Comments 131

Re: Ubisoft's Avatar Will Finally Release on PS5 by March 2024

Master_Shake

Ubisoft is so bizarre to me. They are going to release 5 AAA Games and I couldn't care less about any of them. Another AC, a racing game, a generic shooter, Skull & Bones, and a game around Avatar. They have almost 20,000 employees and none of it matters to me. Hopefully 2024 brings something more compelling.

Re: Soapbox: I No Longer Think Subscriptions Like PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Are the Future of Gaming

Master_Shake

I believe game subscription services will grow but I disagree on the idea that it will takeover and replace conventional purchasing of games. The idea that rental is just better than purchase for games is something that just doesn't work the same as other forms of media. My biggest reason for this has always been that the demand for subscription commitment was singularly about Sony. This energy has never been heavily focused on either Nintendo or Steam. Those two purchase only models are untouched by a need to change. Which to me shows that there was never that much confidence in the takeover theory in the first place.

Re: Reaction: Sony Continues to Fumble the State of Play Format

Master_Shake

"In the end, this State of Play felt like a box-checking exercise: contractual obligations and exposure for a handful of titles that wouldn’t normally get this kind of spotlight."

Sony isn't failing to understand the format. They are using the format exactly as they intend to. The community still hasn't adjusted to understanding that this is what State of Plays are. The community wants this to be something else but for Sony's purposes it works just fine.

Re: Talking Point: We Need to Discuss This Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 Remaster

Master_Shake

Three Things:

1. As always, Sony doesn't actually need to do anything because the reality of its projects in development will tell their own story. If they have the games then however long they wait will ultimately be irrelevant. If they don't, then that will do all the real damage to Sony. We were told Sony had to get in front of rumors of no games at launch by having a reveal in February or March. That if they didn't then Sony lost the gen already. Flash forward to June and the showcase did everything they needed and those that told us that Sony's silence meant they had nothing were themselves silent.

2. As with many occasions so far, the outrage has at its basis something other then the incident itself. In this case it goes back to people wanting to know more and being impatient. Sony is apparently so creatively bankrupt that in the last few days we know they are making HFW DLC, HZD multiplayer, and we already knew about the VR game. We already know about GOWR, Spider-Man, and Wolverine but these aren't new games... Neither were R&C or Returnal. The statement on the supposed creative bankruptcy is already incorrect for recent past, present, and future. This is the power of impatience.

3. If you want to know what Sony is doing, they are using synergy for multiple projects around their IP. TLOUR, MP, and the Show. HZDR, MP, VR, and the Show are the gameplan. The remakes don't feel necessary to you because Sony's pitch with these is to bring in new fans.

If you want to know "What is Sony even doing?" They are ignoring the impatient cries and working on their own timetable knowing that for all the bluster, if they end up delivering content then all of the noise goes away because all of the noise is built on fear of no content. Show Don't Tell is going to be the way under Jim Ryan because he's not charismatic but he is doing his job when it comes to getting quality content together.

Re: Final Fantasy 16 Producer Knows That Its Combat System Won't Satisfy Everyone

Master_Shake

I like both but the thing that gets lost without a command system is the feeling of being in control of a team. That is a sensation I always remember when playing a good JRPG. The Trails, Persona, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Tales Of series each try their own way of maintaining that sensation. I hope Final Fantasy can still maintain it. They did a pretty good job with FF7 Remake so I hope future iterations find a way.

Re: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Trailer Kicks off PS5, PS4 Pre-Orders

Master_Shake

@kpenders I imagine it went something like this: "We'll sue you for breach of contract."

I will agree that the video game market is fragile in the face of monopolization but I suppose that is the case for all industries. Compose all the titans together under one roof and no one else can survive. That's why we originally got the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in the first place. The steel and oil industries certainly couldn't survive if nothing had been done.

Re: Reaction: Why You Shouldn't Worry About Sony's New Strategy

Master_Shake

Sony is changing and the fanbase, especially PushSquare's comment section, fear that change. That fear along with the general media belief that the cycle of winner of the prior gen has to be humbled the following gen has led to a huge amount of pessimism toward Sony.

From the beginning of the gen, Sony has been assumed to fail at everything they try. It was supposed to launch with no games, be delayed, have heating problems, and be underpowered. That was never realistic but we kept assuming the worst. All of that negativity continues to now. Sony's plan isn't the problem. A version of Sony that still makes its great SP games but adds live services like FF14, Destiny, Fall Guys, etc. is a benefit to gamers and protects Sony from losing out to MS's moneyhatting third party studios. But that is assuming Sony executes the plan successfully.

If you go with pessimism that all of Sony's choices will backfire or be poorly executed then no plan would succeed. So for my view, I think Sony just has to weather the storm of pessimism similar to launch, stick with the plan, and show people its commitment. It won't win over people using PR or Optics. It will win them over only after they prove their ideas. That's why I ignore so much of the moaning and respect Sony's silence. Some things you can't convince people of, you can only show them the results.

Re: The Last of Us PS5 Remake Allegedly a Major Holiday Release

Master_Shake

@Nightcrawler71 According to Jason Schrier they are doing a new IP. It is just a division between the large Technical staff and the Creative staff. The Creative staff is in preproduction for a new IP so the Technical staff needed something to do until it reaches full production. Sony decided to give them the Remake to work on since they just came off of TLOU2 and are familiar with it.

Re: Unannounced Remake Project Added to Naughty Dog Employee's Resume

Master_Shake

I would remind people that according to Jason Schrier's interview on the Minn-Max show that Naughty Dog are working on a new IP. That he reported the reason this remake came about is that it was started by a support studio. That it ran over budget and that Sony set the large technical staff of ND on the project after TLOU2 to "feed the beast" i.e. give them something to do while the creative staff got out of preproduction on the new IP.

Re: Reaction: Sony's Biggest Problem Is Consumer Relations

Master_Shake

I disagree with this article. Sony is changing and the fanbase is skeptical of both the changes and the leadership (Jim Ryan especially). The only way to address that is to muddle through the changes.

The drip-feed of information is due to the fact that these changes don't happen overnight. Sony is integrating multiple new studios, launching a revamped service, launching a revamped major peripheral, attempting to grow at live services and multiplayer games, as well as the general difficulty of a new console all through a chip shortage and pandemic. They have chosen to give information when they can confirm it and I respect that approach.

The internet fanbase is not going to care about what Sony says no matter how they say it. The aren't going to believe in these changes as they happen. They will only believe in the results on the other side. For that reason, I think Sony is right to ignore the negativity and just keep pushing.

Re: Crunchyroll Absorbing All Funimation Content for Ultimate Anime Library

Master_Shake

@RevGaming When I say monopoly I don't mean that it has exclusive ownership over everything. I mean monopoly as in it has enough control so that no competitor can effectively fight against them should they start to engage in bad practices. This is the definition of monopoly that lead to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It is also what people feel MS may have if they could fully make the Activision-Blizzard content exclusive. Sony has so much control over anime now that if they wanted to raise price significantly, those other competitors can't really push back. So much content is owned by one company that anime fans would just have to take it knowing it they would otherwise have to miss out on like 80% of the content.

Re: PS5, PS4's Revamped PS Plus Sub Allegedly Outlined in Report

Master_Shake

Probably, $60, $80, $100 annually which isn't bad. As far as the services themselves, it seems just like Jason originally reported. Seems okay to me. Subscribing to Premium is entirely based on the library of classic games and if they are streaming only. If not, then its same old PS Plus or "Essential" for me.