Comments 651

Re: Amid Xbox Exclusives Uncertainty, RPG Fable Recommits to PS5

Questionable_Duck

@AverageGamer So far most of the singleplayer games they have put on PlayStation had had meager sales at best. Launching on PlayStation day-one didn't do wonders for Doom: The Dark Ages, The Outer Worlds 2, Gears: Reloaded, or Ninja Gaiden 4, now did it? I think the industry has shown, time and time again, that just because you put a AAA game on a platform with a large install base, that doesn't guarantee it's gonna sell well (or even best) on said platform.

I will admit that Fable could sell really well on PS5, but that heavily depends on if it's a great game or not. If it's good but not 10/10, then I don't see it doing crazy numbers on PlayStation.

Re: Xbox Fans Flock to Online Suggestions Box to Tell Microsoft to Keep Games Off PS5

Questionable_Duck

@cuttlefishjones I haven't seen anyone call Sony locking down third-party games by the dozens anti-gamer, though. Yes, they don't own the studios, but what difference does it really make when many of the games Sony moneyhats stay exclusive to PlayStation for long periods of time (and sometimes forever)?

Say what you will, but I'd argue signing deals to make Nioh 3, FF7 Remake/Rebirth, FF16, Silent Hill Townfall, Street Fighter 5, Honkai: Star Rail, V Rising, Phantom Blade Zero, The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, etc. exclusive is just as anti-gamer as buying up publishers to make their games exclusive.

Heck, there were even points when Sony was paying Capcom to make games like Monster Hunter World unavailable for sale on Xbox in Japan, of all places! That regional exclusivity deal lasted for like 5+ years, and for what? The Xbox One was non-existent in Japan, and Sony still felt the need to do that. This is a lot more petty imo than buying up publishers, especially as Microsoft had barely any studios or exclusives prior to their acquisition spree

Re: What a Twist! Ex-Tekken Boss Harada Opens New Studio Under Fatal Fury's SNK

Questionable_Duck

@nessisonett I'll admit that this probably wasn't the right place for me to bring up Chinese stuff, since this article is entirely about a Saudi Arabian-owned studio (and, though it may not seem like such, I'm one of the last people who would ever defend the Saudi government), but I personally haven't seen many people share this sentiment regarding Chinese government-funded games, at least not on this site.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong and I just didn't see the people who did point this out.

Re: What a Twist! Ex-Tekken Boss Harada Opens New Studio Under Fatal Fury's SNK

Questionable_Duck

@nessisonett They also suck and the wrongdoings of the US government should be called out, as well. However, I'd argue that the difference between American games and Chinese/Saudi Arabian games is that the federal U.S. government does not own stakes in any of the major game developers/publishers in America, at least to my knowledge. It's also worth making a distinction between state governments and the federal government, whose views do not always align with each other.

The same cannot be said for China, who owns part of Tencent (the company even has a committee within the CCP) and other firms, and Saudia Arabia, who owns SNK through the Misk Foundation.

Now, if there are any game studios that the federal U.S. government directly funded, I'd agree that it would be fair to boycott them due to the reasons you listed.

Re: What a Twist! Ex-Tekken Boss Harada Opens New Studio Under Fatal Fury's SNK

Questionable_Duck

@-wc- I think it's hypocritical to boycott games that the Saudi government funded while also not bothering to even consider boycotting games funded by the Chinese government. It makes it seem like you only care about the victims of the Saudi government, and you don't care enough about the people that the Chinese government is actively oppressing. But I guess since China is way better at soft power than the Saudis are, and because they actually make popular games you're probably interested in, it's okay to ignore this.

In other words, the act of boycotting itself doesn't seem as genuine when you don't apply the same standard across all games funded by oppressive governments. I mean, I guess you could argue, using my logic, that you shouldn't buy any product ever from any oppressive government, but imo people should at least be consistent with the type of product they're boycotting (in this case, video games).

I'm more so frustrated that what the CCP is doing towards Uyghurs and other minorities isn't brought up enough as what the Saudis are doing

Re: What a Twist! Ex-Tekken Boss Harada Opens New Studio Under Fatal Fury's SNK

Questionable_Duck

@nessisonett Yes, and China has been arbitrarily arresting, torturing, culturally/religiously persecuting, surveilling, and sexually abusing Uyghurs in Xinjiang. They're not much better.

And on the topic of homophobia, China isn't quite as repressive as Saudi Arabia is, but they are still very much a homophobic government.

Since the late 2010s, authorities have avoided showing homosexual relationships on TV shows. Under the general secretaryship of Xi Jinping, LGBTQ venues and events have been forced to shut and LGBTQ rights activists have become subject to greater scrutiny by the country's system of mass surveillance. The Chinese Communist Party increasingly considers LGBTQ advocacy as a product of "foreign forces." LGBTQ content is censored. Authors of boys' love works are routinely arrested and criminally prosecuted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Uyghurs_in_China

I don't consider it whataboutism to point out when people don't apply the same standards across the board. Both of these governments suck, and they should be treated the same way.

Re: What a Twist! Ex-Tekken Boss Harada Opens New Studio Under Fatal Fury's SNK

Questionable_Duck

@TheDaddyOtaku Indeed, the Saudi government sucks, but I feel like sentiments about boycotting SNK games kinda ring hollow, given that barely anyone speaks up about all the games/game companies funded directly by the Chinese government, who is arguably just as bad and is also actively committing a genocide.

And this isn't just a matter of "oh well, the Chinese government isn't involved with any of my favorite Chinese game companies," they very much are.

As stated on Wikipedia, "the Chinese government has pushed technology companies, including video game distributors like Tencent, into allowing the government to have partial ownership of the companies that can be used to affect the content produced; in exchange, such companies may gain a competitive edge over others in interactions dealing with the government."

https://archive.fo/20171011220031/https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijing-pushes-for-a-direct-hand-in-chinas-big-tech-firms-1507758314

I'm not saying you shouldn't boycott SNK's games due to their ties with the Saudi government. Rather, I'm saying that we should be more consistent with what we choose and not choose to boycott.

Re: Hype Is Building for the First-Ever Five-Day Tokyo Game Show, But What New PS5 Games Will Be There?

Questionable_Duck

@UltimateOtaku91 I think that's probably because no one watches TGS, but millions of people do watch the Western showcases (as well as stuff like Nintendo Directs and State of Plays ofc).

But I guess you could argue it's a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg situation. No one watches TGS since it doesn't have many major new game reveals, but more people would watch it if it did have tons of major new game reveals.

Re: A Nail in PS4's Coffin, Call of Duty Will Finally Ditch Last-Gen Console

Questionable_Duck

@Sonofken As I said before, demand has obviously decreased per generation, but the current issue of poor Xbox sales is due to the fact that it is quite literally impossible to buy a brand-new Xbox in most countries at the moment. The Xbox Series consoles would no doubt sell better if there was enough stock available, hence why they were selling neck-and-neck with PlayStation in the US early on in this gen.

Microsoft can't manufacture more Xboxes because the memory is all sold out, as it has been used for AI, PS5 consoles, PCs, etc. It's entirely a problem of their own making. Only now are they realizing this was a stupid thing to do.

Next time, when you see Microsoft announce that hardware sales have dropped by 30%, know that this something they deliberately wanted to happen. It's all manufactured.

Re: A Nail in PS4's Coffin, Call of Duty Will Finally Ditch Last-Gen Console

Questionable_Duck

@Sonofken It's less so that people have stopped buying Xboxes and more so that Microsoft isn't manufacturing enough Xboxes to sell on a large scale. They stopped making Xboxes in order to cut costs as part of their 30% profit margin goals.

The demand is there to an extent, but it is quite literally impossible for people to buy Xbox consoles in most regions, even in UK and US.

Re: 'I Want to Celebrate Everything I Love About the Games': Zach Cregger's New Resident Evil Movie Looks Like a Blast

Questionable_Duck

@JB_Whiting Maybe some of the RE characters and villains, like Mr. X instead of whatever that white blob guy is? I've heard people say that this guy is the merchant from RE8, but I'm not sure

Now, I could be wrong on this, but judging solely by that trailer, the tone doesn't feel like Resident Evil to me. As I said before, it just looks like a standard horror movie

Re: 'I Want to Celebrate Everything I Love About the Games': Zach Cregger's New Resident Evil Movie Looks Like a Blast

Questionable_Duck

@Hoodie718 Yeah, it does seem like he's a fan of the Resident Evil games, but judging solely off of the trailer and even his quote, it looks like this film could have been any other zombie flick, with or without the Resident Evil brand attached to it.

I may catch some flack for this opinion, but for all the things that they butchered and got wrong, at least the early Milla Jovovich movies actually tried to incorporate elements and characters from the games into their narratives (like Umbrella Corporation, Albert Wesker, etc). Like, I can still tell that they're Resident Evil.

Then again, I'm also probably one of the only people who genuinely thinks the first Resident Evil movie was actually good. I'd argue it's still the best live-action adaptation of the series to date.

Re: PS5 Confirmed to Be Affected by Game Expiry Issue, Sony Still Silent on DRM Worries

Questionable_Duck

@Zuljaras No problem! The recording thing is definitely a big issue though, if there's one thing I really dislike about Xbox compared to other platforms, it's that they don't let you record more than a minute of gameplay footage at a time. There are ways to record for longer periods of time, but they require USB drives or something like that.

On PlayStation 5, I believe you can just record an hour without any problems. Not sure about Switch 2, since I haven't gotten the console yet.

Re: PS5 Confirmed to Be Affected by Game Expiry Issue, Sony Still Silent on DRM Worries

Questionable_Duck

@Zuljaras Unrelated to the subject of the article at hand, but I had a... sneaking suspicion you weren't the biggest fan of Xbox. I love seeing the posts you make each week showing what games that you're playing, but I noticed that there was almost always a particular green console brand missing from your physical games lineup. That's fine ofc, not everyone can or should be a fan of everything.

Re: Xbox Will 'Reevaluate' Its Game Exclusivity, Throwing Potential Doubt Over PS5 Ports

Questionable_Duck

@Shepherd_Tallon I think that the best path for a gaming CEO to take is somewhere in between what Phil and Herman are doing/did. Don't talk too much, as Phil did to the point where it seemed like he was contradicting himself every two weeks. But also don't act like a brick wall, and avoid communicating with players entirely.

I guess we'll find out what Asha decides to do

Re: Xbox Will 'Reevaluate' Its Game Exclusivity, Throwing Potential Doubt Over PS5 Ports

Questionable_Duck

@get2sammyb No, I'm not kidding. Yeah, Phil did do interviews pretty frequently, but if you look at his and Bond's social media history, like, pre-2023, you'll see that they interacted a lot more with the community. Of course, even in the last few years, Phil interacted way more with journalists than Doug Bowser and Herman Hulst probably have in their entire tenures (which isn't necessarily a good thing, mind you), so I can see why you may think that way.

Also, I think the Game Pass price drop counts as something meaningful, even if not everyone is satisfied with it due to the removal of CoD and the fact that Fortnite Crew/Ubisoft+ is still included

Re: Xbox Will 'Reevaluate' Its Game Exclusivity, Throwing Potential Doubt Over PS5 Ports

Questionable_Duck

@carlos82 How about the 30+ million Xbox console owners, and the tens of millions of people on PC? I don't know why, but people keep acting like if Xbox stopped putting their games on PlayStation/Nintendo, they would only be selling games to Xbox console owners, when that's clearly not the case. There's no way Microsoft is ever gonna abandon PC ports, especially not when Project Helix straight-up supports PC games.

Worth noting that Microsoft themselves specifically mentions here that they want to make Xbox an affordable platform. I'm guessing that either means Project Helix will be cheaper than initially anticipated, or that Xbox Series consoles will still be supported into the next generation and offered as a cheaper alternative to next-gen.

Re: Tekken 8 Fans Furious as Tifa Tipped for Street Fighter 6 Instead

Questionable_Duck

@boco77 To some extent, I do agree, because the articles on Push Square aren't necessarily the most high-quality writing you've ever seen. However, at the same time, I think Push Square and the rest of the Hookshot sites are a bastion of sorts in a sea of content mill websites. That's not to say that there aren't other gaming websites with articles on par with Push Square, but sadly a lot of them just haven't gotten the traction they need to maintain an active community.

Thanks to Google's stupid algorithm, many companies that own gaming news websites are incentivized to throw everything to the wall to see what sticks, regardless of whether the content is actually good or not. This lack of quality contract isn't necessarily the fault of the writers, but rather the business execs that limit creative freedom and compel the writers to write in as algorithm-friendly a way as possible.

Push Square and the rest of the Hooksite sites are some of the few major gaming websites that don't try to desperately follow the algorithm's latest trends, and have stuck to a consistent formula. And, for that, I appreciate them.

Re: PS5 Already Winning GTA 6 Battle as PlayStation Drives 64% of GTA Online Spend

Questionable_Duck

@GamerDad76 The Xbox One version of GTA Online generates almost as much weekly revenue ($918,000) as the PS4 version does ($973,000), despite having almost half the amount of players. The Xbox Series version of the game also generates around twice the amount of weekly revenue ($1,867,000) than the PS4 version does, despite having around 700,000 less weekly active players. So it seems that Xbox players spend a lot more money than PlayStation players, and the main reason why that's the case is because GTA is most popular in the US and the overwhelming majority of the money made through GTA Online comes from American players.

So, nah, I'm pretty sure GTA 6 will do very well on Xbox

These leaked statistics do reveal why Rockstar doesn't like putting their games on PC, though, because PC is, by far, the platform where GTA Online makes the least amount of money.

Re: Rumour: Xbox Debating Whether to Make Its Games Exclusive Again

Questionable_Duck

@UltimateOtaku91 I agree, a lot of these games weren't exactly the types of stuff that people would have bought an Xbox for to begin with, so it makes sense that they're not selling crazy well on PS5.

If there's one thing that Sony has continuously had an advantage over compared to Xbox, it's system-selling games. Ghost of Yotei, Intergalactic, and Wolverine are the types of games that can sell consoles on their own. Pentiment, Gears of War: Reloaded, The Outer Worlds 2, Avowed, South of Midnight, etc.? Not so much.