Comments 409

Re: Sony's Acquisition of Bungie Continues to Be Questioned as Destiny 2 Falls Off a Cliff

Neither_scene

@SeaDaVie just look at the reviews for destiny content, destiny lives and dies on player engagement. The latest expansion may have had decent pre-order numbers but the vast majority of players found it underwhelming compared to past efforts. I know a lot of people were holding on to see how it would play out, I also know a lot of people who won’t be returning for the next.

I dropped the game after the final shape launched - enjoyed the ride but was happy to have a reason to stop playing (conclusion of the light and dark saga). I’ve had absolutely no desire to engage with anything bungie have pushed out since.

Yes, the game is still making money, but at the expense of any goodwill felt by the ever dwindling player base. Player numbers might be at an all time low, but so too is player sentiment.

Re: 'Told You So': Ex-FTC Chair Lina Khan Is Having the Last Laugh Over Xbox's Activision Acquisition

Neither_scene

So what she’s saying is Microsoft have been the only company to layoff staff, close studios and raise prices within the gaming industry over the past few years…

I mean this applies to the whole industry. Closer to home, Sony closed fire walk studios and neon koi in 2024 whilst also making significant layoffs this year at Bend studios. They also cut 900 positions across geurilla, firesprite, naughty dog and insomniac during 2024. PlayStation has increased both hardware and subscription service pricing - the PS5 was cheapest the year of its release (madness).

Microsoft aren’t doing this because they have a dominant position within the market (they don’t) due to their acquisitions- they’re doing it as a reflection of the current state of the industry and because they significantly undervalued the cost of gamepass.

Re: Silent Hill F Is Another Game That Stumbles on PS5 Pro

Neither_scene

@revansgc you’re an early adopter, the price you pay for getting advanced first gen tech (pssr) is that there’s going to be teething issues.

It’s not being punished so much as being a minority user base within the ps5 ecosystem. First party titles are afforded the time and money to properly cater to the pro. Third party have limited time and resources and would rather spend those on the significantly larger portion of the player base.

Re: Metal Gear Solid Delta Sneaks Past the One Million Sales Milestone in First 24 Hours

Neither_scene

And this is why performance optimisations are very often an afterthought - the average consumer will still purchase a title, even if it performs like crap.

I’ll probably pick this up next year on sale and hopefully after some patches - my pc should be able to brute force 60fps, but it should be capable of so much more. I refuse to pay full price for something that’s shipped with barely any optimisation.

Re: 'There's No Real Need for a PS6': Industry Veteran Weighs in on Next-Gen Debate

Neither_scene

@LifeGirl especially true if the next Xbox happens to be a pc aimed at the console market. I’ll either be building a new pc or investing in the next Xbox if it supports steam and offers sufficient improvements over my current pc.

I’ll keep my current ps5 for first party titles as long as PlayStation continue to support it. This is assuming that PlayStation don’t eventually adopt a multiplatform day-one approach like Microsoft.

Re: Metal Gear Solid Delta's Dismal PS5 Pro Support Could Use a Rethink

Neither_scene

It always blows my mind how one of the most widely adopted engines in the industry also happens to be one of the worst performing in the industry.

It undoubtedly has the largest number of developers using it - hence you’d imagine there’d be thousands of “experts” who specialise in unreal development.

Secondly, it has to have access to the highest R&D spend of any engine thanks to its wide usage and licensing revenue (evidenced by the frequent “unreal feature-set” videos and updates).

Either the engine is absolute trash and isn’t fit for purpose, or every dev using it is completely incompetent (something I have a hard time believing).

Re: Simple Death Stranding 2 PS5 Patch 1.08 Fixes Camera Issues

Neither_scene

@Jammer my ps5 has also been placed vertically since purchase. I’m saying that the degradation of the Liquid Metal could be compounding the issue and leading to overheating as this is not being experienced by everyone.

If it hasn’t degraded you’re safe from the overheating issue, if it has, running the unlocked framerate is pushing temperatures too high for the heatsink to efficiently pull heat from the chip. Some people have reported similar issues with horizon having an unlocked frame rate in the map screen.

The fact it’s not impacting all users leads credence to the idea that it could be some kind of hardware level issue compounding the problem. In this case degradation of the thermal compound (Liquid Metal). This can be an issue on pc where users sometimes have to re-paste their CPU’s or GPU’s to navigate thermal throttling or shutdowns.

Re: Simple Death Stranding 2 PS5 Patch 1.08 Fixes Camera Issues

Neither_scene

Seen a lot of people talking about overheating issues and it possibly being linked to an uncapped frame rate when looking at the map. I wonder if there’s more to it that than that? I have a day 1 ps5, which hasn’t seen a ton of use (bought for exclusives) and have about 45 hours in DS2, no shutdowns or overheating. I’ve been playing about 2-3 hour sessions most days since launch week.

I know some people were concerned about the longevity of the “Liquid Metal” used in launch systems as the medium between the SoC and heatsink. I wonder if this is contributing to the overheating issues?

Re: Eye-Opening PS5 Sales Data Reveals Why Microsoft Is Porting Xbox Games

Neither_scene

My concern is that future Sony could become valve. If every title goes multiplatform does Sony need to invest as much money in making it’s own titles, especially given the high risk and huge costs of such investments. Why not let third parties take those risks and just pocket the guaranteed 30% cut on everything sold on the platform?

I hope Sony continue to invest in their studios and make the quality single player experiences they’re known for. With Microsoft out of the picture, I’m not sure I see a huge incentive for them to continue to do so, at least on the scale they have been in the past.

Re: Sony Job Listing Implies More PS5 Exclusives Will Be Ported to Xbox, Nintendo

Neither_scene

Just for those saying why bother with PlayStation if titles come to other platforms. I have a pc and a ps5, I played the original death stranding on pc but ended up buying the sequel on ps5 despite knowing it will come to pc at some point in the future.

If PlayStation continue to employ a time lag between exclusives coming to other platforms and those exclusives are well optimised on PlayStation I’m happy to purchase them first on console. Especially if they’re a title I want to play.

Re: 'PS5 Makes the Most Sense': Ori Dev Explains Why It's Swapping Xbox for Sony

Neither_scene

@Americansamurai1 you’re aware that gamepass is also available on pc and for less money? I don’t think it is a case of gamepass training people not to buy games, I’m fairly confident gta6 will sell on Xbox and expedition 33 sold very well on pc.

People buy games on Xbox or Sony wouldn’t have bothered porting helldivers to the platform. I don’t know who currently buys games through the Xbox pc storefront, I’ve never, but the service still exists so enough people must. With the exception of a few crossbuy Xbox titles and the free games given by epic, the vast majority of my pc catalogue is on steam. I have nothing on gog.

Unless you’re buying through a third-party key reseller or getting something on sale, all the storefronts on pc seem to offer parity with pricing. If Xbox move to pc I expect the same to be true.

Re: 'PS5 Makes the Most Sense': Ori Dev Explains Why It's Swapping Xbox for Sony

Neither_scene

@Americansamurai1 in the same way devs still “port” their games to gog, despite the vast majority of sales coming from steam.

There will still be some people who prefer to buy their games on Microsoft’s storefront, particularly if they have an existing catalogue on that store from series x/s (Microsoft are rumoured to be working on some form of Xbox emulation in partnership with AMD).

I don’t think it would kill the Xbox storefront, as it currently operates on pc alongside gog, epic and steam. I do think it would seriously impact the revenue Microsoft currently make on Xbox though as they’d no longer monopolise the digital storefront.

Re: 'PS5 Makes the Most Sense': Ori Dev Explains Why It's Swapping Xbox for Sony

Neither_scene

@Americansamurai1 if steam is integrated into the next Xbox it means that Xbox is a pc. It will run the pc versions of games on steam. Cd projekt red did not have to make separate “ports” of cyberpunk for the gog, epic and steam storefronts - they’re essentially the same game. It’s relatively likely that third parties would treat the Xbox storefront like any other on pc - the game would be available to purchase as with steam, epic and gog. They wouldn’t have to “port” it to another storefront.

The real question is why would anyone buy a game on the Xbox storefront over steam? But that’s not what we’re discussing.

Re: 'PS5 Makes the Most Sense': Ori Dev Explains Why It's Swapping Xbox for Sony

Neither_scene

@Americansamurai1 your comment lacks understanding. If it supports steam it will get pretty much every third party title released. Unless you’re saying that devs are going to stop supporting steam - the platform with more monthly active users than both PlayStation and Xbox.

Also, ironically, an Xbox with steam integration will also have access to no rest for the wicked.

Re: PS5 Pro Pockets a Native 8K, 60fps Game

Neither_scene

@KoopaTheGamer @JonnyMack I did read the article although my post maybe wasn’t as clear and I should have elaborated. It shouldn’t bother targeting 8k60, that extra processing power would be far better used with some form of raytracing on the balls. 4k120 is the limit for 99.9% of the player base, excess power should be put into refining the graphics. Raytracing is expensive but this seems like the perfect title to make use of it over 8k resolution. 8k60 remains pointless for this gen and all but a handful of consumers.

Re: PS5 Pro Pockets a Native 8K, 60fps Game

Neither_scene

Should be targeting 120fps4k rather than 60fps8k. Far more people have televisions/monitors capable of 120fps than they do 8k resolution. That’s not to mention the ridiculous size of screen required to see the tangible benefit of 8k over 4k. Pointless.

Re: Capcom Nixes Tone Deaf Conference on Monster Hunter Wilds Optimisation

Neither_scene

@dskatter did you even bother to read the article? Or are you one of the people “calling them out” with threats to harm?

Yes, there are valid calls for improvements to performance, which capcom have accepted. There are also cases of extreme behaviour toward individuals working at capcom which are completely unacceptable and they absolutely should be calling this out.

Re: 'I Much Prefer PS Plus' Lifecycle Management Strategy': Devs Weigh in on Crippling Xbox Game Pass Impact

Neither_scene

@Rich33 So you think gamepass shutting down is going to save the industry? There will be no more studio closures? Every release will enjoy success, people will buy more games? Or will people just look to cheaper forms of entertainment as they are already doing? Gaming is also now facing more competition for our time than ever before - social media, tik-tok etc. It’s far easier to quit gaming and find other things to occupy your time than it was 10-20 years ago.

Every physical game sale has the potential to damage the industry too. Should we switch to all-digital to prevent resale of games and lost revenue/sales for publishers?

Should games be $100 as standard to help pay for poor management/bloated development costs?

The industry is struggling and whilst Gamepass might be a factor it’s far from the only thing responsible.

Re: 'I Much Prefer PS Plus' Lifecycle Management Strategy': Devs Weigh in on Crippling Xbox Game Pass Impact

Neither_scene

It’s always crazy to see people commenting on the fact that a game releasing on gamepass also happens to sell less on Xbox as if it’s a surprise. The vast majority of consumers aren’t swimming in money right now, why would they spend £70 to play a title when they can spend £15?

I’ve just paid £60 for DS2 on ps5, that feels like a lot of money even though I loved DS1. If the physical edition wasn’t available I wouldn’t have bought it. I’ll be trading my copy as soon as I’ve finished my playthrough and hoping to recoup £30 - £40 of my £60 outlay. Physical games on PlayStation allow me to justify the spend. If PS6 goes all digital and prevents game trading I’ll be done with PlayStation.

I can’t justify £70 on video games when I have other more important cost of living expenses to attend to.

Re: PS6 to 'Push the Boundaries' of Graphics, Doubles Down on Machine Learning

Neither_scene

Fake frames and AI generated pixels for all!

In all seriousness AI upscaling should allow for 4k60 as standard next generation with AI frame gen pushing this towards 120fps. Will be interesting to see the raw power delta of ps6 compared to ps5 pro - I’ll be surprised if it’s anything more than 25% with silicon prices being what they are and moores law no longer holding true. I think both ps6 and whatever Xbox have cooking are going to use AI to do the majority of the heavy lifting vs raw compute. This should keep the machines somewhat affordable and still be able to market them as a decent upgrade over the previous generation.

This could be the first generation where the cpu is the biggest upgrade compared to the gpu in terms of power.

Re: The Next Xbox Is a PC, So What Does That Mean for PS6?

Neither_scene

@UltimateOtaku91 I’ve seen an awful lot of current Xbox owners saying it’s only a pc-like console with access to steam and other storefronts that would keep them from moving to PlayStation next generation. If Xbox release another traditional console they’re cooked. They need to do something different, as what they’re currently doing clearly isn’t working.

Re: 'Good Luck with That' - The Outer Worlds 2 $80 Price Has Gone Down Horribly with PS5 Players

Neither_scene

@Oram77 they have zero reason to. They’re coasting in terms of hardware sales, they’ve been able to reduce their first party output this generation without any negative impact to market share and their biggest competitor is bringing all their previously exclusive IP to the ps5. If the industry is unanimously increasing software pricing Sony sure as hell will follow suit.

Re: 'Good Luck with That' - The Outer Worlds 2 $80 Price Has Gone Down Horribly with PS5 Players

Neither_scene

Happy to wait and see how it sells before predicting anything. Maybe Microsoft are just capitalising on Sony’s marketing slogan - “PlayStation, for the payers” 😁

Gamepass means Microsoft can charge whatever they want to “own” their titles, I’ll never pay it and still get to play through their games for the cost of a month’s sub. Frustrating for those that don’t have those options though and still want to play Outer Worlds 2.

Re: Reaction: Sony Finally Understands the Assignment with One of the Best State of Plays of the PS5 Era

Neither_scene

@Keyblade-Dan if you’re not into Japanese games like myself I thought this SOP was ‘good’ without being anything more. Lots of multi-platform titles on show. I’m not a fighting game player either, so that was quite a big miss at the end for me personally. Although I totally understand that if the genre is your jam a new marvel 2d fighter was a phenomenal ending.

Was really hoping for a bit more first party stuff as that’s the only reason I bought a ps5 - saros gameplay or something like the rumored 2d god of war would have been a big hit for me.

Re: James Bond Is Just 26-Years-Old in 007 First Light's PS5 Gameplay Debut

Neither_scene

He looked really young to me - maybe that means I’m just getting old. Reminded me more of Tom Holland. I’ve never really pictured bond as anything other than a 40-odd-year old man.

Maybe the gameplay carries the game, but my first impressions of a 26 year old bond feel nothing like the film franchise I grew up loving. I guess it’s to try and appeal to a different audience now that the bond franchise has kind of taken a bit of a hiatus.

The Indiana jones game leaned heavily into the films, I feel like this game is more of a reimagining of bond, maybe using the oringal books as source material rather than a doubling down on the cinematic representation of the character.

Re: New PS5 Games for June and July 2025

Neither_scene

@Marquez if you’re not going to play ds2 until you’ve finished ds1, why buy 2 if you’ve not completed 1? They’re not going to sell out, unless you’re buying the collectors edition and it could be cheaper post launch. It certainly won’t be more expensive.

Re: Analytics Firm Predicts Paltry Full-Price Sales for DOOM: The Dark Ages on PS5

Neither_scene

It only sold 200k on PlayStation, I don’t think gamepass is the major reason why this hasn’t sold a ton of units. Forza absolutely smashed sales on PlayStation despite being available on gamepass for several years. Games can still be incredibly profitable and sell despite being on gamepass - expedition 33 sold huge numbers and launched on Gamepass.

Doom is a 15-20 hour single player game, with extremely limited replay value for $70. Most reviews touched on this and I think many people that were interested are waiting on sales before buying.