Comments 534

Re: Spider-Man Creative Director Speaks Out on Peter Parker's New Face Following Backlash

MS7000

@torne "In this particular case with the face recast, no, it probably does not matter much in the grand scheme of things."

As I said in my previous comment, and quoted above, I can agree that the face thing is blown out of proportion. But that is not the main problem I have (though I prefer the old likeness). As far as I am concerned, it is just another example of the hunt for realism hindering games rather than helping, which is a far bigger problem in my eyes (although perhaps a personal problem, but again, if I have a problem, I should say as no one else will). It is amazing the detail that some games can achieve, but it irks me when that comes at the expense of the overall experience, whether that be framerate, or gameplay.

I am also against the remaster since I give Nintendo crap for this regularly (porting/remastering Wii U titles as opposed to new games), so it is only fair I do the same to Sony (Microsoft have probably done this too, biut I don't follow them enough for specific examples).

Just to note though: If there are those who are threatening/being rude to devs as a result of this, they need to rethink what they are doing, and be more polite. They are being as useful as an ice ashtray.

Re: Spider-Man Creative Director Speaks Out on Peter Parker's New Face Following Backlash

MS7000

@torne @jmac1686 If people do not voice concerns and disagreements when they have them, the same situation will recur because developers get the idea that people are fine with it. DLC, microtransactions, and exclusive preorder content are all practices which have been normalised over time because not enough people disagree, or at least say as such. Voting with your wallet is not enough, stuff like this needs to be called out so that others can look and judge for themselves.

In this particular case with the face recast, no, it probably does not matter much in the grand scheme of things. Nor does my opinion of the need for a remaster matter by itself (although I would much prefer they made another new game alongside Miles Morales, perhaps another superhero?).I will still say I disagree in the faintest hope that the devs/publishers will be more considerate in the future. If you think that is embarassing and whiny, then that is unfortunate, but no one else is going to say this for me, so I need to say it myself regardless of whether it changes anything. It is not like I am being disrespectful or calling people "whiny bitches", or sending death threats.

Re: Spider-Man Creative Director Speaks Out on Peter Parker's New Face Following Backlash

MS7000

@get2sammyb Well, was it needed? Again, a 2 year old game. Are people really that desperate for ray tracing? If you want the remaster, cool. But again, I do not feel this was needed.

Regarding Insomniac now doing too much as opposed to not enough, it still feels like they have not done enough, and this recast does not add enough to justify the remaster. If anything, it takes away.

Re: Get a Good Look at Spider-Man's New Face in Remastered PS5 Cutscene

MS7000

@God_of_Nowt That is well and good for the original, but what about Miles Morales (if Peter does appear) and the sequel? That guy you liked from the first game, nah, **** that guy, here is this other guy instead.

Might not matter to you, and if so, good for you. But people obviously disagree that this was a good decision.

Re: Gamers Will Happily Pay $70 for PS5 Games, Argues Analyst

MS7000

With the exception of Persona 5 Royal, I don't think I have ever brought a PS4 game at launch price. Heck, there are some Nintendo games I don't buy at launch price although I am most likely to do so with them.

I find it hard to believe that I am the only one who thinks like this. I can't see $70 and equivalent (probably £70 because normally they seemingly just change the symbol) will stay as average price for long.

Re: SEGA's Making a Live Action Yakuza Movie

MS7000

I would love this to be great, but I would be lying if I said I was expecting greatness. If anything, a meh will probably be a good outcome in regards to my expectations.

Theoretically it could work but I am doubtful.

Re: Rumour: Bloodborne Remaster Is Real, Coming to PS5 and PC

MS7000

Again, I give Nintendo crap for this with the Wii U remasters. If this is true, what the hell Sony?

Is the industry so close to running out of ideas that they are reduced to spit-shining games from the previous generation? Just make new games for crying out loud.

Re: PS5 Game Install Sizes Revealed, And They're Enormous

MS7000

@David187 No, the speed isn't my issue, I am aware the SSD is going to be faster (although part of my comment does seem strange with the benefit of hindsight). As I said, I am lazy, I do not particularly want to constantly swap games on the SSD. I can be fairly whimisical about what I want to play, so knowing more button presses will be involved if I want to play a game I haven't played in a while is unappealing. It is more of a personal problem perhaps but... shrug

Re: PS5 Game Install Sizes Revealed, And They're Enormous

MS7000

Maybe I am lazy, but this sounds like PS5 will have a lot of hard drive management, especially if PS5 games need to be on the SSD, which I can't be bothered with. With other consoles, the games were either so small that reinstalling wasn't a problem, the games didn't need to be installed, or I could always get bigger storage. Not sure I like the idea of being stuck to a small storage space.

Re: Sony Believes in Generations, But Confirmed a Bunch of PS5 Games for PS4

MS7000

@Baz12345 Hmmm, but Ratchet and Clank came out on PS4 in April 2016. =P

Seriously though, how is my comment "spreading rumours"? All my comment said was that the next thing Jimmy Jim Jam will tell us is that it is not as impossible on PS4 as they first made it out to be. I never said anything about it being confirmed at this moment, just that given the trend of PS5 games being crossgen, it would not surprise me if they confirm the new Ratchet and Clank for PS4 too.

Re: Poll: Did You Buy a PlayStation at Launch 25 Years Ago?

MS7000

About 3 months before my time, so no. Sister had one but threw it away for some reason.

Now that I think about it, the only console that I brought on launch day was the Switch, the next closest being my 3DS a day after release, and the Wii U about 2-3 weeks after launch. Otherwise, all the consoles I have brought have been someway into their lifecycle.

Re: Soapbox: Games As a Service Should Be Embraced, Not Misunderstood

MS7000

@SirAngry From my understanding with FIFA, Ultimate Team does not carry over between games, so as a result, people start over from scratch eveytime. So why would EA make a subscription service when not only are people more than willing to pay $60 a year for the game (you could argue this is a subscription fee), but the players start from scratch everytime with their UT experience? With a subscription service, whilst the revenue would be constant, I doubt it would be as much since no need to start UT from scratch.

@kyleforrester87 it’s rarely discussed because it’s blatantly obvious and a none issue for the majority of people. The vocal minority will get their knickers in a twist over “losing ownership” but most people don’t give a crap and would rather sacrifice certain things to gain others. Again, it comes down to a lack of willingness to accept change by the consumer as much as it is publishers and developers taking the piss with extortionate pricing and dodgy tactics. Somewhere in the middle is progress.

I feel like you are correct that people who care about ownership are in the minority, but that begs the question; what do people like me who disagree with the general direction that gaming is going do short of leaving gaming for good? Do we just shut up and accept it? Publishers would be jumping for joy at the logic. Progress is not a bad thing in of itself, but progress for the sake of progress is stupid. It is the same attitude of indifference which has led to practices like DLC and microtransactions and lootboxes becoming common.

As much as I like seeing others enjoy games, and as selfish as it is for me to say it; I feel like gaming becoming mainstream was the worse thing to happen to it. There are too many people who play games now because of how accessible it is, who do not care for the politics of gaming. Why would developers or companies listen to us, when they have a lot more people, who make up a much larger audience, who see gaming experiences as little more than disposable such as going to the cinema?

Re: Soapbox: Games As a Service Should Be Embraced, Not Misunderstood

MS7000

@LiamCroft I still feel like your definition of GaaS is too broad. A game having DLC does not inherently make it GaaS. Otherwise, where is Oblivion's latest DLC? It has been a few years after all. I thought that would also fit GaaS by your own definition.

What commonly separates games with DLC from GaaS is the idea of the game constantly evolving to the point where even the base experience is no longer the same. Street Fighter V could be considered GaaS, as that game is constantly evolving; it has weekly challenges which you either play to earn in game currency, or you pay to play with said currency to earn other content such as costumes. Said content is then unavailable beyond that week, possibly forever (unless I am mistaken, I cannot get the "Asura" costume for Kage now as I was not playing the game at a certain time about a year ago). The game also has new mechanics and moves such as a second V Trigger when the game originally featured one for each character. Not to mention balance patches. The game experience is different now from when I first played ages ago with some content even being no longer available; the inherent nature of a service is what it offers over time changes; this is true for games too.

If we look at Witcher 3, the game itself has not changed over time. The mechanics have stayed the same, and the 16 free DLCs you are referring to was done over a very short period after launch. By the definition which you have in quotations from Wikipedia, the game would not qualify as a service since the game does not offer new content frequently over a long period of time. Most importantly, the base game has not been altered, just additional content thrown on type. Even the expansions whilst they may offer something new, do not change anything about the original game.

Witcher 3 is like adding chocolate sauce on ice-cream; you can still see the individual parts and acknowledge and enjoy them for what they are. Meanwhile, GaaS is a smoothie; it may have started as individual fruits, but the form has changed so much that it is impossible to tell what it was before at a glance.

I feel like I am rambling now, so I shall stop there for now.

Re: Soapbox: Games As a Service Should Be Embraced, Not Misunderstood

MS7000

@get2sammyb "What if I remembered how much I loved Crazy Taxi and then went to play it and the core experience was there, as I remember it? But now I had a ton new drivers to try out, a bunch of ways to customise my taxis, an additional branch of Crazy Box minigames to complete, and a whole new map to explore?"

That would be nice, but it is a moot point because the content would never be free, either because you are paying for it yourself, or because what people in the industry like to call "whales", spend so much on the industry that they can develop the content and release it as "free" for everyone else.

GaaS CAN theoretically be done in a "pro consumer" fashion (in that sense, I would say Liam has a point), but there is no incentive for a game company to do so. And even when it seems like companies are doing this correctly, you could argue that what actually happened is content has been held back on purpose to give the illusion that you are getting extra content for free. Just because something has the potential for good, does not mean it will be, and the industry has given plenty of examples of how GaaS are anti-consumer.

GaaS being good is pointless to think about when the only logical use for it as a business, is to make more money. I do not think GaaS is misunderstood; I think the general understanding and fear of them is fair, and even if GaaS is misunderstood, it is entirely a problem of the industries own making.

Re: Soapbox: Games As a Service Should Be Embraced, Not Misunderstood

MS7000

Just realised I never commented on the situation with Crystal Dynamics reportedly offering content for free. They may do in the beginning, but only until the point where the game itself no longer sells for full price. Once we reach that point, I fully expect CD to do what every other GaaS does, and add microtransactions and other shady monetisation practices to make the game worth developing for.

Re: Soapbox: Games As a Service Should Be Embraced, Not Misunderstood

MS7000

I feel like we are arguing about semantics here. The definition given in the article feels too broad.

Also, in the hypothetical situation that there are no caveats to getting more content such as extra characters and the like, there is also the problem that content may not be as consistent since the team will most likely constantly change throughout development. At least with developing individual titles, there is a shared vision which should lead into a solid game even if the experience is ultimately finite.

I also personally do not like "Games as a Service" as the nature of how "Games as a Service" works, renders physical media in a weaker position, as it will never contain the whole game. Probably won't mean much to the average player nowadays, but I still prefer physical, so games that are constantly changing just irk me.

Re: Everyone's Talking About PS5's Price Again

MS7000

Price has been a sticking point for me in general, though at this point, I think regardless of price I still won't be buying this at launch. I will wait for the time being until I think it is worth my time, or I somehow magically run out of PS4 games to play (huge backlog, so doubtful).

Re: AT&T Attaches $1 Billion Price Tag to Crunchyroll as Sony Seeks to Complete Anime Empire

MS7000

Given that Sony already own Funimation, this makes me uncomfortable. To be fair though, Crunchyroll is not a service I use; I believe I have mentioned this before, but I despise subscription services. What I do is I typically wait for recommendations from a friend who more actively watches anime than me, then I just buy the Blu-ray/DVDs and watch that way.

More expensive? Probably in the long run compared to what you would get otherwise. But I don't actively follow anime enough to justify paying the subscription (and again, I hate, HATE, subscriptions).

Re: Control Locks Free PS5 Upgrade Behind Ultimate Edition

MS7000

@GADG3Tx87 Agreed. Although like many things in the industry, this will soon become normal. Companies have mastered the art of going two steps forward and one step back when called out. Time marches ever forward.

I hope I am wrong of course, but I don't think I will be.

Re: How Well Do You Know Naughty Dog?

MS7000

3/10, all 3 were guesses. To be fair, despite the supposed reputation, I have only ever played Uncharted 1 and TLOU. Don't particularly know them that well as a result.

Re: Oh Boy, There'll Be a Backlash to This Marvel's Avengers Trailer

MS7000

"Micosoft mde tumb raidr exlusive, so y Sny getin calld out fo it?"

Probably because this practice sucks regardless of who does it?

Exclusive games? Sure, only a good thing as far as I am concerned.

Timed exclusives and ongoing perks for one particular platform? S****y. It accomplishes nothing because all you are doing is either making someone wait for no reason, or you are purposely making all versions bar one inferior. If you are planning on being multiplatform, you should be aiming for parity as much as possible. No one benefits from timed-exclusives or exclusive perks.