K1LLEGAL

@Korgon it’s checkmate in the sense that Sony has cried about COD needing to remain multiplatform. And a deal between Xbox, Nintendo and Steam ensures that Microsoft has accomplished just that. The regulators would be satisfied to an extent, and it potentially allows the deal to go through while Sony gets left in the dust. If the regulators allow it without Sony signing up, Microsoft have no obligation to offer the deal or ANY deal to Sony once that happens. So Sony is backed into a corner and needs to make a decision.

@WolfyTn eh? You’re saying they should only allow Sony COD for 10 years if they… also allow Sony Bethesda for 10 years? Getting greedy now!

Also random question: if Game Pass was on Playstation… would you unlock Trophies or Achievements… or both 🤤

Really want to downgrade to Extra but can’t find a way. So yet more punishment for signing up to premium. Why is everything so complicated with Sony. I feel like there has to be a way for me to buy a year of Extra…

Edit: Just realised this offer expires on 28th; and my sub expires on 27th. So there might be a chance!

Sony with the trash exchange rates; might have seen some decent prices otherwise. Almost got Last of Us Part 1 from Smyths but… it still should be cheaper.

@dschons yea I think most agree, we just want this to be over with now. It’s bound to go through so just go through already. Hopefully this is the thing that tips it over the line.

Also to add as a benefit to this deal; COD ends up on at least one subscription service (Gamepass) where now it isn’t due to Sony paying to stop just that.

Jims gotta find something else to cry about now. I like how comment 1 is already trying to spin it into a lie.

Got my GAME order in this morning. However the £5 delivery is BS. Hoping something else pops up (will cancel the GAME order if so. No scalping here.).

I’m so excited for this. Bought them on my Vita when it was announced the store was closing but never got round to them. And it’s on Playstation, Switch and Xbox too. Thats how you do it 👌

Love Ichiban, as per my avatar, but yess this is so awesome.

One of my favourite game stories of all time 👌

I don’t know much about the game other than it having very few players and being £10 physical for some time now… but can’t they tweak it so it just runs offline in single-player? Even if it loses a lot of the balance along the way? Never seen a single video of it though so not sure how the game actually works. Shame for those who paid a lot for it.

@Rob_230 I hope people weren’t excited just because it was exclusive. Hope they had other reasons!

@Sakisa haven’t read through all the comments but from what i’ve read of yours I agree. I would love more JRPGs on Xbox.

Sony cries more than my 10 month old. They should be embarrassed at this point. The amount of exclusive content they get, be it permanent, timed or in-game like Spiderman in Avengers… they really should just let this one go.

Or you know cry until the deal doesn’t go through and then wonder why Xbox has 70 billion big ones to throw at other willing publishers… like Square Enix. Good job Sony clap clap.

I’m up for new Dualsense colours… but not that.

See-through/clear one would be great!

Over the last couple months I have played through Until Dawn and the 3 current Dark Pictures games and enjoyed them all. Looking forward to playing The Quarry when it’s a bit cheaper. I feel like these guys are kind of just running this sub-genre themselves at the moment. Though not sure how I feel about the Devil in Me getting inventories etc.

I wonder what Microsoft got in return for this…? Since it wasn’t that Sony wouldn’t fight the acquisition. Maybe the whole Bungie remaining independent thing was part of it? But probably not; Xbox always seems to get the short end of the deals they make!

Crazy how Sony seems to get it’s cake and eat it too. I don’t understand what Xbox gets out of all of this. If they want to keep it multi-platform because it makes financial sense then sure go ahead but why the need to sign an agreement when Sony is going to cry about it anyway?

Let me get this straight…

@Beerheadgamer82 didn’t slip my mind as everyone loves going back to the Rise of the Tomb Raider example. It’s brought up on like a weekly basis here. And yea so what? I’m not on about general exclusivity deals; we could do that all day regarding Square Enix or even Deathloop/Ghostwire etc. I’m just saying, regarding COD. Sony basically sounds like a big baby (the best way I know how to put it). HOWEVER; maybe they are acting up on purpose to try and dramatically stop the acquisition as a last ditch attempt. Doesn’t stop it being the case though.

Jeez guys, if all these games ended up on Gamepass don’t you think it would make Playstation have to step up and make their service better? E.g. healthy competition?

The more I think about the fact Sony pays for exclusive content in COD every year; the more pathetic they sound whinging about it all not being fair.

Is this thing backwards compatible? I wouldn’t mind picking up some of the PS4 versions between now and launch if they can be used…

COD will arguably be better value on Xbox. Avengers was arguably better value on Playstation. Or another example, COD on Playstation has had it’s exclusive modes. But now everyone in the comments wants parity and equal value across the consoles lol.

You can watch Thor or Dr Strange on Disney plus as part of your sub; or you can pay £13.99 on another service and watch it there. Choice is good.

@AdamNovice comment #8 yea it’s a bad value proposition but there are games on PS Plus that aren’t on Gamepass at the moment; so you can buy them on Xbox or save money and get them as part of your subscription on Playstation. And vice versa. So…. What is the issue?

I mean if they made high quality, innovative mobile games based off Playstation IP, this could be great… but that probably won’t happen.

Well… glad I just got one I guess but was still forced to get it with Horizon. And then you look at whats on the horizon (hah…) and you face paying £120-£140 for Last of Us and Ragnarok…

Luckily for me i’m catching up on the other tentpoles through PS Plus currently.

I only ever played an hour of the PS4 version. I will play this but not at that price.

I do think for this price it should be packed with a PS5 version of Part II.

@zebric21 it’s fine it just feels so slow after Astro’s Playroom. Also it starts out extremely simple. I was playing by myself though - any game can be fun in co-op so don’t let me stop you. Just the shift of going from one innovative fast-paced platformer straight into another more slower one with a static camera etc probably dampened the experience a bit. I will give it more time for sure.

I contributed as I finally bought a PS5. Not too many hours on it so far but…

Had a smile on my face almost the entire time playing Astro’s Playroom. Loved it. Then made the mistake of moving on to Sackboy… whoops.

@TheCollector316 they have the money sure but Phil Spencer has people above him so there are limits despite how it may seem. Acti-Blizz is proven with its cash cow games so that is why they allowed such a huge acquisition. If not them, then i’m sure there will be plenty of smaller studios to be snatched up. If this does go through, however, then there will be a lot more eyes on any acquisitions in the future.

I just think from a Playstation point of view this isn’t actually all that bad (from a gamer perspective. The suits probably are bricking it).

Anyone wishing for this to be blocked; you realise that will free up $70 BILLION in cash for Xbox to potentially spend on other studios?

Phil Spencer is awesome; and this shouldn’t make anyone sceptical. I play Xbox but if I got a job at Playstation so what? I’m not going to stop playing Xbox and enjoying games that I want to play.

He isn’t just his job, he’s a human being.

Excited for this - though happy to wait a long time as I have played a lot of Yakuza over the last 2 years. What a beautiful experience Like A Dragon was though. For me it’s 2nd only to Y0.

@BeerIsAwesome Xbox don’t block third party sellers so you can get it cheaper; unlike Sony. Not to dispute your point at all but just something to bare in mind.

Premium is useless for me. You have to remember the pool of games for Premium is also finite; so they have to really slowly roll them out like Nintendo (also look at GWG and BC games on Xbox; it has finally dried up due to licensing issues etc). Extra can always rotate in new games as new games are always coming out.

Never heard of it.

Students are reminded; not to breed in the corridors.

This is why I like subscriptions. Being honest, how much do people really replay games; especially these days when there are so many we don’t have time for them all. Physical and Digital won’t last forever so it’s a losing battle anyway.

I feel likes Movies are different as they are shorter and you can passively rewatch them so yea good to have access to them. Shame this stuff happens.

Incredible game and I really hope those who rejected the digital version give it a shot now. I played it on Series X so can’t speak for the PS version but it is a very creative platformer, with a strong story and smooth gameplay. And I had never played the first. It was my runner up GOTY 2021, only losing to It Takes Two.

@CapGod Very nice 👌 First couple of chapters felt slow but that game became one of my favourites in recent years. Awesome characters. I even got all the achievements. Enjoy! (And yea it’s bat-***** crazy).

This is why it would be good for games to have a removal date, as soon as it is known to Sony and the Publisher. Gamepass could do with that too.

Remember Sony released the new PS5 retail package that came with Horizon bundled in. At one point that was the only version in stock. Or was that a digital copy?

My honest opinion as someone who loves Final Fantasy but mainly plays Xbox:

I am disappointed that it isn’t coming to Xbox. I have a Series X and a PS4 so obviously only one of those is next gen. I’m not going to play the PS4 version (even though I claimed it through plus) as there isn’t any point. I also would prefer to get achievements over trophies as the rest of the Final Fantasy series has been played through on Xbox.

From Sony and Square - I think it’s a bit weird it was never confirmed as console exclusive 100%. If they had just done this originally or even now it would mean people would know for sure. I do find the way these 2 operate very strange but there we go.

From Microsoft - they knew they had disappointed players in 2022 (even if delays are done for the right reasons) so I was hoping they would put some finance behind this and secure a release. We don’t know the exact details behind the scenes of course. They are doing much better with Japanese games (though bring back Mistwalker seriously) but it’s not quite enough.

In conclusion - I want to play this. I don’t want to buy a PS5 but in a few years I most likely will and will play through all the exclusives that way. Exclusives are becoming more and more ***** in the industry in general but if something is exclusive let it be exclusive but make it clear. Timed and unclear deals are the worst.

I suppose lets just be glad these games are all kept in the PS/Xbox/Nintendo ecosystem and not elsewhere. Also no NFT ***** yet.

I actually think Crisis Core might be my single favourite video game storyline (though there are others like Kingdom Hearts and Lost Odyssey). I remember buying it from Duty Free on the way to a family holiday and just playing it the whole time. Had completed it by the end and loved it.

Not sure how the gameplay holds up but the story and characters and the sense of a collapse of Zack’s way of life from the start of the game to the end was so well done.

Though just realised I probably shouldn’t have commented in this article as everyone seems to be posting spoilers for VIIR. Whoops.

You know where Gamepass has benefitted me that no one really talks about? I’m the sort to shell out for games but my friends aren’t, or try new experiences where they stick to the big AAA titles. So we missed so many multiplayer experiences in the past. With Gamepass, all of us have access to the same multiplayer games and I can finally convince them to check out games they wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s been a game changer for me in that respect.

Thats also where the “day ones” become really awesome.

Xbox isn’t just one opinion. That’s what confuses me when everyone responds saying he’s lying or whatever. Like Xbox made the acquisition but Matt Booty is saying we don’t want to splinter these big communities. Those 2 things can both be true.

Also it seems like everyone here wants Xbox to have Xbox games and Playstation to have Playstation and Xbox games. Bit silly when Final Fantasy looks to be going the way of having their community cut too.

In my opinion i’m just happy these are all still within this gaming community of PS/Xbox/Nintendo and not elsewhere.

This is how they might actually get me! Makes sense to not be mandatory actually. Will be interesting to see how the trend goes and which games do or don’t get them. FF Tactics please.

@themightyant I remember the old Xbla games used to do this. I coughed up the 800 points and those sweet achievements would unlock retroactively.

Weirdly this could actually put some trophy hunters off the trial - as they will have an “incomplete” game on their list. Great if you want a handful of bronze trophies though - or if you know you want the game anyway and just play the trial in the meantime.

Dynasty Warriors 2 & 3 Definitive Edition next please.

@UltimateOtaku91 Yea that is basically why i’m playing through it as well. Next game should be a turn-based RPG I assume? I still haven’t gotten around to playing a Suikoden game…

Can’t tell you how much of this will matter in the next game though - got no idea. Garoo is a cool character though if he pops up

You could play it on Gamepass? But assuming you want the trophies; it doesn’t look like anything is missable which is a lifesaver in a RPG. Means you can just chill and play through without worrying about missing a random chest or monster. Even the Hard Mode trophies, sounds like you can just load up your clear data, flick on hard mode, beat a boss and then switch back.

@UltimateOtaku91 you can’t change it - but it does have a ‘simple’ mode (which you can switch on or off whenever you like I think) which I believe makes link attacks easier to pull off. However once you beat it you get access to a hard mode (which is required for some achievements and I assume trophies). It’s not difficult - i’m 8.5 hours in so far and enjoying it; but a lot of it is fetch quests lol.

@UltimateOtaku91 pretty sure he was talking about 343 Studios.