Kienda

I thought it was all about Geoff?

The original game was great, now it’s 4K 60fps and a free upgrade.

I’m not complaining.

Now they just need to do it for RDR2…

Really hope this does well for them.

So what if they take years to make games. Just hope they can manage to stay afloat.

It’s not the AI art I’m concerned about, it’s the fact this has no relation to PlayStation.

There are enough Sony owned characters that they could have put a picture of each per day and made people interested in this.

Day 1 - Aloy
Day 2 - Ratchet
Etc

They could have made something people actually cared about rather than just random characters. Whether they are made of AI or not.

And to be honest, grabbing and resizing artwork they already had would have probably been easier.

@Frmknst I don’t think this is being impatient as much as it is people just trying to work out a mystery.

It looks more Elder Scrolls / Baldurs Gate to me.

Either way, let’s hope this game reveal lives up to the expectations.

@Oram77 I actually play with my kids on the same PS5, but apparently that doesn’t count for the achievement. Haha

I’m 1 trophy off of getting the platinum on Rocket League.

The only one remaining… joining a party and playing a game with a friend. 😅

@Jammer yeah, I know some friends getting PS5’s over Switch 2’s for both money reasons and to expand the option (their kids already have Switches that play 99% of Switch games).

My son even chose a PS5 over the Switch 2. And we already have a PS5 in the house. But he has to compete with me for it.

@darylb24 we are talking about this year though. So looking at the price alone this year is at least a reason.

@darylb24 first of all, I was making a dumb joke. Because everyone says Nintendo is expensive and everyone moans about the economy (Although, to be fair things are pretty grim).

However, this year, PS5 has almost always been on sale and is almost always cheaper than Switch 2.

Right now the PS5 Digital is £289, compared to £400+ for the Switch 2.

And yes, Black Friday has the best deals, but all year there has been options to buy a PS5 cheap. It’s been discounted all year.

I do think money is a factor in this.

Every Switch sold has the capacity to play physical games.

Most of the PS5s sold in Japan are digital only.

Nintendo is winning (even dominating) but I don’t think the physical games chart tells the full picture at all.

Is this because Labour’s ruined the economy so much people are just buying the cheaper option?

Nintendo is just too expensive for us Brits.

My wallet is less “chunkier” because of all these micro transactions.

And it seems games these days are less “chunkier” at launch because of them also.

So many companies do this. Early buyers always get screwed over, and personally I buy games way later these days (especially single player games).

I remember with Dragon Quest 11 (not SEGA I know) and how the new version had mounts and extra content and so forth, but you couldn’t transfer your save over.

So I had to restart on the new version, which had worse graphics because it was an upscaled Switch port, and in the end I just gave up.

I literally never finished DQ11. They ruined the game for me by their bad practices.

@DennisReynolds wait, why did the Pope have the Apple of Eden?

Was he gonna eat it and release more sin into the world? I need to play that game now.

@DennisReynolds but there are telltale signs.

The player count on steam being lower than older AC games. The number of player reviews on the PlayStation store (it’s less than half the number 33k vs Valhallah’s 77k). Plus it didn’t feature in the physical charts as much as Valhallah did.

So both physical and digital there are signs, from clearly accessible data points, of less engagement.

Is it the full picture? No.

But I’m not gonna take Ubisoft’s word that it’s all is fine.

Their stock price is half of what it was at earlier this year for a reason.

@DennisReynolds so, are you choosing wilful ignorance or blind loyalty? 😇

“In line with expectations” is just to placate the public and to satiate shareholders.

I prefer to look at the trends rather than take a company at their word. Why? Because I work in marketing and have written jargon for many clients to show good face in public whilst things behind the scenes aren’t so rosey.

The fact is, Ubisoft invested a lot of money into this game and they sure hoped it would sell a whole lot better than Mirage.

Like I said in my first post, breaking even isn’t the end of the world. And I’m not someone who wants this game to fail or thinks it will break Ubisoft. But I do think it was expected to do a lot better than it did.

@Nakatomi_Uk I’m in 1,000% agreement with you there.

It’s a PS3 game. It should have been 60fps in PS4. Haha. But yes, even more so now. And a patch would be so easy.

@DennisReynolds I know many are hoping the game didn’t fail, but all metrics point to the fact that Shadows under performed.

Reports are that it sold slightly less than Mirage, but with a much higher budget. As Ubisoft has previously said Mirage sold 5 million (the same figure touted for Shadows).

Looking at PS5 sales alone, we can see that Ghost of Yotei sold 2.5 million in 3 weeks on PS5.

AC: Shadows took 7 months to achieve that figure on PS5. And PS5 is over 50% of their sales. That isn’t good.

(Source: Alinea Analytics: https://alineaanalytics.substack.com/p/ghost-of-yotei-outsold-assassins)

Again, the budget of Yotei was far lower than Shadows, so the numbers alone of “5 million” is not anything to go by because it doesn’t speak of profits and losses.

Likewise, Steam Charts show that Shadows consistently has less concurrent players than Oddyssey and both Valhalla’s and Origins numbers are slightly lower but still similar to Shadows.

Another concern I personally have for Shadows is that it was a complete flop in Japan. And I think that in and of itself is a damning report because they billed themselves as being “historically accurate” and doing everything to respect Japanese culture. Yet, it was rejected by Japan, unlike many other Western games set in Japan or featuring Samurai/Ninjas, including Yotei.

For reference Valhalla sold 3x more in Japan.

None of this points to Shadows being a success. With any luck it broke even, but even that’s a failure in Ubisoft’s view.

Destiny: The Collection is £4.24 on the PlayStation Store for Black Friday (it’s Destiny 1 for PS4 with ALL the expansions).

Anyone looking to get into Destiny might want to start there. 😇

@Northern_munkey they didn’t make COD an Xbox exclusive is because when they bought Activision, part of appeasing the regulators was they signed a contract to release COD on all consoles including Nintendo for the next ten years (at least).

So the real story is: why is COD not in Switch yet.

My kids are both getting some Roblox in their stockings (£20 each, the most they’ve ever had).

While most of their friends only play Roblox/Minecraft, I’m making sure they also play other games so they are properly cultured in gaming.

@AccessibleDaydream I’m in a similar boat. I’ve just cancelled my sub.

They don’t honour loyal subs, they can have less of my money for a bit.

Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it is good.

Sorry for being negative. Hehe

I am one of the few who doesn’t own GTA5 because I’ve had little interest in it.

Back in the day I used to get every GTA with my brother, even staying up and queuing in ASDA at midnight to get the latest one on release and playing them into the morning. But the fun was always watching my brother play them. They were really his game and I was just the sidekick who played a little bit.

Maybe I should go play it with him…

I think it’s important that Sony tries to win back fans in Japan.

Apple sells cheaper in the US compared to here in Europe.

It’s not a problem to honour your home country a bit.

State of DLC and updates on games previously announced.

@dschons that’s good to know.

I bought it and returned it after a week (the only Sony product I ever returned) because the streaming was so stuttery. Yet my laptop streamed flawlessly.

The main use for me is in the house when someone else is using the main TV. So I was really disappointed, especially after expecting WiiU like streaming which is seamless.

I might rebuy and see if what you’re saying works for me now.

Everyone is complaining, but two of my kids favourite games (Stray / TABS) are up on PS+ and since transferring them over from Xbox where they played them there, so they are super happy to have them now on their PS5.

TABS is actually very fun. Good for couch coop also when doing battles against each other. And it’s a pick up and play game.

@CosmicJester same. I grew up on Tekken 3 and just thought this character was canon.

In fact, in future games I wondered where he had… Gon. 🥁 😅

Mine and my kids hopes for a new Garden Warfare game die by the day.

EA should care more about this franchise. Shame.

Great news. Game preservation should be a top priority (imho).

So, Anthem next? 😅

@SeaDaVie yeah, there is nothing to indicate that Ghost of Yotei is a flop. In fact, it looks to be making them money.

@Jey887 has the shift from physical to digital been that dramatic? I haven’t seen the reports that it’s outperforming Tsushima in Japan.

You are right that we don’t have the full picture here. And I’m not suggesting it’s a flop, I’m just saying that based on these figures alone it looks like it has underperformed compared to its predecessor.

Sucker Punch seems to be doing things right though. It has lower budgets for its games than most AAA’s so it makes its money back quicker. Most importantly, it delivers good games that feel finished at launch.

Thanks for the gaming memories, Tomonobu.

Some Context

The drop isn’t unusual. However, the fact it’s underperforming might be.

Ghost of Tsushima:
JP Week 1: 212,000
JP Week 2: 53,000

Final Fantasy 16:
JP Week 1: 336,000
JP Week 2: 38,000

Ghost of Yotei:
JP Week 1: 120,146
JP Week 2: 26,776

(For anyone wondering, Assassin’s Creed Shadows sold just 17,000 in the first week).

The 70-90% drop off on week two is nothing abnormal or alarming in Japan for a big release. Not all games do this, but many big games do.

However, you will note that this game has sold less than the original. That’s the biggest takeaway. Is it bad? Who knows.

It’s settled. Japan has the world’s most superior culture.

This is a massive disappointment. Like, huge.

If it sells well, then the hope for a new console game is dead. If it sells badly, then it’s even more dead.

Hyper Light Drifter was superb. It changed my view of indies.

It’s really sad they didn’t just make a proper sequel to it and kept things similar.

Rockstar doesn’t owe this muppet anything. It will be ready when it’s ready.

Stop giving this man oxygen.

I know I’m joining in with the clickbait and giving you more reason to write stories about his nonsense. But articles about him are just garbage, tabloid slop of the gaming world.

My kids are gonna be so happy with Goat Simulator 3.

@PegasusActual93 personally, I think the fact every culture has spirits and demons in them is a sign that they might be real. Japan being a key example.

@GirlVersusGame that’s a really interesting take. I personally wouldn’t dabble at all in it. I think there is a real battle between good and evil, light and dark, and that it takes place in the spiritual realm and “leaks out” into our reality. So it’s interesting to see from someone who actually dabbles that you understand there is good and bad.

@Oram77 the original Silent Hill freaked me out as a kid and that was just from watching my friend play it. There is no way I’m gonna play it by myself. Haha

Question: is 2 scarier than 1?

TLOU1 was about the limit of what I can handle horror wise. So if this is more scary, I don’t wanna start it.

I don’t think Kojima is joking (well, maybe he is about the award).

But he really believes in ghosts.

Death Stranding and this new game both give off weird vibes like he’s tapped into something spiritually. This new game far more so, like he’s delving deep into the horror.

It’s not good to dabble with the demonic. No matter how impressive that trailer was.

The blonde guy looks like a Team America character.

@nessisonett Miles Morales is currently on PS Plus.

My son was playing it the other day to my surprise.

@EfYI Oh, he was meaning that the people who don’t like the games are mentally stunted?

I read his comment and thought he was calling it a crap selection and that people who liked these games were mentally stunted.

You’re brave for replying directly to him, because he’s kinda scary and stuff…

Ah, screw it.

Hey @Danbottomburp what did you actually mean?

I know you don’t care, but, some of us really can’t move on with our day without knowing your opinion.