Matthewnh

I am surprised that anyone has a PS3 anymore.

Because I replaced mine with my first PS4, when they came out. Which is eleven years ago. The PS3 was first introduced in 2007.

Sorry to be rude, but honestly it is time to move on. I feel that making consoles “backward-compatible” basically hamstrings them, preventing the technology from reaching its full potential.

And nostalgia is not what it used to be.
As other commentators have pointed out, it is time to let go.

As @Rich33 put it, nothing is too big to fail.

Pan Am
Blockbuster
Toys R Us
Kodak
BlackBerry
MySpace
Nokia
Polaroid
Compaq

And that’s just off the top of my head.
I’ve got more.

Ironically, the fact that a company is too big would usually be the very reason it fails.

If anybody believes that our governments are remotely interested in protecting children, then answer this question:

“Why do our governments no longer show any interest in the activities of Jeffrey Epstein, now that he is very conveniently dead?”

It is strange that this list is quite so detailed. They seem to have a very precise idea of what needed fixing.

It seems possible that some executive insisted upon releasing the game in it’s present state, and refused to give the team another week, in which to polish it.

I have been reading some of the comments, and although I understand the government’s point of view, in this regard I am very much libertarian.

I say, less government interference, and let consenting adults do as they please.

The kind of content that goes far beyond “erotica/pornography” is already illegal. For good reasons. But that does not stop people from accessing it if they desperately want to.

As other commenters have said, anybody with the slightest knowledge of computer networking could likely get around this ban by using a VPN.

The “British government” have their priorities all wrong.

The British government sends weapons and equipment thousands of miles so that a group of psychopathic racists can slaughter their neighbours in peace. Then attack and arrest anyone with enough compassion to stand up for the basic human rights of those people being slaughtered.

And at home, the British government refuses to arrest a large network of people abusing children, because to do so would appear racist.

Utter Hypocrisy.

I am not sure this comment will actually get posted, and I apologise for my rant. But I am naturally frustrated by the state of the world at the moment, as any right-thinking person should be.

I remember the review score for “Gollum” being really very low.
So I went back and checked.

Gollum received a review score of 2/10, compared with Minds(Black)Eye receiving a 3/10.

So there is at least ONE game that is objectively worse than MindsEye. Faint praise, I suppose.

But I still think the best thing is to simply give it a miss. And I had actually had high hopes for this one.

Absolutely love this game.

Not sure how it will play in third-person, but it will be interesting to find out.

Will it make the game easier, or not? Will third person mode just end up feeling like tomb raider? Or Uncharted?

It might prove useful, so hopefully you will get the option to toggle it on or off.

For me, not being able to see your created character was not a big deal, and I found the first person point of view to be really immersive.

I thought it was odd that your character is not actually an Avatar, though.

So UbiSoft’s message to their customers :

“Here is our brand new game.
It is £75.00, on the latest and most advanced hardware
We have purposefully made sure that is no fun at all.
If you would like the fun version, please pay us more money”.

Except, in french, I assume.

These people really need to work on their PR.

I never particularly liked the very first AC game. And did not play any more of them, until AC Origins. Which I love, due to the attention to detail, the historical accuracy of Ancient Egypt.

Not having the same interest in the later, new time-periods, I have actually skipped all of the other new games. So Origins remains the only AC game I have played, and I have done so several times.

Perhaps this is the reason that I really enjoy the movie, because I have little interest in the convoluted backstory of AC lore, and because game-wise, I only wanted to enjoy exploring Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs.

Actually, I think that one of the stuntmen on the movie might actually hold a world record, for the longest continual swan-dive. A free-fall of 125 feet, lasting four seconds.

This marketing is so misleading, that I was not even aware this game was an “action shooter”.

I was expecting a third-person adventure game, similar to Watch Dogs or Syndicate Wars.

We have all known for some time that game discs are basically a physical copy of the license to download the game.

Which is ironic. Or is that “moronic”?

But that said, I will add two things.

1. I will always prefer to have disc copies of games, over downloads, wherever possible.

2. I will flatly refuse to ever buy a console that does not possess some form of disc drive.

This might very well mean that the PS5 is the last PlayStation that I shall own.

I watched the first season of this show. Looking forward to more. I very much enjoyed it.

Perhaps it just appeals to my sense of humour?

Perhaps it actually helps that I have not played any of the Fallout games?

This looks incredible.

Sure, it is video….and not actual gameplay, but considering what Rockstar managed to accomplish last time, this will be awesome.

Especially as we now know that there is still a year to go. The attention-to-detail in RDR2 was just astonishing. But this looks vastly superior to even those high standards.

This is a shame.
Especially since Knights of the Old Republic were the only two games I was actually interested in.

I already own a PS5 (the original version).

I would like to replace it with a PS5 Pro at some point. I expect to have to pay at least £1000 pounds for it in total. For the console, spare DualSense, maybe some new software. And a disc drive.

I am in no rush.

I am not particularly interested in this Until Dawn movie. I just do not see the point in it. The interactive experience, the player’s decisions, are what actually matter.

Why bother making a mediocre movie, based upon a clever game? A game that was openly influenced by far better movies.

But I agree entirely, that not giving credit to the original creators of the work is awful. Is it a money issue? Royalties?

But this happens a lot in Hollywood, doesn’t it? How many films are remakes of previous work, and do not acknowledge the original writers?

For instance, did Martin Scorsese and William Monahan credit the writers of Infernal Affairs, when they wrote The Departed?

All that this suggests to me is that Bethesda has done a fairly basic port. I get the sense that very little attempt was made to actually “optimise” the PS5 version.

My internal SSD still has 520GB of free space. And I imagine that more people will invest in an SSD expansion as games get larger and more complicated.

But after all, if I was really interested in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, then I would have undoubtedly bought the XBox version by now.

@themightyant

Good call with Urban Chaos.
That game was great. I had almost totally forgotten about that one.

People who voted for the new Kingdom Come Deliverance II, clearly do not understand the meaning of the word “Influential”.

These lists prove to me that either people have short memories, or I am getting old. Maybe both.

For me influential games are things like -

GTA 3
Broken Sword
Monkey Island
Duke Nukem 3D
Eye of the Beholder
Elite

As in, actually having had some influence on subsequent releases.

The trouble is that I believe the only people who would be interested in seeing a Horizon film adaptation are those people who have enjoyed the games.

I also feel that condensing the lore and the story into a film that was at most three hours long - it would make it a complete muddle. Watering down the convoluted plot of a forty-hour science fiction archaeofuturist game into a movie length experience, seems like an impossible task.

And making that plot into a feature film that the general public (those without experience of the source material) want to see?

I fear that to me this all sounds like a waste of time.

A perfect parallel would be the recent Dune films. A monumental epic of a novel, made into a pair of films that are over six hours long. And they still took liberties with the plot. And if you have not read the book, then large portions of dialogue (specialist terminology) just sounds like gibberish.

Resistance Fall of Man was just fantastic. Would like to give those games another go. An updated edition of the whole trilogy sounds like an excellent idea.

Especially considering I missed out on the third one.

I would also love to see the Dragon Age games given an update, even if it is only the first two. But that won’t happen, will it?

The trouble is that the original Dragon Age games use a completely unique engine. Too bad there is no-one left at BioWare that knows how to use it.

How about some more Mirrors Edge? Or a rebuild of the PS3 original?

The description reminds me of Watch Dogs.

But I really like the idea of Story-focussed Single Player.

So no more Hogwarts Legacy content, then.

At least we got a few extras, and the Haunted Shop side quest too. Although I found that one frustrating, rather than actually fun.

Let Avalanche pour all of their magic into the sequel. I cannot wait to see what they come up with.

There was that side quest in the first Judgment game, about a guy that stole panties from washing lines. Gave him superpowers!

This weirdly seems to take that idea, and turn it into an entire game.

What is it about Japanese culture? Half of it is brilliant, creative, inventive, and the other half is just plain crazy?

I think that I will give this game a miss, thankyou very much.

I played through The Order, more than once. I thought it was a really good game.

Yes, it was short, but at least you actually got to see the end of the story.

The visuals and the artistic style were just gorgeous, at the time. For an early PS4 game.

If not a sequel, then how about a remake?

I would like Ninja Theory to remake Heavenly Sword, as well. That was another great-looking fun game.
Hopefully somebody will do a remake, with PS5 visuals.

@Boxmonkey

Well, they sold one, at least.

I bought a new copy of Until Dawn, but only because I lost the PS4 version when I moved house last year. I have not got around to replaying it yet.

I do not like the idea of “live service” games, in particular.

I cannot actually understand how Horizon could function as a “live service”. Perhaps they are trying to go down the route of “co-operative” play, like Monster Hunter? And have no story at all?

But “live service” will always make me think of Concord, and Anthem. Two huge disappointments.

Preordered my copy of this one, last week.

Have not played the demo just yet. I might give it a go,

I have played the Dragon Age games, and the Mass Effect series many times. I replay the games in order to see what consequences my choices have.

I do like to see as much of these games, as much of the story as possible.

I have also replayed Hogwarts Legacy several times, but was disappointed that there is only one ending.

I very rarely use Rest Mode. Most often, my PS5 is turned off, outright.

I will only ever use Rest Mode if something is actually downloading at the time.

I have to admit that I do not understand the level of hatred for these games. That might be the wrong word. That is to say, I find the games enjoyable, if a little repetitive after a while.

I remain sceptical about the movie, however. Simply because I do not understand how the games could translate well into a two-and-half hour film.

There is also the fact that a lot of the backstory is convoluted, and almost impenetrable. I cannot imagine it would appeal to newcomers, without being greatly watered down.

But I imagine that the same thing could have been said of the two recent “Dune” films.

In fact, 84GB is not that bad. It is to be expected as games get more complicated.

For comparison, Hogwarts Legacy is 81GB, Black Myth WuKong is 108GB, and Horizon Forbidden West is 130GB.

I have 21 PS5 games in my library. They take up a total of 1.22TB on my M2 SSD storage.

It is not for me.

I have both consoles, a PS5 and a Series X.

And I doubt that I would be able to tell this new joypad apart from the DualSense.

It leaves me wondering if those in charge at Xbox still have original ideas.

But there is a saying - Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

@riceNpea

I had the Amiga 500 Plus. A great machine. Fantastic games for it, as well.

I sank ages into Frontier, the sequel to Elite. I only replaced the Amiga, once I bought a PlayStation.

This begs the question, why would anyone choose to buy a Series S? But then, I always prefer physical games, so do not understand why anybody would buy a console without a disc drive. But that is personal preference.

I suppose the difference between the X and the S, is similar to the difference between PS5 and PS5 Pro.

Now there is a thought. Will there be a “Series X Pro”? Someday?

The only one of these that I have played so far is Horizon Zero Dawn (remake). Sure, it looks very nice, but it is exactly the same game as it was in 2017 (seven years ago).

I am disappointed that an award for the Best Remake/Best Remaster is even necessary.

Although I cannot speak for anybody else, I would much rather developers focus their efforts into making new and original games, not simply making their old ones look and perform better.

You listed nine games to vote for. I have only played one of them.

I have played Dragon Age Veilguard. And that was the XBox version!

Although I did play the original version of Silent Hill 2. On the PS2, wasn’t it?

You can see why I have decided not to cast my vote.

Happy new year, everybody.

I have a few days off, over the Christmas period, but I am actually at work Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, and over New Year.

I bought myself Black Myth Wukong, as a present. So I will start that over the holiday.

Merry Christmas everybody. Hope you all enjoy the holiday.

I voted for both GTA 6 and Indiana Jones.

And I agree with @FuriousMachine. Also looking forward to Exodus, most of all.

Perhaps some news of the next Mass Effect, as well? It has been ages since we heard anything at all.

I would like to learn more about Savage Starlight, so maybe a game based upon that?

I read Liam’s quote “It’s all about the future”.

I take that statement implies that right now this PS5 Pro upgrade is unnecessary, because the software that takes full advantage of it is not yet available.

But I suppose that it also means that it is reasonably “future-proof”.

I am not entirely sold on the idea yet. Plus, if I did buy a PS5 Pro, I know that I would also need to upgrade my television.

And basically that is just too much for me right now.

@Fiendish-Beaver

I get the feeling that many years have passed between the two games. I doubt that the Inquisitor plays any significant part in the events of the new game.

But perhaps there is a way to set out previous choices and backstory? Even for the sake of continuity. Some of the events of Inquisition must still have consequences, or else why bother?

But I agree, I shall stick with the same platform, once next week comes around.

I shall buy my copy of Veilguard, once I get paid next week. I shall buy the Xbox version.

Only because I have all of the other Dragon Age games on Xbox.

I am not certain that Veilguard is going to be quite as good as Inquisition, but I want to play it, with an open mind, to find out.

The trailer was cartoonish, and the dialogue sounds cheesy, but the videos of actual gameplay look amazing.

And Hogwarts Legacy is still selling well, I see, over a year after release. Let’s hope that Veilguard is as good as Hogwarts.

That is a good decision. I think he will make an excellent replacement.

If they had chosen Keith David, although he is undoubtedly a great actor, I would always be reminded of Admiral Anderson (the character he voiced in Mass Effect). For me that would be far too distracting.

Although, I feel that trying to imitate or replicate Reddick’s rather unique voice is going to be difficult indeed.

I am rather hoping that Sylens’ appearance and character models do not alter as well. Hopefully, the family shall still give permission for Reddick’s likeness to be used?

I have to admit, seeing Erend Vanguardsman as a Lego miniature was just brilliant.

That might be worth the price of this game on its own.

8 out 10.

Only got answers to questions 3 and 8 wrong.
Probably best score yet.

So what are odds that Sony will try to recoup their losses, by lowering the price of the PS5 Pro, in an effort to sell as many as possible?

Yeah, probably zero chance of that.

Sounds excellent. Much better than I expected, actually.
This is going to be my Christmas present to myself.

Considering that mass effect 2 and inquisition are some of my all time favourites, this sounds just perfect.

Microsoft has really scored an “own goal” with GamePass, I feel.

Why would developers write software for Xbox, if Microsoft are only going to give it away for free?

I have no actual bias, however. I own both a PS5 and a Series X. The PS5 is getting far more use right now, but I will eventually get around to playing Starfield’s Shattered Space expansion.

I have zero interest in “Live Service” games. Having got seriously burned by Anthem.

But surely for every GTA Online, there should also be a Hogwarts Legacy, or Wo Long.

I will always prefer deep and emotional single player stories such as Uncharted.

I think that if this concept of “live service” pay-as-you-play was used in any other industry, it would be called out as a scam.