrPeanutbutterz Damn that sucks, it's a hard pass for me as well then.

Never played this series, has that screen shake in the crouching run always been a thing? It looks awful.

Nine Sols is excellent.

I just don't want to wait 5 or 6 years for games anymore. Whatever they can do to address that I'd welcome. Studios potentially releasing one game a generation is sad.

@ThomasHL The original Red Faction released 24 years ago, which is crazy when you think about what it delivered in destructible 3D level design.

There’s no way GTA 6, for example, will be priced lower than Mario Kart World.

Almost certainly true, but we're talking about two games that couldn't be further apart in development cost and scope. I'm not defending it, I fully expect to get bent over by Rockstar, but that price range just seems excessive for a Nintendo game.

Edit - I just remembered, I paid £65 for Ocarina of Time 27 years ago, so I guess Nintendo paving the way for this isn't that surprising.

I need more details. What is the upgrade price for games, how much are these new micro sd cards we need to buy, and what will the games cost because I just saw Mario Kart is $80, if that means games in the UK will be £80, I'll be waiting before I jump in.

@Ooccoo_Jr At their lowest ever recorded price you're getting 121 pounds worth of games for £60, but more specifically, the equivalent of £20 as there's still 8 months of games to come. I think that's worth writing about.

@Shepherd_Tallon I'm currently playing it, only an hour in past the completed demo but I'm loving it so far. Unless it takes a complete nosedive off a cliff, I think you'll enjoy it if you liked the demo. Early days but certainly not a 6 for me so far.

I haven't played it, but I admire the addition of a feature like friend pass. I'm really happy the game has been a success for them.

I'm starting my first playthrough of the Uncharted series. Only 18 years late on this one.

@Deljo Rockstar produced The Business as well, arguably his best film. Human Traffic was another good one.

Love to see it.

@Decimateh-xblz It sounds like it. Just as much side content implies its around 30 as well. Devs sometimes over or underplay those numbers though.

@TheLotteryMan1 The devs said "you can expect 30+ hours of main game, and as much side content for our completionist Expeditioners"

Really looking forward to this. I was worried it wasn't going to meet the expectations and hype surrounding it, but it looks like they've pulled it off. Bring on April.

Every game they've brought over so far has been reduced within the first 2 to 3 months in a sale.

Has anyone played Outward definitive edition on PS5? It looks like it's worth a punt for 6 quid but I don't want to waste my time if it's a buggy mess.

I didn't know Phoenix Wright was on there, gonna play that before it's gone.

@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare It sucks, why they haven't addressed it is beyond me.

@Th3solution 👍

@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare Try this Oz, much better site to track with. It shows price history and has an option to show games above a certain metacritic score only.

https://www.dekudeals.com/games?view=grid

For the UK crowd, Blasphemous 2 for £12.49 is an absolute bargain, great game.

@HonestHick That's not going both ways. Both ways is if you went to an Xbox centric website to inform them during said drought how much you have to play on PlayStation. I would hope people got called out for that as well.

@HonestHick It's okay to be disappointed in cancellations, just don't be surprised when you get called out on comments suggesting there would be nothing to play on PS without Microsoft.

@HonestHick Which game from the list I provided was a remaster or remake from Sony, and which of those two does their first party 2024 game off the year fall in to?

Sure Sony had a few titles that they paid for that didn’t interest me, which is fine.

It's comments like this that get called out by people. What was the figure Microsoft spent to put their label on "games gamers want"?

@HonestHick I've replied to you many times on various comments. I don't believe you're calling Sony out here. I think you saw an opportunity with the unfortunate cancellation of several games to let everyone know how great you think Microsoft are doing. In your own words, imagine if Microsoft weren't bringing games to PlayStation, it would be a little dry over there. I simply chose to provide you with a list that negates that statement.

Loved the look of this when I first saw it and I really enjoyed the new footage. It looks a little framey in parts, hopefully they can iron that out before release but I'm excited for this.

@HonestHick A quick reminder for you because it seems like you've jumped on this cancellation train to try and suggest Microsoft are keeping Sony in games.

Excellent games you couldn't play on an Xbox in the last 12 months - FF7 Rebirth, Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Pacific Drive, Silent Hill 2, Black Myth Wukong, Helldivers 2, Astrobot etc.

Three of those were shortlisted for game of the year and a Sony first party game won it, but I'm sure PlayStation gamers are incredibly thankful that Microsoft has been providing them with things to play.

Bought a year of premium, £6.50 a month is insane value for money.

Someone at HoYoverse is checking down the back of the sofa.

@themightyant You're right, and that perfectly encapsulates what I dislike about modern day journalism. I shouldn't have engaged 😄