@LiamCroft Do you think Sony stopped them to protect their IP or because their kinda shady?
I know Microsoft allowed companies like Mad Catz and Nyko to sell custom 360 faceplates, but if I recall it was only after consumers could get some from Microsoft themselves.
@john_c Hard to say if Sony would play ball. The GP and Apple battle has shown that Microsoft doesn't give that natural 30% cut for items on GP. Not sure Sony would ever agree to those terms.
@john_c Hard to compare Microsoft and Disney as Microsoft is a much larger company. Their net income from the last quarter was more than Disney's entire 2018 fiscal year. Satya has made it clear the company is focused on subscriptions and software. Turn and burn is no longer the gameplan.
@get2sammyb Off topic question. Do you guys prefer to link sources from outside Nintendolife/PureXbox? I've noticed a good amount of your topics that overlap link to outside resources. Sites like GlobeNewsWire come off as "not secure" on my computer so I wasn't sure what the process was. Hope it doesn't come off as an insult. Just curious.
@Menchi I have no doubt the OS is done. Not being a software engineer I assume they could always use the PS4 version if they really need to.
It's the idea that Sony is going to create another showcase/marketing event before the launch that I'm not buying. They've already sold their product. Convincing more people to buy a product that you don't have is a terrible business strategy. So I'm not sure why Sony is holding back information. Makes zero sense.
@get2sammyb I'm confused how this would help in a marketing campaign. They've already sold their available stock. Doesn't make much sense to hold back information that will be given to users before more people can buy. Nothing they do now will get people to buy a product that isn't available.
@God_of_Nowt @SirAngry Makes sense. Like I said, I'm not experienced in the gaming industry so it's hard for me to understand the criticism on people's opinions. It's common in my industry to spend huge sums of money training people on new equipment and strategies. It's also common for this never to reach to consumers as not to affect each company's image. It's cool to get an understanding of similar situations from others. Thanks!
@SirAngry I should rephrase my question. If you were in charge, would you have your team make this remaster and sell it as an upgrade? I have zero knowledge on the engineering side and my business experience isn't in the gaming industry. Makes total sense to get your team experience but would you make it so costly that you'd need to charge for it?
@ShogunRok I don't have a dog in this fight so this is a sincere question. If you were running the show would you have them spend a year on the remaster or focus more on MM/Spiderman 2?
I agree completely. It's ok to raise the price. It's also fair not to buy it. Singleplayer games tend to get better as they age anyways. The need to buy these games immediately isn't really there anymore.
The part in the parenthesis confused me a bit but I think I get it. Starting today (Sept 17th) the multiplayer will be shut down over phases, concluding on Nov 17th? That's a real shame. It's always hard to lose a portion of a game but so soon after release is just rough.
@SirAngry I've never heard of a company breaking down profits by department. Only revenue. You can make educated assumptions based off of expense reports but if a company is going to break down their finances into net income or profits by department then there is no point of having those departments inside a single company.
@Flaming_Kaiser I agree. I don't think Gamepass works for Sony. It looks like it's working for Microsoft. I think it's ok to state both.
@AJDarkstar I included the article that says otherwise. If you don't want to read it that's fine but I've got nothing to add beyond that.
@SirAngry I would be interested in checking out that call. Everything I've seen says that revenue is up for Xbox. If you're saying that Revenue is up for services but gamepass is losing money something doesn't add up.
@get2sammyb @AJDarkstar Microsoft never said it isn't profitable, just not a big money maker. Sony is right to say gamepass doesn't work for them, but saying the service is unsustainable is just personal opinion. There is no financial evidence to support it.
@get2sammyb have to admit though, it's good marketing. Ethical? Probably not. But Sony has let the narrative sink that Microsoft's new consoles are shackled to the past. I doubt this changes that so close to launch.
Clear reminder these are just companies trying to make money.
@belmont @leucocyte @Menchi Sales tax in the United States is rarely above 10%. All things considered if the game is $60 it's usually around $68. No way around it, rest of the world is getting shafted.
@lacerz If you have the 500-600 now to afford a console and Sony offers a payment plan with 0% interest, take it. Time value of money states you'd be foolish to spend it now when you money today is worth more than if you'd spend it next year. Investment 101. Payment plans aren't automatically stupid just because many people don't manage their finances properly.
@dngiovanni @KippDynamite dngiovanni is right. There is no official discount for Ultimate outside of the $1 for the first month. Phone companies do this all the time. Offer discounts on secondary perks like Disney+ to get people in the door. It's been proven multiple times now that people spend more money on gamepass games than average. Microsoft is betting new players will spend more if Ultimate is locked in for 2 years.
@HMazzy111 I disagree with your car analogy. I think it's better to say the PS5 is like a Supra and the Series X is like the Mustang Bullitt. Series S is a Fusion. Everyone wants a Mustang/Supra but a Fusion is fully capable of handling most of people's needs.
Same as the Series S. For fans that want the AAA titles that push the graphics to the limits this console wont be for them. If you got a kid who plays Fortnite and COD all the time this will fit their needs fine. It's these games that form the financial backbone for the PS and Xbox.
If I was a betting man then I think the 599 price range was where both companies originally were looking at. I think Sony was willing to bring it down to 499; however, they wanted to see if Microsoft would announce at the originally rumored 599. No harm waiting as that would have given Microsoft some pain. Competition is good.
@Ssimsim It'll be noticeably different. Here are the Series S specs from PureXbox. It won't be the same caliber as the PS5 or the Series X but it will be able to do things the One X just can't handle.
Those are definitely interesting numbers. I think the last statistics I saw was that Playstation did about twice in yearly revenue than Xbox so this makes some sense. Seems like UK is higher. Always thought Xbox was a North American company and Playstation was better globally.
I'm interested in seeing the overall Avengers sales. It sounds like instead of the exclusive content trying to convince Xbox players to buy the game on the PS, it just convinced them not to buy the game at all. It's still pretty early in the sales but I would think overall sales would be higher for the PS if people were all playing on it for the extra content.
@TheFrenchiestFry I'm honestly very surprised that this type of thought process is showing up multiple times in this comment section. Publishers don't "lose" games from the developers they work with. If a game is added to another source then the publisher either allowed it or the original contract has expired and the developer has full control.
I'm not familiar with UK contract law but in the USA the transfer of IP doesn't void contracts with the original parties. If Insomniac made a contract with MS to sell their game only on the Xbox then that contract is still valid when Sony bought the IP. Just like with Ori, MS would have to give the green light for the developer to port it to PS.
@Ken_Kaniff making a definitive version doesn't remove the original contract. If MS paid to have the game solely on the xbox one then no part of the game can be taken elsewhere.
You wouldn't want developers to be doing that anyways. Companies would enter to these deals just to change a little part of the game to break the rules. Bad business all over the place.
Neither company has done a real good job selling that their consoles are necessary at launch. I think the choice of an upgrade is now down to price. Neither company has come out with a full, AAA launch title so those that feel the need to buy a new console will look at the best (or most affordable) option for 3rd party games.
I haven't seen a lot of pushback from this on PureXbox. I think the general census is this is only a concern for games that look good, and the overall opinion is this game isn't one of those.
@parvaz1 Square Enix uses the exact same tracking mechanic for all of their games. They do not track solely on sold products but on sold and shipped. Liam mentioned it in the article and I mentioned it in my comment. I also couldn't find anything that validated your claim that FFXV was one of the worst selling games in the series. From the information I found, it sold 9 million copies by October of last year, putting it as one of the highest amount sold across any Final Fantasy game.
I would be interested to see any statistics on how successful this strategy is. So people actually go out and buy a new console just because a game doesn't have all the dlc? With the exception of FF7, I can't think of a game that followed this practice that didn't suffer some underlying issues.
@DeepSpace5D @Ryall @solocapers Xbox Live is hard to track as Microsoft includes the free tier into their total numbers. When you read the 65 million active users it's very different than paid subscribers (Sony uses PSN as their active user amount).
Edit: I think a good historical marker to look at is Internet Explorer. The web browser could have been a cash cow for Microsoft back in the early 2000's but they made it free to torpedo the competition like Netscape. Highly diversified companies can easily manipulate their revenue for overall gains.
@DeepSpace5D I don't think it would be a "last-ditch" tactic at all. Microsoft isn't pulling anywhere near the revenue from Live as Sony is from Plus. It's easy for them to kill that service to try to entice multiplayer gamers to join their ecosystem. If you had the option to get multiplayer for free and to spend the same amount of money for Gamepass rather than two free games a month, don't you think that would sound better to a good amount of people?
The idea that Sony is doing well in this area so change won't happen has been proven wrong in almost every historical event in a free market society. competition tends to focus on how to improve the system to draw consumers to them. I wouldn't be surprised if Sony messed with the formula first to keep their competitive advantage.
If you are a fan of playstation their event was better. If you are a fan xbox their event was better. People can argue all they want but the events were very similar with quality and quantity. Neither company needs to "defend/respond" to the other.
The only thing I think Sony needs to do is start marching to the beat of their own drum. Microsoft is obviously not putting all their eggs in the Series X basket. Sony shouldn't feel the need to wait on Xbox's hardware event to release their own info.
@LiamCroft nope. This is the place that diehards from both sides will solve all their disagreements and settle their issues over this game once and for all.
Phil saying he thinks exclusives are counter productive to the industry doesn't dismiss their current necessity. Every last article this site has posted dealing with the xbox over the last couple years always includes comments about the lack of exclusives. Just because Phil doesn't like them doesn't mean he's going to ignore that the community does.
Side note — everyone who has used pc inclusion to dismiss xbox exclusives shouldn't be bothered by this either.
I really doubt Sony wants to compete with Lockhart by trying to sell ps4's. The whole message I got from their event last month was these games aren't possible with last gen tech. Why would they then push people to buy last gen tech where they know the games wont play?
It would be a nightmare at retail as well. Would you try to sell customers a 200 console where you can't sell them the playstation games that are coming out or do you sell them the 200-350(rumoured) Lockhart that plays all the next gen games from Microsoft?
@MarcG420 I actually made two points and I think you've missed them both. First is that disregarding a Game Pass service from Sony isn't cut and dry as Sammy made it out to be. We're talking about the merit of Sony's service, not the success or failure of Microsoft's. The numbers show that people are willing to buy and keep their subscription plans. Netflix $5.77 billion in quarterly revenue with 182 million subscribers. Do the math and subscribers paid roughly $11 dollars a month for the service throughout the quarter. By your logic that average should be much lower as people should end their service after getting what they want.
The second point (and the one I think is the most important) is that this isn't the place to have this discussion. I would love a writer from Push Square to deep dive on the numbers that would need to happen for Sony to reach the same revenue through subscription services as revenue through normal sales. The comments section for Sony selling 4 million copies of TLOU 2 in 3 days isn't the place. I would be more than happy to continue this if they decided to go that route. Until then I'll just assume that I haven't changed your mind and we will have to agree to disagree.
@get2sammyb I would say looking at only the kills during the cutscenes I could definitely see Ellie make that choice at the end. It's the choices during the actual game that differ. Anytime you make a decision to attack first to neutralize the threat it's premeditated. It sticks with you the same as if you were setting a showdown with you're nemesis. It's a drawback of giving your players choices. Even though it's just tactics it can still affect the validity of your character's decisions.
On a side note I forgot to mention above someone needs to teach these people how to clear an enter a room. These guys are way too trusting 😆
@get2sammyb @MarcG420 The problem with your assumptions is it isn't obvious at all. With 10 million Game Pass subscribers paying roughly $10 a month (some pay less, some more) you're looking at roughly $100 million a month in revenue. It's not hard to see Sony doubling those numbers with their much larger consumer base. That's a lot of revenue. Granted they still have to pay for the 90ish other games on the service but they already do that with PS Now.
I think it's an interesting concept to look into and maybe make an article arguing the pros and cons but mentioning Game Pass here detracts from Stephen's message and shifts the conversation away from Sony's achievement.
I don't have an absolute opinion of the game. I can see how some people think it's the best thing ever and some who believe it's the spawn of evil. I feel like it's a game like all the others.
What I will say is the discussion of violence and murder is obviously coming from people who have never been in any sort of similar situation. Doesn't matter if you know the name of the person or not. Saving Abby will not ease the dozens of other premeditated murders Ellie already committed. Saving the named individual is just fan service.
Comments 115
Re: Unofficial PS5 Faceplate Business Cancels Orders After Threat of Legal Action from Sony
@LiamCroft Do you think Sony stopped them to protect their IP or because their kinda shady?
I know Microsoft allowed companies like Mad Catz and Nyko to sell custom 360 faceplates, but if I recall it was only after consumers could get some from Microsoft themselves.
Re: The Elder Scrolls 6 Being Xbox Exclusive Is 'Hard to Imagine', Says Todd Howard
@john_c Hard to say if Sony would play ball. The GP and Apple battle has shown that Microsoft doesn't give that natural 30% cut for items on GP. Not sure Sony would ever agree to those terms.
Re: The Elder Scrolls 6 Being Xbox Exclusive Is 'Hard to Imagine', Says Todd Howard
@john_c Hard to compare Microsoft and Disney as Microsoft is a much larger company. Their net income from the last quarter was more than Disney's entire 2018 fiscal year. Satya has made it clear the company is focused on subscriptions and software. Turn and burn is no longer the gameplan.
Re: The New PS Store for Web, Mobile Is a Dramatic Downgrade
Microsoft: let's update our Xbox app by taking away key features that people loved from the old one. That'll surprise everyone.
Sony: hold my beer.
Re: NBA 2K21 Is the Next Game to Include Unskippable Adverts After Launch
@MattSilverado Microsoft does this with their windows 10 start games like solitaire and minesweeper. Not sure that it's better.
Re: Don't Be Surprised if GameStop Push Xbox Series S|X Harder Than PS5
@get2sammyb Off topic question. Do you guys prefer to link sources from outside Nintendolife/PureXbox? I've noticed a good amount of your topics that overlap link to outside resources. Sites like GlobeNewsWire come off as "not secure" on my computer so I wasn't sure what the process was. Hope it doesn't come off as an insult. Just curious.
Re: Sony Didn't Allow Japanese Media to See PS5's User Interface
@Menchi I have no doubt the OS is done. Not being a software engineer I assume they could always use the PS4 version if they really need to.
It's the idea that Sony is going to create another showcase/marketing event before the launch that I'm not buying. They've already sold their product. Convincing more people to buy a product that you don't have is a terrible business strategy. So I'm not sure why Sony is holding back information. Makes zero sense.
Re: Sony Didn't Allow Japanese Media to See PS5's User Interface
@get2sammyb I'm confused how this would help in a marketing campaign. They've already sold their available stock. Doesn't make much sense to hold back information that will be given to users before more people can buy. Nothing they do now will get people to buy a product that isn't available.
Re: Spider-Man Creative Director Calls for Respect as PS5 Remaster Criticism Crosses the Line
There's always bad apples in the world. Internet just gives them a bigger voice.
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered Has Been in Development for a Year on PS5
@God_of_Nowt @SirAngry Makes sense. Like I said, I'm not experienced in the gaming industry so it's hard for me to understand the criticism on people's opinions. It's common in my industry to spend huge sums of money training people on new equipment and strategies. It's also common for this never to reach to consumers as not to affect each company's image. It's cool to get an understanding of similar situations from others. Thanks!
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered Has Been in Development for a Year on PS5
@SirAngry I should rephrase my question. If you were in charge, would you have your team make this remaster and sell it as an upgrade? I have zero knowledge on the engineering side and my business experience isn't in the gaming industry. Makes total sense to get your team experience but would you make it so costly that you'd need to charge for it?
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered Has Been in Development for a Year on PS5
@ShogunRok I don't have a dog in this fight so this is a sincere question. If you were running the show would you have them spend a year on the remaster or focus more on MM/Spiderman 2?
Re: More PS5 Pre-Orders Available in the US, UK, Canada Starting Friday
@get2sammyb I didn't follow the ps4/xbox one launch cycles in 2013. Is it pretty common for these sites to get new shipments so soon?
Re: Soapbox: Screw Sony's PS5 Game Pricing, I'll Just Wait for Sales
I agree completely. It's ok to raise the price. It's also fair not to buy it. Singleplayer games tend to get better as they age anyways. The need to buy these games immediately isn't really there anymore.
Re: Disintegration's Multiplayer Is Being Shut Down Just Three Months After Launch
The part in the parenthesis confused me a bit but I think I get it. Starting today (Sept 17th) the multiplayer will be shut down over phases, concluding on Nov 17th? That's a real shame. It's always hard to lose a portion of a game but so soon after release is just rough.
Re: Sony Won't Follow Game Pass Model on PS5, Doesn't Believe It's Sustainable
@SirAngry I've never heard of a company breaking down profits by department. Only revenue. You can make educated assumptions based off of expense reports but if a company is going to break down their finances into net income or profits by department then there is no point of having those departments inside a single company.
Re: Sony Won't Follow Game Pass Model on PS5, Doesn't Believe It's Sustainable
@Flaming_Kaiser I agree. I don't think Gamepass works for Sony. It looks like it's working for Microsoft. I think it's ok to state both.
@AJDarkstar I included the article that says otherwise. If you don't want to read it that's fine but I've got nothing to add beyond that.
@SirAngry I would be interested in checking out that call. Everything I've seen says that revenue is up for Xbox. If you're saying that Revenue is up for services but gamepass is losing money something doesn't add up.
https://www.purexbox.com/news/2020/07/xbox_content_and_services_revenue_up_65_percent_in_microsoft_q4_results
Re: Sony Won't Follow Game Pass Model on PS5, Doesn't Believe It's Sustainable
@get2sammyb @AJDarkstar Microsoft never said it isn't profitable, just not a big money maker. Sony is right to say gamepass doesn't work for them, but saying the service is unsustainable is just personal opinion. There is no financial evidence to support it.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/gaming/xbox-game-pass-is-not-a-big-money-maker-right-now-but-microsoft-is-thinking-long-term/ar-BB17gsVe
Re: PS5 Is the Biggest Console Sony's Ever Made
Pushsquare: here are the measurements for the PS5. 390-104-260mm. 4.5kg
World: Wow that's big!
United States: ... 🤔
Re: Sony Believes in Generations, But Confirmed a Bunch of PS5 Games for PS4
@get2sammyb have to admit though, it's good marketing. Ethical? Probably not. But Sony has let the narrative sink that Microsoft's new consoles are shackled to the past. I doubt this changes that so close to launch.
Clear reminder these are just companies trying to make money.
Re: Sony Confirms PS5 Games Will Cost More
@belmont @leucocyte @Menchi Sales tax in the United States is rarely above 10%. All things considered if the game is $60 it's usually around $68. No way around it, rest of the world is getting shafted.
Re: Project Nimble Was the Codename for PS5 Showcase Event
@lacerz If you have the 500-600 now to afford a console and Sony offers a payment plan with 0% interest, take it. Time value of money states you'd be foolish to spend it now when you money today is worth more than if you'd spend it next year. Investment 101. Payment plans aren't automatically stupid just because many people don't manage their finances properly.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/timevalueofmoney.asp#:~:text=The%20time%20value%20of%20money%20%28TVM%29%20is%20the,is%20worth%20more%20the%20sooner%20it%20is%20received.
Re: PS5 Comes with Display Stand, Other Box Contents Confirmed
@Kev_Morrison This what you're looking for?
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/08/ps5_price_and_release_date_rumour_is_making_headlines_in_japan
Re: PS5 Comes with Display Stand, Other Box Contents Confirmed
@dngiovanni @KippDynamite dngiovanni is right. There is no official discount for Ultimate outside of the $1 for the first month. Phone companies do this all the time. Offer discounts on secondary perks like Disney+ to get people in the door. It's been proven multiple times now that people spend more money on gamepass games than average. Microsoft is betting new players will spend more if Ultimate is locked in for 2 years.
Re: Reaction: Why Hasn't PS5's Price and Release Date Been Revealed Yet?
@TooManyBrownies You must be new here....
Re: Reaction: Why Hasn't PS5's Price and Release Date Been Revealed Yet?
@HMazzy111 I disagree with your car analogy. I think it's better to say the PS5 is like a Supra and the Series X is like the Mustang Bullitt. Series S is a Fusion. Everyone wants a Mustang/Supra but a Fusion is fully capable of handling most of people's needs.
Same as the Series S. For fans that want the AAA titles that push the graphics to the limits this console wont be for them. If you got a kid who plays Fortnite and COD all the time this will fit their needs fine. It's these games that form the financial backbone for the PS and Xbox.
Re: Reaction: Why Hasn't PS5's Price and Release Date Been Revealed Yet?
If I was a betting man then I think the 599 price range was where both companies originally were looking at. I think Sony was willing to bring it down to 499; however, they wanted to see if Microsoft would announce at the originally rumored 599. No harm waiting as that would have given Microsoft some pain. Competition is good.
Re: Reaction: PS5 Price Under Scrutiny After Disruptive Xbox Series S Reveal
@Ssimsim It'll be noticeably different. Here are the Series S specs from PureXbox. It won't be the same caliber as the PS5 or the Series X but it will be able to do things the One X just can't handle.
https://www.purexbox.com/news/2020/09/microsoft_shares_the_official_tech_specs_for_the_xbox_series_s_x
Re: Madden NFL 21 Adds Quarterback Colin Kaepernick As Free Agent
At least this is one thing they didn't just copy and paste from last year.... progress?
Re: UK Retail Software Sales Are Skewing Heavily Towards PS4
Those are definitely interesting numbers. I think the last statistics I saw was that Playstation did about twice in yearly revenue than Xbox so this makes some sense. Seems like UK is higher. Always thought Xbox was a North American company and Playstation was better globally.
I'm interested in seeing the overall Avengers sales. It sounds like instead of the exclusive content trying to convince Xbox players to buy the game on the PS, it just convinced them not to buy the game at all. It's still pretty early in the sales but I would think overall sales would be higher for the PS if people were all playing on it for the extra content.
Re: PS5 Price and Release Date Rumour Is Making Headlines in Japan
@Milt could be the replacement cost. I could see it being an extra as well.
My big thing is why the digital only is 100 cheaper. Seems odd that the disc drive would drive up the price that much
Re: The Suicide Squad Trailer Has Fans Thinking About Sunset Overdrive
@TheFrenchiestFry I'm honestly very surprised that this type of thought process is showing up multiple times in this comment section. Publishers don't "lose" games from the developers they work with. If a game is added to another source then the publisher either allowed it or the original contract has expired and the developer has full control.
I'm not familiar with UK contract law but in the USA the transfer of IP doesn't void contracts with the original parties. If Insomniac made a contract with MS to sell their game only on the Xbox then that contract is still valid when Sony bought the IP. Just like with Ori, MS would have to give the green light for the developer to port it to PS.
Re: The Suicide Squad Trailer Has Fans Thinking About Sunset Overdrive
@Ken_Kaniff making a definitive version doesn't remove the original contract. If MS paid to have the game solely on the xbox one then no part of the game can be taken elsewhere.
You wouldn't want developers to be doing that anyways. Companies would enter to these deals just to change a little part of the game to break the rules. Bad business all over the place.
Re: Reaction: The Spotlight Is Now on PS5's Launch Lineup
Neither company has done a real good job selling that their consoles are necessary at launch. I think the choice of an upgrade is now down to price. Neither company has come out with a full, AAA launch title so those that feel the need to buy a new console will look at the best (or most affordable) option for 3rd party games.
Re: Oh Boy, There'll Be a Backlash to This Marvel's Avengers Trailer
I haven't seen a lot of pushback from this on PureXbox. I think the general census is this is only a concern for games that look good, and the overall opinion is this game isn't one of those.
Just a personal observation though.
Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake Sales Top Five Million Worldwide
@Flaming_Kaiser same. Just comparing the numbers. Not a fan of 15 at all. 😂
Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake Sales Top Five Million Worldwide
@parvaz1 Square Enix uses the exact same tracking mechanic for all of their games. They do not track solely on sold products but on sold and shipped. Liam mentioned it in the article and I mentioned it in my comment. I also couldn't find anything that validated your claim that FFXV was one of the worst selling games in the series. From the information I found, it sold 9 million copies by October of last year, putting it as one of the highest amount sold across any Final Fantasy game.
(same verbiage as in Liam's article)
https://www.cinemablend.com/games/1592240/final-fantasy-xv-sold-an-insane-number-of-copies-on-day-one
(FF figures from 2018)
https://gearnuke.com/final-fantasy-xv-to-date-sales-cross-final-fantasy-xiii-6th-best-selling-title-in-series/#:~:text=%20Sales%20numbers%20of%20the%20top%2010%20highest,%285%2C876%2C000%29%2010%20Final%20Fantasy%20IX%20%285%2C731%2C000%29%20More%20
Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake Sales Top Five Million Worldwide
@AdamNovice to put into context, square enix reported 5 million copies of ff15 were shipped/sold within the first 24hrs.
Take that information as you will.
Re: Marvel's Avengers Details Even More Reasons to Play on PS5, PS4
I would be interested to see any statistics on how successful this strategy is. So people actually go out and buy a new console just because a game doesn't have all the dlc? With the exception of FF7, I can't think of a game that followed this practice that didn't suffer some underlying issues.
Re: As the PS Plus Debate Rages, Sony Registers Record Subscribers
@DeepSpace5D @Ryall @solocapers Xbox Live is hard to track as Microsoft includes the free tier into their total numbers. When you read the 65 million active users it's very different than paid subscribers (Sony uses PSN as their active user amount).
Edit: I think a good historical marker to look at is Internet Explorer. The web browser could have been a cash cow for Microsoft back in the early 2000's but they made it free to torpedo the competition like Netscape. Highly diversified companies can easily manipulate their revenue for overall gains.
Re: As the PS Plus Debate Rages, Sony Registers Record Subscribers
@DeepSpace5D I don't think it would be a "last-ditch" tactic at all. Microsoft isn't pulling anywhere near the revenue from Live as Sony is from Plus. It's easy for them to kill that service to try to entice multiplayer gamers to join their ecosystem. If you had the option to get multiplayer for free and to spend the same amount of money for Gamepass rather than two free games a month, don't you think that would sound better to a good amount of people?
The idea that Sony is doing well in this area so change won't happen has been proven wrong in almost every historical event in a free market society. competition tends to focus on how to improve the system to draw consumers to them. I wouldn't be surprised if Sony messed with the formula first to keep their competitive advantage.
Re: Soapbox: Sony's Next PS5 Showcase Needs to Be a Scorcher
If you are a fan of playstation their event was better. If you are a fan xbox their event was better. People can argue all they want but the events were very similar with quality and quantity. Neither company needs to "defend/respond" to the other.
The only thing I think Sony needs to do is start marching to the beat of their own drum. Microsoft is obviously not putting all their eggs in the Series X basket. Sony shouldn't feel the need to wait on Xbox's hardware event to release their own info.
Re: UK Sales Charts: Ghost of Tsushima Retains First Place in Slow PS4 Week
@LiamCroft nope. This is the place that diehards from both sides will solve all their disagreements and settle their issues over this game once and for all.
Re: Xbox Sure Did Announce a Lot of Timed Exclusives This Week
Phil saying he thinks exclusives are counter productive to the industry doesn't dismiss their current necessity. Every last article this site has posted dealing with the xbox over the last couple years always includes comments about the lack of exclusives. Just because Phil doesn't like them doesn't mean he's going to ignore that the community does.
Side note — everyone who has used pc inclusion to dismiss xbox exclusives shouldn't be bothered by this either.
Soapbox over.
Re: As Microsoft Looks Poised to Discontinue Xbox One, Sony Has a Huge Opportunity with PS4
I really doubt Sony wants to compete with Lockhart by trying to sell ps4's. The whole message I got from their event last month was these games aren't possible with last gen tech. Why would they then push people to buy last gen tech where they know the games wont play?
It would be a nightmare at retail as well. Would you try to sell customers a 200 console where you can't sell them the playstation games that are coming out or do you sell them the 200-350(rumoured) Lockhart that plays all the next gen games from Microsoft?
Re: The Last of Us 2 Is the Fastest Selling PS4 Exclusive Ever, Over 4 Million Sold in Three Days
@MarcG420 I actually made two points and I think you've missed them both. First is that disregarding a Game Pass service from Sony isn't cut and dry as Sammy made it out to be. We're talking about the merit of Sony's service, not the success or failure of Microsoft's. The numbers show that people are willing to buy and keep their subscription plans. Netflix $5.77 billion in quarterly revenue with 182 million subscribers. Do the math and subscribers paid roughly $11 dollars a month for the service throughout the quarter. By your logic that average should be much lower as people should end their service after getting what they want.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/21/21229587/netflix-earnings-coronavirus-pandemic-streaming-entertainment
The second point (and the one I think is the most important) is that this isn't the place to have this discussion. I would love a writer from Push Square to deep dive on the numbers that would need to happen for Sony to reach the same revenue through subscription services as revenue through normal sales. The comments section for Sony selling 4 million copies of TLOU 2 in 3 days isn't the place. I would be more than happy to continue this if they decided to go that route. Until then I'll just assume that I haven't changed your mind and we will have to agree to disagree.
Re: Talking Point: The Last of Us 2 Spoilers Discussion
@get2sammyb I would say looking at only the kills during the cutscenes I could definitely see Ellie make that choice at the end. It's the choices during the actual game that differ. Anytime you make a decision to attack first to neutralize the threat it's premeditated. It sticks with you the same as if you were setting a showdown with you're nemesis. It's a drawback of giving your players choices. Even though it's just tactics it can still affect the validity of your character's decisions.
On a side note I forgot to mention above someone needs to teach these people how to clear an enter a room. These guys are way too trusting 😆
Re: The Last of Us 2 Is the Fastest Selling PS4 Exclusive Ever, Over 4 Million Sold in Three Days
@Akurusu beat me to it.
Re: The Last of Us 2 Is the Fastest Selling PS4 Exclusive Ever, Over 4 Million Sold in Three Days
@get2sammyb @MarcG420 The problem with your assumptions is it isn't obvious at all. With 10 million Game Pass subscribers paying roughly $10 a month (some pay less, some more) you're looking at roughly $100 million a month in revenue. It's not hard to see Sony doubling those numbers with their much larger consumer base. That's a lot of revenue. Granted they still have to pay for the 90ish other games on the service but they already do that with PS Now.
I think it's an interesting concept to look into and maybe make an article arguing the pros and cons but mentioning Game Pass here detracts from Stephen's message and shifts the conversation away from Sony's achievement.
Re: Talking Point: The Last of Us 2 Spoilers Discussion
I don't have an absolute opinion of the game. I can see how some people think it's the best thing ever and some who believe it's the spawn of evil. I feel like it's a game like all the others.
What I will say is the discussion of violence and murder is obviously coming from people who have never been in any sort of similar situation. Doesn't matter if you know the name of the person or not. Saving Abby will not ease the dozens of other premeditated murders Ellie already committed. Saving the named individual is just fan service.