I'm here for Top Boy the game if that can be achieved.
I do hope they get some attention and maybe new investors so they have the time to do what is needed. Time is the important factor, clearly the passion is there. We obviously won't know the scope and scale of it and the quality of the script, but I like the setting and overall idea of it.
Imagine if they had hired specialist project leads to lead specialist live service developers to make their live service games, and had their specialist single player leads at specialist single player studios making single player games the first time...
🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂
@Alps_Stranger that is what I was thinking, but they want to delete the entire project from existence, so maybe it is showing they don't see it as a financial gains case, but a creative case based on protecting their studios and their IP, and if they get their wish, then it won't see light of day and will not cause them future finacial losses and marketing problems etc etc, whereas, if it is released, then it will cause a multitude of issues, from their perspective.
@zhoont late to the thread, but it is a really, really good patch. The RT unlocked is a bit jankier to my eye than the locked 30 was, even though it runs mostly over 60fps, but the unlocked performance mode is really, really nice and up there with KCD2's and TLoU's unlocked performance (bar the usual FSR upscaling fizziness that still exists) and so it is easy to recommend on Pro
My plan is to finish my old character on this patch. And hope they do do a PSSR specific update down the line for a fresh playthrough without FSR 🤞
Will today be a day to get back in to CyberPunk 2077? 🤔 And if it is, will I spend most of my time exploiting the photomode to make purposefully creepy, weird and grubby V photoshoots like this:
I mean, it is almost free money to mobilise and port all of your older games, that are mostly just sat there gathering dust, on to the Switch 2 at this point. That should be the main focus initially. Then improving PC ports. And then maybe some live service on Xbox.
@kmtrain83 😬 yeah, sorry about that. Sometimes I wish I didn't think of these things, myself 😂 but still, there are so many great games to play, so at least we have that, right?
Kids (or the wave new gamers of each generation that we all once were) used to play all kinds of middling to trash games because that is what was available. And fun was usually had, regardless of if it was a 4 or a 9. Now all the kids are playing free sh** in the form of two or 3 games instead. That is it.
Older gamers can't carry the industry (we all have ridiculous backlogs that only get longer) and it will only get worse. So, I guess we can actually blame Epic for this after all... for breaking gaming 🙃
There probably is a good discussion to be had about how sustainable gaming can be, because more games come out every year, and of course every year we get older, unfortunately, and if we are currently trying to play games from 5 or more years ago now, how can we ever make time for all the new games coming out that we might not have enough interest in to play right now.
When we were kids however, we would play anything if it was put in front of us, and that side of the market is definitely shrinking severely as it is weighted towards only spending money in one or two games forever and ever and a fortnite.
LG does not even have the NBA app (for shame) so the old PS5 saves the day for that, and the app on Google x Philips is pretty bad at times too, so it's Pro to the rescue. Occasionally I will use the Now app as it functions more consistently on ps5 than the tv apps do, and it has a better fast forward function which is vital for watching live golf on a delay! But half the time I won't bother tbh.
I highly recommend NBA games via PS5 though as it streams them so much better overall than any other version I've used. That is, when MS isnt making the whole league pass service crash at their end 👍
It's too warm to spend time playing console games and making the house even hotter in the day. Maybe watching the Scottish Open and pretending i'm there as it is about 10°c cooler up that way 🙃
By night, who knows? Is drinking copious amounts potentially a good idea? Yes it is, other Ravix, Yes it is.
Miike mode looks incredible! As does the game overall.
I love how much of a badass we seemingly get to be. Jin was very worrisome at times, but it seems like we really get to lean in to the Ghost mythology and character, and our image as someone to be feared. I hope we get to absolutely crucify some motherf****rs and, you know... occasionally feed the wolf 😁
My absolute main wish was always for more boss fights/duels, and it looks like we get that with contracts and encounters.
@BrockSmith at the moment we are on a similar path. KCD2 then Oblivion (I doubt I will ever finish that though as its a Bethesda game and I don't ever finish them 😂) but I do have Ghost Pre Ordered and my love of Swords and Swordplay might mean that I do indeed play that before Clair and Death Stranding 2. But my God, I just wanted to say... what a year for gaming! If these are the ganes we have to choose between then we are eating well 😁
@somnambulance I kind of get what you mean with that. I have some reservations in the back of my mind about whether they will go the Ubisoft AC Sequel route, or the Rockstar RDR2 style route. So either a new pretty basic character doing the same kind of game stuff, or a new character that you learn to care about for entirely different reasons than the first because of the journey we are about to go on. I do have faith they will nail atmosphere and story beats.
It looks a lot like Mafia to me. Like really a lot. Whole segments look very similar: sneak and stab your way to the mansion is very much like the maze level, going to get guns pre mission is the same, crouching, shooting, driving to objectives, cutscenes etc just it is in Sicilia.
And I was skipping through to not spoil anything for myself. But yes, very recognisable as being the 2kCzech style Mafia gameplay loop.
@Kraven great passionate summary. Death Stranding (1) was a great gaming experience for me, even though there were a few bottlenecks with janky combat and having to replay a couple of segments (damn you, Beach Bound Mads) because of the moments you can make (otter absailing, freeform dance moves using the balance mechanics in time to the 'end' credits music etc and the journey and spectacle itself being so unique) and I've been pondering whether to just buy 2 now, even though I don't think I will be able to get stuck in to it yet because of my current gaming dedication being on the very casual side of the hardcore/casual vendiagram.
But I think... I shall, based on people's reaction like this. I'm even tempted to get the CE, but logic kind of tells me that I don't really need a 15 inch Magellan Man in my life 🤷♂️😅 edit: oh no, the box has the otter on it in a new form 😭 'Buy Now' finger is lingering 😭
@Anya-chan because it's a mobile game and any realism or depth would break the game engine 🙈
It will go down as one of the year's most misleading build ups to a game release, I'd imagine. So there's that to look forward to on release day... 🙃 but as long as people know its a free to play game and not something to challenge a Ghost or Wukong experience then there can't be much to complain about (it may even be good for what it is) I just hope people don't get too excited for something different and then end up dissapointed becsuse at first glance it does look like a game that could be something much better.
For anyone interested you can search for gameplay on YouTube from the mobile/PC version that is already out.
I'm half wondering if there's something a little off about this title, some of the action in the gameplay trailers kind of skips the animations you'd expect moving from point a to point b. So a front flip becomes the start of a front flip, and then the landing, with nothing between.
And the story trailer didn't appear to offer much story? It was more of a dance production 🤷♂️
Ah, it is genuinely a free-to-play MMORPG with a "non-pay to win monetization blah blah etc" and it is already out in China on mobile and PC 🤦♂️
I think its a bit pricey for what it is, but that being said I have it on Pre-Order 😅 I really like the look of the mask, and the digital version is perfect for me anyway as I can play it without a disc drive.
I wanted to maybe find a traditionally made Japanese mask instead but haven't got a clue where to look for one, so this will do.
@SeaDaVie the filings are fascinating. Netease pulled out as a significant influence in April last year.
I think its been falling apart for a very long time 😬
I've also seen suggestions that LB may have taken a consultation fee of around £5million via one of the many similarly named build a rocket companies they control, but its all speculation, i'm sure no one made any significant money from this disaster 👀
Edit: I’m going to stop now, as the focus should be back on the fact the actual staff are the ones being f***ed over here, as usual.
@SeaDaVie interesting. How has the £230m+ number been moved into their distributable reserves as late as December 2024 if it is money that has been available to be used by the company from day one though? Would the number not reflect that as it is seperate from their costs and regular accounts due to its nature as share premium 🤷♂️
At least they had some massive tax avoidance, I guess.
@SeaDaVie I can't really be that bothered to get into it too much. But the records are there, just look under filing history edit: never mind you found it.
Basically, they moved the money from the share premium account (the account that holds the excess above share price that investors were willing to pay, but that can't be directly withdrawn) into the distributable funds, which can be used to pay out shareholders Edit: it's the excess paid for shares, not the total lifetime shares, so that would be real money, right?
Of course, what they did with that money is a mystery, but it stood out pre-release as a bit strange, and it stands out even more now that we know that they knew how bad a state the game was in before it was decided to be made available on stores and before a weird campaign to blame some 'mysterious force' funding negativity around the game was started.
Add that to the fact the CFO, and CLO left the company a week before the game release, the rumours of sh** conditions and wild changes of direction by LB and the higher ups. And now the 100 expected layoffs! It just seems like something that someone should look into one day, and I'd be interested to find out all that went on there, because I'm a nosey c*** 😛 And if it turns out someone was up to no good, then f*** 'em, they can answer for it.
@SeaDaVie their public financial records that are available to anyone
"Reduction of the company's share premium account by £233,229,993 from £233,229,993 to £0.00 and the amount by which the share premium account is so reduced be credited to the company's distributable reserves" 20/12/2024
And the £230+million they moved in December so the shareholders could withdraw funds that were otherwise unaccessible to them will mean those at the top truly don't give a f***
@lazarus11 I remember when I first heard about it they mentioned a timer, which felt off-putting, but I'm guessing it will be kind of like a "click on this quest to start and time will change" rather than a fully dynamic day/night cycle with a limited amount of time.
To me, itd make sense if there were a bunch of quests you can do in the day, and a bunch at night, with some crossover quests that require both, and choosing to advance time to complete one part might have to be a decision we think about more carefully as time gets more scarce.
If it is indeed like this, I think it will add to the fun (take your time when you want to, and then make actual decisions that affect the overall story and the time you have left) and whether or not its a hard fail or just an alternative bad ending will have to be seen in-game, I guess.
All I know for sure though is that him saying time doesnt just run out on its own makes it feel like it will still be an RPG you can take your time with outside of the main quest, but maybe with a few consequences that do link back to the time you have.
I also picked up that the timer isn't a "timer" its more a "resource"? And the game warns you when its going to tick forward, which I hope means that you can spend ages exploring and slow playing rather than constantly fighting time 😁
Oblivion or BG3... or nothing because the weather isn't really gaming weather. But I do want to RPG at some point, maybe Sunday evening if the golf isn't too exciting 😛
Honestly the first map alone of KCDII is probably my favourite RPG experience ever. It's perfection for me.
The weird thing is, overall, I still think KCD1 is better as a complete game and KCDII is clearly tweaked to make it easier for those that couldn't understand how the quests or combat worked in KCD and I would have liked maybe 5 more massive quests that annoyed people, rather than just the one or two sprinkled in 😛 But then they did add a lot more to the game, and it looks and plays great (and technically the end of 1 was supposed to include the start of 2 as its own finale, but they just couldnt manage it at the time) so KCD is kind of like KCD1.5 and KCDII in one game 🙌
I'm saving Clair for later in the year, and no doubt will love it, so 2 Game of the Years in one year is eating very well. And still 2 big Sony exclusives yet to come too!
Less rush in favour of a more mindful approach suits this series so much! And that's what I hope this kind of thing leads to.
Tsushima, as we mentioned a while back, was just slapping a button as you sprint around the environment to collect lots of everything for no real reason. So what we need is less total stuff to collect in favour of a more considered, sparse approach, and then have the player appreciate they are part of the environment, not just dashing around collecting junk like the suped up roomba that was Jin 😅
Open world design is tough, but simple and realistic is usually better than crammed full and unrealistic.
Sooooo, ignoring the ongoing battle up there... In terms of tech innovation and competition, it's clear Nvidia is driving the push to make better hardware (Switch 2 has proven the power of their upscaling to the mainstream masses)
And Xbox are publishing a lot of games since they bought 2 massive publishers, so publishing competition has increased rather than decreased, if anything as their monopoly begins to form there.
Casual Fifa/CoD/GTA gamers always bought PS anyway, so that hasn't changed.
The cheap Game Pass effect remains the same, for now. Bad for the industry, good for people that don't want to spend much on gaming.
Plenty going on in the industry to focus the minds at PS towers. Cerny vs DLSS must be a personal goal, he'd love to eventually get PS upscaling as good if not better somehow, you'd imagine.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare it does make me wish for more dedicated and investigative gaming journalism. Game developers, companies and the conglomerates that own them (where applicable) are still pretty much only known for games they release, the quality of the games and then the odd story about abuse or layoffs that ends up swept away in no time.
Something smells off with it all and it'd be nice to get some bloodhounds on the trail haha. But I feel we will just get left with 'oh the game wasn't that well recieved and they eventually shut it down' or 'the game did okay and was average and will be forgotten' or whatever. And that will be the public perception of it, just that. And all of the other stuff will just melt away and be forgotten or never even thought about.
If there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for even half the random s*** behind the scenes, then so be it. But there has been a lot of chatter in forums for years by people that have supposedly worked there (there was a lot of staff turnover) and a lot of stuff they say... well, I can't see there being any reason for them to make it up, as why would they have an axe to grind with the execs, the work environment, Benzies and the like, unless they were indeed once employed there. And this is stuff from before 90% of people had even heard of the game or the company, so it isn't band wagon jumping.
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare you're right about that. The original Mindseye description was "a premium experience within the free to play Everywhere model"
And word is they had to make some money as Everywhere was/is in development hell which explains why they slapped this out on consoles as a full game without it being close to optimised.
There's also the matter that the company moved the entire £233 million from the share premium account (which can't be distributed) into the distributable reserves in December. But that's a matter for the financial whizzes, of course the companies own chief finance officer did leave a week before the game released, also. So 🤷♂️ Just totally normal goings on, i'm sure
@Shepherd_Tallon I do think they distanced themselves from that. But it's hard to keep up with the whole journey as they have changed so many things so many times. A common theme I've seen and heard is Benzies changes his mind a lot, but it could always be investors dictating things as well.
I'm kind of hopeful it sticks around and eventually becomes whatever it is supposed to become, as I'm happy enough to play a story through and make up my own mind on that side of things. I suppose we will eventually know if this ends up as an episodic experience, or can simply be enjoyed as a standalone with a big full stop at the end.
@Shepherd_Tallon they wanted to make a blockchain game originally, remember 🤷♂️
I've seen GameRiot has a "Full Game" video that is 8 hours long, so that tells me all I need to know. I'll probably play this at a later date to fill a gap and move on (If it ends up ever working on the pro) I'm not fussed about the DLC or 10 year roadmap as it takes a special game to make me come back to it once I've wrapped the main story.
In fact, I'm glad @AaronBayne was so cutting in this write up now if the performance is legitimately tanking below 30fps. Releasing a game that cant even hold 30fps on the PS5 Pro must take a special level of sh** management and is unacceptable. It should not have released yet, clearly.
Comments 2,198
Re: Keep an Eye on ENDS, a GTA-Inspired Sandbox RPG Set in London
I'm here for Top Boy the game if that can be achieved.
I do hope they get some attention and maybe new investors so they have the time to do what is needed. Time is the important factor, clearly the passion is there. We obviously won't know the scope and scale of it and the quality of the script, but I like the setting and overall idea of it.
Re: 'We're Really Building It Out as a Platform': EA Going 'All In' on Battlefield 6
A helicopter crashes in the comments section
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for August 2025 Announced
On the backlog you go, little puppet. When will I play with you? Probably never. But it is good addition to have access to... just in case.
Re: Suicide Squad Disaster Not Stopping Warner Bros from Making Another Live Service DC Game
Imagine if they had hired specialist project leads to lead specialist live service developers to make their live service games, and had their specialist single player leads at specialist single player studios making single player games the first time...
🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃🙂
Re: Sony Sues Tencent Over 'Shameless' Horizon Copycat Coming to PS5
@Alps_Stranger that is what I was thinking, but they want to delete the entire project from existence, so maybe it is showing they don't see it as a financial gains case, but a creative case based on protecting their studios and their IP, and if they get their wish, then it won't see light of day and will not cause them future finacial losses and marketing problems etc etc, whereas, if it is released, then it will cause a multitude of issues, from their perspective.
Re: VRR Gives Cyberpunk 2077 a Massive Performance Boost on PS5 Pro, Up to 120FPS
@zhoont late to the thread, but it is a really, really good patch. The RT unlocked is a bit jankier to my eye than the locked 30 was, even though it runs mostly over 60fps, but the unlocked performance mode is really, really nice and up there with KCD2's and TLoU's unlocked performance (bar the usual FSR upscaling fizziness that still exists) and so it is easy to recommend on Pro
My plan is to finish my old character on this patch. And hope they do do a PSSR specific update down the line for a fresh playthrough without FSR 🤞
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 591
Will today be a day to get back in to CyberPunk 2077? 🤔 And if it is, will I spend most of my time exploiting the photomode to make purposefully creepy, weird and grubby V photoshoots like this:
Chances are quite likely.
Re: Sony Job Listing Implies More PS5 Exclusives Will Be Ported to Xbox, Nintendo
@Flaming_Kaiser not sure why i'm tagged in this. My comment is just predicting the Sony strategy towards porting to make the most easy money
Re: Sony Job Listing Implies More PS5 Exclusives Will Be Ported to Xbox, Nintendo
I mean, it is almost free money to mobilise and port all of your older games, that are mostly just sat there gathering dust, on to the Switch 2 at this point. That should be the main focus initially. Then improving PC ports. And then maybe some live service on Xbox.
Re: Rumour: Battlefield 6 Out in October for PS5, Competes with Call of Duty
I will keep my eye on this to see if anything tempts me. BF used to be pretty nice.
I keep meaning to try the CoD campaigns, but the 24935gb downloads put me right off it.
Re: 'Increasingly Selective Consumers' to Blame for Underperformance of Blades of Fire
@kmtrain83 😬 yeah, sorry about that. Sometimes I wish I didn't think of these things, myself 😂 but still, there are so many great games to play, so at least we have that, right?
Re: 'Increasingly Selective Consumers' to Blame for Underperformance of Blades of Fire
Kids (or the wave new gamers of each generation that we all once were) used to play all kinds of middling to trash games because that is what was available. And fun was usually had, regardless of if it was a 4 or a 9. Now all the kids are playing free sh** in the form of two or 3 games instead. That is it.
Older gamers can't carry the industry (we all have ridiculous backlogs that only get longer) and it will only get worse. So, I guess we can actually blame Epic for this after all... for breaking gaming 🙃
There probably is a good discussion to be had about how sustainable gaming can be, because more games come out every year, and of course every year we get older, unfortunately, and if we are currently trying to play games from 5 or more years ago now, how can we ever make time for all the new games coming out that we might not have enough interest in to play right now.
When we were kids however, we would play anything if it was put in front of us, and that side of the market is definitely shrinking severely as it is weighted towards only spending money in one or two games forever and ever and a fortnite.
🤷♂️
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 590
In a bit of a summer gaming slump so just doing goals and things in FC25 until I get the urge to play something that is actually good 🙃
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Want from God of War Maker Sony Santa Monica Next?
Breaking Bad but with Kratos and we get to see the origin of his big bald head 🤷♂️
Or maybe let's just wait and see what it is and then we won't have to make crazy guesses
Re: Tony Hawk's Latest Game Mistakenly Trashes Dead Activision IP
Oh, get in the bin!
Come on, Fun Police, its barely even a misdemeanor
Re: Sony Says PS5 Is the Best Place to Watch in TV Centric Ad
LG does not even have the NBA app (for shame) so the old PS5 saves the day for that, and the app on Google x Philips is pretty bad at times too, so it's Pro to the rescue. Occasionally I will use the Now app as it functions more consistently on ps5 than the tv apps do, and it has a better fast forward function which is vital for watching live golf on a delay! But half the time I won't bother tbh.
I highly recommend NBA games via PS5 though as it streams them so much better overall than any other version I've used. That is, when MS isnt making the whole league pass service crash at their end 👍
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 589
It's too warm to spend time playing console games and making the house even hotter in the day. Maybe watching the Scottish Open and pretending i'm there as it is about 10°c cooler up that way 🙃
By night, who knows? Is drinking copious amounts potentially a good idea? Yes it is, other Ravix, Yes it is.
Re: Poll: Are You Sold on Ghost of Yotei?
Miike mode looks incredible! As does the game overall.
I love how much of a badass we seemingly get to be. Jin was very worrisome at times, but it seems like we really get to lean in to the Ghost mythology and character, and our image as someone to be feared. I hope we get to absolutely crucify some motherf****rs and, you know... occasionally feed the wolf 😁
My absolute main wish was always for more boss fights/duels, and it looks like we get that with contracts and encounters.
Let the hunt begin!
Re: 'We're Just Getting Started': Sony Marks 15 Years of PS Plus with Future Pledge
Full streaming for everything owned or in the catalogue to portable devices.
A set % discount to subscribers for all SIE published games whether new or already in other sales to promote your own products and reward your users.
Free cloud saves for people that don't subscribe because I bet that is annoying as hell.
Re: No Surprises with This Year's NBA 2K26 PS5, PS4 Cover Star
Will the physical edition duck down and run right into me, initiating contact, to get fouls called? If so, I'll go digital
Re: PS5's Ghost of Yotei Fully Revealed in 20 Minute State of Play on 10th July
@BrockSmith at the moment we are on a similar path. KCD2 then Oblivion (I doubt I will ever finish that though as its a Bethesda game and I don't ever finish them 😂) but I do have Ghost Pre Ordered and my love of Swords and Swordplay might mean that I do indeed play that before Clair and Death Stranding 2. But my God, I just wanted to say... what a year for gaming! If these are the ganes we have to choose between then we are eating well 😁
@somnambulance I kind of get what you mean with that. I have some reservations in the back of my mind about whether they will go the Ubisoft AC Sequel route, or the Rockstar RDR2 style route. So either a new pretty basic character doing the same kind of game stuff, or a new character that you learn to care about for entirely different reasons than the first because of the journey we are about to go on. I do have faith they will nail atmosphere and story beats.
Re: The Uncharted Vibes Are Off the Charts in New Mafia: The Old Country PS5 Gameplay
It looks a lot like Mafia to me. Like really a lot. Whole segments look very similar: sneak and stab your way to the mansion is very much like the maze level, going to get guns pre mission is the same, crouching, shooting, driving to objectives, cutscenes etc just it is in Sicilia.
And I was skipping through to not spoil anything for myself. But yes, very recognisable as being the 2kCzech style Mafia gameplay loop.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 588
@Kraven great passionate summary. Death Stranding (1) was a great gaming experience for me, even though there were a few bottlenecks with janky combat and having to replay a couple of segments (damn you, Beach Bound Mads) because of the moments you can make (otter absailing, freeform dance moves using the balance mechanics in time to the 'end' credits music etc and the journey and spectacle itself being so unique) and I've been pondering whether to just buy 2 now, even though I don't think I will be able to get stuck in to it yet because of my current gaming dedication being on the very casual side of the hardcore/casual vendiagram.
But I think... I shall, based on people's reaction like this. I'm even tempted to get the CE, but logic kind of tells me that I don't really need a 15 inch Magellan Man in my life 🤷♂️😅 edit: oh no, the box has the otter on it in a new form 😭 'Buy Now' finger is lingering 😭
Re: Wuxia Open World Where Winds Meet Will Be a PS5 Console Exclusive for Six Months
@Anya-chan because it's a mobile game and any realism or depth would break the game engine 🙈
It will go down as one of the year's most misleading build ups to a game release, I'd imagine. So there's that to look forward to on release day... 🙃 but as long as people know its a free to play game and not something to challenge a Ghost or Wukong experience then there can't be much to complain about (it may even be good for what it is) I just hope people don't get too excited for something different and then end up dissapointed becsuse at first glance it does look like a game that could be something much better.
For anyone interested you can search for gameplay on YouTube from the mobile/PC version that is already out.
Re: Where Winds Meet Confirms Its Final Beta, Sign-Ups Open Now
I'm half wondering if there's something a little off about this title, some of the action in the gameplay trailers kind of skips the animations you'd expect moving from point a to point b. So a front flip becomes the start of a front flip, and then the landing, with nothing between.
And the story trailer didn't appear to offer much story? It was more of a dance production 🤷♂️
Ah, it is genuinely a free-to-play MMORPG with a "non-pay to win monetization blah blah etc" and it is already out in China on mobile and PC 🤦♂️
Re: Ghost of Yotei's Pricey $250 PS5 Collector's Edition Is for the Hardcore Fans Only
I think its a bit pricey for what it is, but that being said I have it on Pre-Order 😅 I really like the look of the mask, and the digital version is perfect for me anyway as I can play it without a disc drive.
I wanted to maybe find a traditionally made Japanese mask instead but haven't got a clue where to look for one, so this will do.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 587
@Rangers420 It'd be remiss of me not to encourage you to get KCD2 right now
So, that said, it is clearly time for you to join the Legion of Henry's! Everyone's doing it, even random NPC's
Re: You Can Now Launch First-Party PlayStation Games Through the Xbox PC App
I'm sure the 490 people that buy a Rog Xbox Ally will love this massive flex
Re: MindsEye Dev to Begin Layoff Process After Dire Launch, Says Report
@SeaDaVie the filings are fascinating. Netease pulled out as a significant influence in April last year.
I think its been falling apart for a very long time 😬
I've also seen suggestions that LB may have taken a consultation fee of around £5million via one of the many similarly named build a rocket companies they control, but its all speculation, i'm sure no one made any significant money from this disaster 👀
Edit: I’m going to stop now, as the focus should be back on the fact the actual staff are the ones being f***ed over here, as usual.
Re: MindsEye Dev to Begin Layoff Process After Dire Launch, Says Report
@SeaDaVie interesting. How has the £230m+ number been moved into their distributable reserves as late as December 2024 if it is money that has been available to be used by the company from day one though? Would the number not reflect that as it is seperate from their costs and regular accounts due to its nature as share premium 🤷♂️
At least they had some massive tax avoidance, I guess.
Re: MindsEye Dev to Begin Layoff Process After Dire Launch, Says Report
@SeaDaVie I can't really be that bothered to get into it too much. But the records are there, just look under filing history edit: never mind you found it.
Basically, they moved the money from the share premium account (the account that holds the excess above share price that investors were willing to pay, but that can't be directly withdrawn) into the distributable funds, which can be used to pay out shareholders Edit: it's the excess paid for shares, not the total lifetime shares, so that would be real money, right?
Of course, what they did with that money is a mystery, but it stood out pre-release as a bit strange, and it stands out even more now that we know that they knew how bad a state the game was in before it was decided to be made available on stores and before a weird campaign to blame some 'mysterious force' funding negativity around the game was started.
Add that to the fact the CFO, and CLO left the company a week before the game release, the rumours of sh** conditions and wild changes of direction by LB and the higher ups. And now the 100 expected layoffs! It just seems like something that someone should look into one day, and I'd be interested to find out all that went on there, because I'm a nosey c*** 😛 And if it turns out someone was up to no good, then f*** 'em, they can answer for it.
Re: MindsEye Dev to Begin Layoff Process After Dire Launch, Says Report
@SeaDaVie their public financial records that are available to anyone
"Reduction of the company's share premium account by £233,229,993 from £233,229,993 to £0.00 and the amount by which the share premium account is so reduced be credited to the company's distributable reserves" 20/12/2024
Re: MindsEye Dev to Begin Layoff Process After Dire Launch, Says Report
And the £230+million they moved in December so the shareholders could withdraw funds that were otherwise unaccessible to them will mean those at the top truly don't give a f***
Job done 🍻
Someone please investigate this bunch of c***s
Re: The Witcher, Kingdom Come Vibes in Blood of Dawnwalker Gameplay
@lazarus11 I remember when I first heard about it they mentioned a timer, which felt off-putting, but I'm guessing it will be kind of like a "click on this quest to start and time will change" rather than a fully dynamic day/night cycle with a limited amount of time.
To me, itd make sense if there were a bunch of quests you can do in the day, and a bunch at night, with some crossover quests that require both, and choosing to advance time to complete one part might have to be a decision we think about more carefully as time gets more scarce.
If it is indeed like this, I think it will add to the fun (take your time when you want to, and then make actual decisions that affect the overall story and the time you have left) and whether or not its a hard fail or just an alternative bad ending will have to be seen in-game, I guess.
All I know for sure though is that him saying time doesnt just run out on its own makes it feel like it will still be an RPG you can take your time with outside of the main quest, but maybe with a few consequences that do link back to the time you have.
Re: The Witcher, Kingdom Come Vibes in Blood of Dawnwalker Gameplay
I like the look of it.
I also picked up that the timer isn't a "timer" its more a "resource"? And the game warns you when its going to tick forward, which I hope means that you can spend ages exploring and slow playing rather than constantly fighting time 😁
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 586
Oblivion or BG3... or nothing because the weather isn't really gaming weather. But I do want to RPG at some point, maybe Sunday evening if the golf isn't too exciting 😛
Re: Talking Point: What's Your PS5 Game of the Year for 2025 So Far?
Are You Yanking My GOTY Voting Pizzle?!
Honestly the first map alone of KCDII is probably my favourite RPG experience ever. It's perfection for me.
The weird thing is, overall, I still think KCD1 is better as a complete game and KCDII is clearly tweaked to make it easier for those that couldn't understand how the quests or combat worked in KCD and I would have liked maybe 5 more massive quests that annoyed people, rather than just the one or two sprinkled in 😛 But then they did add a lot more to the game, and it looks and plays great (and technically the end of 1 was supposed to include the start of 2 as its own finale, but they just couldnt manage it at the time) so KCD is kind of like KCD1.5 and KCDII in one game 🙌
I'm saving Clair for later in the year, and no doubt will love it, so 2 Game of the Years in one year is eating very well. And still 2 big Sony exclusives yet to come too!
Re: PS5's Ghost of Yotei Features Some Kind of 'Foraging' System, Sucker Punch Confirms
Less rush in favour of a more mindful approach suits this series so much!
And that's what I hope this kind of thing leads to.
Tsushima, as we mentioned a while back, was just slapping a button as you sprint around the environment to collect lots of everything for no real reason. So what we need is less total stuff to collect in favour of a more considered, sparse approach, and then have the player appreciate they are part of the environment, not just dashing around collecting junk like the suped up roomba that was Jin 😅
Open world design is tough, but simple and realistic is usually better than crammed full and unrealistic.
Re: Death Stranding 2 Feedback Was 'Too Good', So Hideo Kojima Made Big Changes
If we love that he changed it... will he have to change it back? 🤔
Re: Critically Panned MindsEye Makes Surprising Debut in First Sales Report
It was 13th digitally (UK) pre refund/post release day (which is very bad for a brand new game) But it's actually at #11 now 🤷♂️
Re: The Witcher 4 Being Built for PS5 First and Foremost, Will Target 60fps
@Anya-chan that's two confirmed sources saying it now: You, and me. Good enough to be treated as fact, I think 🤷♂️🙃
Re: The Witcher 4 Being Built for PS5 First and Foremost, Will Target 60fps
Can we start some early moneyhatting rumours because of that tech demo being exclusively on PS5? 🤑
💰🎩💰🎩💰🎩💰🎩💰🎩💰🎩💰
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
Sooooo, ignoring the ongoing battle up there... In terms of tech innovation and competition, it's clear Nvidia is driving the push to make better hardware (Switch 2 has proven the power of their upscaling to the mainstream masses)
And Xbox are publishing a lot of games since they bought 2 massive publishers, so publishing competition has increased rather than decreased, if anything as their monopoly begins to form there.
Casual Fifa/CoD/GTA gamers always bought PS anyway, so that hasn't changed.
The cheap Game Pass effect remains the same, for now. Bad for the industry, good for people that don't want to spend much on gaming.
Plenty going on in the industry to focus the minds at PS towers. Cerny vs DLSS must be a personal goal, he'd love to eventually get PS upscaling as good if not better somehow, you'd imagine.
Re: Sony Approves MindsEye PS5 Refunds as Dev Issues 'Sincere Apology'
Looks up definition of 'sincere'
Nope.
Hey, Execs... F***off. We all saw it coming, you knew it was coming, and you still released a game that you knew wasn't acceptable
Re: MindsEye (PS5) - GTA Producer's Latest Is a Futuristic Faceplant
@LifeGirl there's a difference between a bad game and a game no one wanted to buy
Re: Hands On: MindsEye Is a Boring Mess
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare it does make me wish for more dedicated and investigative gaming journalism. Game developers, companies and the conglomerates that own them (where applicable) are still pretty much only known for games they release, the quality of the games and then the odd story about abuse or layoffs that ends up swept away in no time.
Something smells off with it all and it'd be nice to get some bloodhounds on the trail haha. But I feel we will just get left with 'oh the game wasn't that well recieved and they eventually shut it down' or 'the game did okay and was average and will be forgotten' or whatever. And that will be the public perception of it, just that. And all of the other stuff will just melt away and be forgotten or never even thought about.
If there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for even half the random s*** behind the scenes, then so be it. But there has been a lot of chatter in forums for years by people that have supposedly worked there (there was a lot of staff turnover) and a lot of stuff they say... well, I can't see there being any reason for them to make it up, as why would they have an axe to grind with the execs, the work environment, Benzies and the like, unless they were indeed once employed there. And this is stuff from before 90% of people had even heard of the game or the company, so it isn't band wagon jumping.
Re: Hands On: MindsEye Is a Boring Mess
@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare you're right about that. The original Mindseye description was "a premium experience within the free to play Everywhere model"
And word is they had to make some money as Everywhere was/is in development hell which explains why they slapped this out on consoles as a full game without it being close to optimised.
There's also the matter that the company moved the entire £233 million from the share premium account (which can't be distributed) into the distributable reserves in December. But that's a matter for the financial whizzes, of course the companies own chief finance officer did leave a week before the game released, also. So 🤷♂️ Just totally normal goings on, i'm sure
Re: Hands On: MindsEye Is a Boring Mess
@Shepherd_Tallon I do think they distanced themselves from that. But it's hard to keep up with the whole journey as they have changed so many things so many times. A common theme I've seen and heard is Benzies changes his mind a lot, but it could always be investors dictating things as well.
I'm kind of hopeful it sticks around and eventually becomes whatever it is supposed to become, as I'm happy enough to play a story through and make up my own mind on that side of things. I suppose we will eventually know if this ends up as an episodic experience, or can simply be enjoyed as a standalone with a big full stop at the end.
Re: Hands On: MindsEye Is a Boring Mess
@Shepherd_Tallon they wanted to make a blockchain game originally, remember 🤷♂️
I've seen GameRiot has a "Full Game" video that is 8 hours long, so that tells me all I need to know. I'll probably play this at a later date to fill a gap and move on (If it ends up ever working on the pro) I'm not fussed about the DLC or 10 year roadmap as it takes a special game to make me come back to it once I've wrapped the main story.
In fact, I'm glad @AaronBayne was so cutting in this write up now if the performance is legitimately tanking below 30fps. Releasing a game that cant even hold 30fps on the PS5 Pro must take a special level of sh** management and is unacceptable. It should not have released yet, clearly.
Re: Yep, PlayStation's PC Games Will Be Playable on Xbox's New Handheld System
@nomither6 no, I'm an Xbox