Ralizah

Always sad to hear this sort of thing. Sexual violence is such a scourge on the world, and it saddens me deeply how many role models for young men are misogynists and/or have committed heinous acts against women.

Ever17 was pretty incredible for the time, even if a LOT of its tricks will seem familiar to fans of Uchikoshi's later work.

@Juanalf Sony barely prioritizes their console over PC as of late, and the PS5 is still humming along nicely. What on Earth makes you think they'd prioritize a handheld that'll most likely sell significantly sub-Vita numbers because of how expensive the thing will need to be to not lose a ton of money for Sony?

They probably won't even manufacture it in large numbers. It'll be like the PSVR: a luxury/enthusiast-targeted item they'll probably forget about a year after releasing.

All that being said, even if Sony did luck out and the PS6 Portable did sell extremely well compared to the Deck 2... so what? Sony won't drop support for PC or handheld PCs as long as they don't consider the ecosystem a threat.

@kyleforrester87 I'm super impressed with how nicely SMT V: Vengeance runs on the thing. Hits 90fps much of the time, and 60fps all the time, as far as I can tell.

The Yakuza games have been running very nicely at 45fps so far.

The Resident Evil games, too. RE2R looked brilliant with the deep black and HDR color bursts. And I love how easily you can apply a community config that lets you gyro aim.

I've heard Hi-Fi Rush is terrific on it as well.

Despite the lack of... subtlety in Detroit's writing, I actually really liked the world it created. Definitely gonna look into grabbing this.

I don't see the point with Sony's games all going to PC anyway. I'll just grab the Switch 2 and Steam Deck 2 and have access to nearly every game ever made.

@kyleforrester87 How you liking the Steam Deck OLED? Isn't it awesome? I hardly play anything else anymore.

Game's so uninteresting everyone's just talking about Elon Musk now.

Not really a surprise for a "new" Dragon Quest release.

Also, those PS5 numbers aren't bad considering the difference in install base for the region.

This'll be a premium companion-style device, most likely, like the Steam Deck is for most PC gamers.

It'd be an extra incentive to make the jump to full digital as well, considering it'll likely be digital software only.

Honestly, they could probably sell a DLC on its own that makes her step on/kick you anywhere and people would buy it.

Good. Glad they're seeing original projects with more challenging combat where you're not dating Japanese teenagers can turn in strong numbers.

Def. my favorite for GOTY. Fantastic visual design, mechanics, story, music, etc.

Get back to me when the 16k 15fps patch drops.

@awp69 Nintendo is historically pretty disappointing during EOL years for their consoles.

Although a number of games actually dropped this year from them. Just... none of them made much of a splash. Probably because the big stuff is all being saved for the successor, the arrival of which seems fairly imminent at this point.

Okay, let's clarify.

I want good, interesting lower budget games. Not janky or entirely unmemorable ones.

I have to actually want the game.

Happy to see Metaphor up for the big award, even though it won't win.

Pretty good indication of the quality of Sony's year when two PS5 exclusives are in the mix.

@zupertramp Just a guess, but the people struggling to buy eggs probably aren't the same ones buying PS5 Pros.

Or, if they are, their priorities are wildly misaligned.

Love the SMT V appreciation in the comments.

It was a fantastic game on Switch, and it's even better in this form on more capable devices. My Steam Deck runs the game at a locked 60fps!

@Judal27 It's fine. The story never had to be amazing. It just needed to do something with the characters and improve the narrative pacing... and Vengeance accomplishes that.

On top of maintaining and improving the core gameplay, reducing the impact of the level scaling, etc.

Horizon Kart and Horizon Cooking Madness! up next next.

@DonJorginho Nintendo doesn't traditionally drop prices on their consoles or games, either (with the exception of discounted re-releases of some first-party games in previous generations). Sony, on the other hand, has a long history of loss-leading to maintain their position in the industry. It's very much a conscious and extreme shift in strategy for them. As such, I think it's naive to believe they won't try to make the PS6 more profitable if they believe it won't hurt sales momentum on year one too much. Of course, this will all be determined by significant internal calculations based on market data.

Enthusiasts are generally the demographic that likes to buy in early with new console generations. If Sony thinks it can milk them for more with a PS6 (it probably can, tbh), it makes a lot of sense to price it with the anticipation of dropping the price gradually to expand mass market appeal for the hardware.

Also fully expecting the disc drive to be an accessory by default next gen.

I think $600, or somewhere thereabouts, is not an unrealistic expectation. Maybe more, depending on how well the PS5 Pro sells.

@DonJorginho I disagree. Sony has been testing the limits of what the market will bear in terms of price increases throughout the generation, in a way that is totally antithetical to their behavior in the past. Price increases on games. A rise in the MSRP of their first-party games. Increasingly limited price drops on that software. Price increases on controllers. etc. The PS5 Pro selling well will indicate that there's space, at least early on, to charge the enthusiasts who buy in early a small fortune for the even more premium hardware in the PS6.

"Sony's latest exclusive, LEGO Horizon Adventures"

This isn't even console exclusive.

Expected, but nice to have it confirmed. Really hoping this runs okay on Steam Deck.

@GamingFan4Lyf Is Sony even publishing the game on PC?

Might actually be willing to go onto the EGS in order to download and play this, lol. Aside from my hesitations about the gacha model it presumably adopts (which have themselves been significantly tempered by Hoyoverse's titles), everything about this looks up my alley.

lol my phone is blowing up with notifications from this account constantly. Worth it for the occasional incredible deal.

Easily my favorite of the more classic style of Ys game. It's perfectly paced and very replayable.

Ouch.

I guess I might avoid playing this until I update my GPU. This sounds rough.

Not gonna lie, I cracked up when the POV camera randomly shifted to her chest while she was talking.

Male Gaze: The Game

I love this game, don't get me wrong, but how many times they gonna remake and/or re-release it? lol

God I miss classic animation.

Definitely keeping an eye on this .Love the art.

So much for maybe getting another excellent 2D Rayman.

There really is just nothing left for me at Ubisoft.

They've been slowly leaning in that direction for a while, with recent games featuring larger, more exploratory areas. I think it sounds great. I'm so ready for something new from them.

@Jay767 High-end? Sure. Mid-range, that'll put you around the same level as PS5? Not so much.

Not to mention that the cost of high-end components on console is starting to give people sticker shock as well. PS5 Pro being exhibit number one.

In terms of their trajectory, PC is growing much, much faster as well. Consider this: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/2023-pc-games-revenue-increase-newzoo/

The estimated YoY growth rate of PC gaming in 2023 was over 8%, whereas it was under 1% for console gaming.

As for third-party sales, as I said, PC is better when it comes to the tail end of sales down the line. That's why, for example, Capcom makes the majority of its money from PC and publicly considers it to be their primary platform.

None of this is discounting the gigantic presence Sony has in the gaming space, and it's also not prophesying doom for Sony's platform. But there's a reason Sony is so invested in expanding to PC, and that'll likely become truer as time goes on.

I dunno, almost a quarter of sales going to PC in Europe when the game is heavily marketed by Sony, the fanbase is almost entirely on console (historically), and the region itself is heavily biased toward Playstation as a platform doesn't seem bad at all to me.

Not to mention this divide should even out a bit over time, since launch sales are usually better on console, whereas long term sales are often more robust on Steam.

Konami has been making a lot of smart decisions lately. The excellent Contra/Castlevania collections, Suikoden collection next year, getting WayForward to do the last Contra game, the Vampire Survivors collabs, and actually hiring a competent Western dev to work on their Silent Hill series. There's also the MGS collection, and the possibility we'll get a second one that'll save MGS4 from its PS3 prison soon.

First time in... what, a decade?... that the name Konami doesn't generate negative feelings for me. It's nice.

Nice. I like the aesthetics of Lego games, but the gameplay was always where they let me down. Sounds like this one might actually be a good time.

I'm sure PC/PS5 will be the best experiences technically, but I'm so tempted to nab this on Switch, if only for the novelty.

If it sells a significant percentage on Nintendo's system, I could see them expanding out with other select titles in the future. Imagine a Gravity Rush Collection on PS5/Switch 2/PC!

Fairly priced Western AA turn-based RPG that doesn't pad out the runtime and features AAA-esque presentation.

I'm very, very down for this if it reviews well.

@TrickyDicky99 So what? The US is the biggest market in the world for console games, by far.

Anyway, I'm guessing you'll probably see a preference for digital worldwide.

Wow. Even Nintendo Switch, with its strong culture of physical media among the player base, just barely favors digital distribution. And the digital ownership ratio is only likely to increase as time goes on.

PS6 is probably gonna ship without a disc drive. You'll have to buy an attachment.

These announcements are getting faster and faster. Fully expecting Astro Bot's PC port to be announced before 2026 at this point, lol.

Along with FFVII Rebirth and Stellar Blade.

@HotGoomba Nintendo's home consoles have been selling worse and worse every generation, apart from the Wii, which was a 'lightning in a bottle' moment for the company. If the Switch had been a home console, it wouldn't have even had a hook for the smart marketing to work with. The decision would have really damaged Nintendo and perhaps made them into a handheld-only manufacturer.

@Deoxyr1bose Worth it. PC is so much more worth investing in as a long-term ecosystem. Biggest library, best prices on new games, multiple storefronts, multiple supported controllers, and most games are fully playable on a PC handheld as well for that Vita/PS4 like experience when it comes to Steam games with cloud save support.

I have to play deeper into it to really know what score I'd give it, but a 10 isn't out of the question. It addresses the significant difficulty balancing issues Persona 5 had while retaining almost all of its strengths.

Very much a top GOTY contender for me.

This seems like the sort of game I'd pick up for $5 in a sale and quit playing after a few hours.

@LowDefAl Astro Bot also isn't some major Japanese IP or (like Metaphor) coming from a studio that's fairly popular in Japan. My understanding is the game didn't do great in Japan, but is succeeding overall.

Imagine that: PS5 games that actually appeal to gamers in the region tend to sell well. I expect Monster Hunter to blow up the charts and drive PS5 sales for a while as well in February.

Anyway, extremely happy with how well Metaphor is selling worldwide. It improves on the Persona formula in all the right ways (a cast that's diverse in age; a far more balanced combat system; tighter pacing; etc.) without sacrificing the elements that make the modern Persona games so enjoyable in the first place.

@UltimateOtaku91 I imagine there'll be a veritable flood of delayed eighth and ninth-gen ports once the successor drops and developers don't have to spend months wrestling with wildly underpowered hardware.

For the biggest games? Probably. Putting more and more money on the line is naturally going to make the money men a bit more conservative about trying new ideas.

There's still a ton of good stuff coming from indies, AA Japanese studios, and even some AAA developers, though. I really, really wish people would look deeper into the hobby and not decry the state of an entire entertainment medium because a few of the biggest players are being their usual gross selves. Restrict yourself to Western AAA and nothing else, though, and, yes, I'm sure things seem a little bleak atm.

Happy to see both Silent Hill 2 and Metaphor: ReFantazio selling well. Wild month for games on PS5/PC.

Insomniac's games have great art-styles and tend to be well-optimized for everything they release on, so you're not going to see really transformative differences compared to other releases.

I finally played Marvel's Spider-Man this year on PS4 and was blown away by how good it looks on a 4K set, even on ancient hardware.

It's surreal, but also incredibly exciting, to see a game like this fully embrace turn-based combat. Really hoping this one sells well.

It's an incredibly gross practice I refuse to support on principle.

That said, these days, there's less incentive than ever to buy a game at release. Waiting even a few months will almost always net you a cheaper and more complete version of the game than what people at launch experienced.

lol Screw that noise, I'll just play the PS1 Classics version I have on my Vita.

Metaphor is selling faster than any previous Atlus game to date, attracting a surprising amount of mainstream attention online, and Silent Hill 2 appears to be succeeding. Astro Bot sold reasonably well. Live service rubbish like Concord and Suicide Squad crashed and burned.

Despite everything going wrong with this industry, I remain hopeful.