I don't think its GTA6 - I just can't think they would be giving this 'accolade' to any 3rd party game.
Maybe its Wolverine - we know what wizards Insomniac are, or maybe its Intergalactic.
Personally, I would guess its a game they haven't yet properly announced though, but its only a guess. They rarely announce games very early these days.
@Dogbreath I don't think too badly of Sony, and I don't see any need for an investigation.
To be fair, the only reason they have the market dominance they have now is because their main rival (Xbox) has been on a path of complete self destruction over a number of years. The Activision acquisition was just the last dozen or so nails in the coffin. Xbox wanted it for gamepass, a broken model (at least the day 1 aspect of it), which even Sony said was unsustainable. To get it they needed in excess of $70bn from their parent company, Microsoft, and in return have had various requirements forced upon them - including ridiculous profit margin requirements, and the effective loss of their own exclusives. All Sony had to do was offer a decent alternative.
I also think Sony will come to see PC and maybe even Nintendo as much more important rivals in the coming years.
However, Sony has to be careful as to how this Japan only console looks - they have a vast English speaking userbase - why can't they do a cheaper, English locked Console, if this is possible for Japan? They have singled out effectively 1 language / region for 'special treatment', which is not a good look.
@themightyant Apologies for not replying earlier - I received no notification of a reply from the site, and just happened to read your comment - it may be the way you inserted the quote, but I don't know.
I understand that we are at the point of diminishing returns, but the rumoured 2.5x performance seems very low compared to what we saw between PS4 and PS5. I will add that I'm sure I've read 2-3x performance, so without anything concrete, I would always tend towards the lower number.
This could of course all change - the architecture sounds good, but we have no clue on clock speeds.
We also have an engine - UE5, which is becoming more and more widespread even now, that seems to be very demanding even on current high spec PCs.
Obviously the big unknown is the part around architecture and ML that Cerny and AMD has been working on. It sounds really positive, but it also sounds like the PS6 will really depend on its use, and how early will/can its functionality be utilised properly (particularly if we are only 2 years away).
If all the PS6 can do is better graphics at 30 and 60fps, I really worry for it (the promise of RT will not work for some as that was promised for PS5) - 30fps has to be gone next gen, with 60fps Graphics modes, and 90fps+ Performance modes. The ball is in Sony's court, as the saying goes, to prove that this is a PS6, not a PS5 Pro Pro. And they will need the sales to 'kick-start' the generation properly.
To me, better but a bit later (late 2028 seems good to me too), is preferable - people say the main reason for 2027 is to coincide with Xbox's next launch, but at this stage I don't even think that should be a factor. I don't think too many will look elsewhere, unless Sony really messes up the PS6 launch, then anything could happen.
I will add that my ideal is a more powerful than usual Pro available at the start of the generation - yes, it might be expensive, but having it all gen, and not upgrading would offset this.
Stellar Blade is a very highly polished game on a technical level, particularly on Pro. One of the very best 3rd party games in this regard, and an incredible achievement.
But, I thought that overall, Lies of P was the MUCH better game (and also highly polished).
All I know is that I wasn't a big fan of Tsushima- I played it once when it released, but wouldn't again, and didn't buy the DLC.
It didn't click with me - I found it a bit boring, and I didn't like Jin, his story, or a lot of the side content. The graphics were also very 'muddy'.
I nearly didn't bother with Yotei.
But I'm glad I did. GoY is easily my favourite game this year, and probably one of my Top 10 this generation. A really fantastic game - one I will replay, and would instantly snap up any story DLC.
I'm still no where near convinced about that 2027 date - it just says PS6 will be far too underpowered or too expensive to me.
The PS6 needs to convince people to upgrade, on mass, from PS5 - Thats the main competition, not Xbox any longer. However, if they mess it up, thats when people may look elsewhere.
@Titntin The last Xbox I owned was a 360. It has been sad to see the path of self destruction they have been on, arguably since then - often through greed, but also through not listening to their real customers.
I wasn't being clever or nitpicking (I know you didn't think I was) - I just think Sony (or indeed Nintendo) shouldn't take credit, but see it as a "this is what can happen if" warning.
@Oram77
For me, this generation has been the best yet, with some really amazing games. I'm not against Sony/others doing remakes of a few games from last gen either. I also think the hardware - base & Pro, have been good. SSD's have made a real difference too.
Whenever I see these "its been a crap gen" posts, I have to really wonder what kind of rose tinted spectacles people are wearing.
I do have 3 major criticisms though:
1) I do have to agree that this gen would have been even better without Sony's LS push. I don't think their output has been bad, but it could have been even better.
2) The increasing habit of devs putting out unfinished/ unoptimised games really needs to stop before it seriously harms the industry (Day 1 sales are being damaged, with an increase in wait for sale mentality).
3) For sanity sake stop using UE5, or at least calm down using all its "features". (We still have 2 years to go yet!)
Sony would be mad to release the PS6 too early / too underpowered / with not enough games in place, with momentum like this. (The rumour of the next Xbox launching in 2027 shouldn't sway them).
I just checked the DF video - to make sure I wasn't talking rubbish and on (base) PS5 the performance mode drops res to 864p - which does indeed indicate around this or a bit lower at 30fps on Series S. Sorry.
Im hoping for a proper Pro patch too, for both this and SH F - then I will likely buy them both. I think, if they do one, we will be waiting until the new PSSR/FSR4.
This particular team has never impressed me with their technicals, so I'm not going to hold my breath lol. But, maybe a different team could port to Switch 2 (I have no idea).
@Medic_alert You would think thats how it should work - and it really should. But this engine is just far too resource hungry for this generation of hardware, and for general use in my opinion - PS5 generally struggles with it, and you often end up with only just above 720p at 60fps. Series S will likely be limited to 30fps, and there is not much lower to go. Even very expensive PC's seem to struggle at times.
@Medic_alert They are likely having a lot of trouble getting it to work on Switch 2 as its UE5. In the ports Ive seen tested - which is admittedly not all of them - Switch 2 normally comes in between PS4 Pro and S2, but often much closer to PS4 Pro. Im not saying its not possible, but this team don't seem to be the most technically gifted from the evidence we have.
GoT never clicked with me - I think in part I just didn't think much to the story, however, GoY was an amazing game. If I had reviewed them both I would have given GoT a straight 6, and GoY a 9.5 - I vastly preferred Yotei in every respect.
Graphics isn't polled here - I played GoT on a PS4 Pro and found it underwhelming for its time and muddy looking. I played GoY on a PS5 Pro and found it to look excellent - a real treat.
@Leinad7 An Xbox PC makes much more sense than them doing another console (which I believe would just not sell at all).
However, I don't see it selling enough to encourage separate optimisation from normal PC code.
I also don't expect it to be a massive upgrade on PS6, particularly in actual real world performance, even if it looks good on paper. The price point being rumoured is not really high enough given that without a closed ecosystem they will need to profit on the hardware alone.
@TrollOfWar Agree that optimisation in general has gone downhill fast this gen, except Sony 1st party studios which are generally outstanding in this regard (including where they 'loan' their engines eg DS2, a game I have no interest in but it was technically excellent).
Maybe I should have said, in relation to 3rd party exclusives, that there is hope that it will be better optimised on PS, than if they were launching on multiple systems.
@UltimateOtaku91 I think developers need some serious holding back! Series S has been good for PS5 users this gen, and I think S2 may help a lot as we go through the last few years of this gen.
My feeling is that as we get into next gen either 3rd party AAA's will start to either just not launch on S2, or only offer severly reduced versions on S2 - much like S1 in this generation. Maybe I'm wrong - the PS6's capability over PS5 (based on limited info) does not appear to be even close to the difference between PS4 and PS5.
Certainly the new PS handheld is going to hold back developers ambitions on PS6 - its only roughly half as powerful as a PS5. That is of course if it sells well, otherwise its support could evaporate fast. PS5 cross gen is likely to last much longer too, complicating matters even further.
@TrollOfWar Just seeing that 'exclusive' label is enough to make some people interested - I see it all the time from people.
To some it is just a shallow response - the 'its only on my console / that make me feel special' point of view, which may be wrong but it does affect a lot of people. To me 'exclusive' means its likely to be better optimised for the hardware - though given SE's recent track record that really does not apply these days any more sadly.
I do agree with your other post that Switch2 and Series S versions may help keep their technical 'ambitions' in check, allowing better performing PS5 versions - something I think will have a big affect next generation with Sony's handheld holding back developers technical 'ambitions'.
I used to see SE as an important developer of PS exclusives - but over the last number of years that has just reduced.
The horrible technical performance on show in FF16 (I played the demo) just demonstrated that they were no longer building their games well, and specific to the console hardware.
I suspect that Sony's interest in exclusives from them has reduced too - maybe not yet in terms of marketing, but in terms of money offered and support. Maybe this is the reason behind SE's new approach.
There was a time I would have thought this was bad for SE and bad for Playstation, but I don't think thats the case now - I don't think this affects Playstation at all now.
But I do think this is risky for SE. If they lose Sony's marketing it will be a loss for them, but a game simply being a PS console exclusive made it feel like a 'much bigger deal' to a lot of PS console owners, even if only from a perception point of view. Will their new approach net them enough sales elsewhere to counter this - Im not so sure.
It also means they are going to be working on far more versions for the initial launch of every game that would have been exclusive - given recent games technical performance, I'm not sure thats a good idea at all.
On one hand I do not like the way R* has behaved, and it just appears from what is written in the article that they were looking for any reason. Unless there was a more serious breach of confidentiality than is suggested, this is not how a company behaves that values its staff - Even if R* are being genuine, unless the breach is serious, there is no need to go straight to sacking people in my opinion.
On the other hand, I do not personally often like Unions - I do not like how demanding (particularly over Pay) they can get, and how some seem to refuse to negotiate sensibly, often seeming like they are more interested in their own reputation.
There was a case nearby (that I have no connection with) where a company was affected by Union strikes - if all the reports were true the Union demands were too high (various pay % increase offers were published). Sadly, I suspect that site will be shut in the next couple of years, with production moved elsewhere if the company fears a repeat - a LOT of people will be out of work if that happens.
@StitchJones
If its not 60fps it will be (literally) unplayable to me, even poor adherence to 60fps is unplayable to me.
I couldn't care less how 'good' or 'generational' a game is otherwise, I would be completely unable to enjoy it - I would much rather buy a 6/10 game with perfect 60fps as I could get some enjoyment out of it.
If games like DW origins with that amount of characters on-screen can run at 70-100fps, and games like SM1, SMMM, SM2, R&C, GOWR, Hogwarts, Stellar Blade, RE Village, RE4 Remake etc etc can all run in excess of (and often well in excess of) 60fps then there is no excuse.
Edit: Therefore that is what I am hoping this delay is to ensure.
@Darude84 Please bear in mind I only played through GoT once, back when it launched, so I'm a bit hazy on some of the details. I didn't replay or buy the dlc as I just didn't find it enjoyable enough.
I didn't like the whole Samurai honorable, ghost bad, story of GoT - whereas GoY may be a relatively typical 'revenge' story in some ways, but I enjoyed it far more. I also though the character of Atsu was at times better written than Jin, and there was a better supporting cast.
The way Atsu's backstory is filled out - particularly in the early stages felt much better, backed up by the enjoyable mechanic of switching between timeframes (though I will agree that 'Young' Atsu is grating on a VA / Processing front - its the same actor).
Graphically, I wasn't a fan of GoT - it always looked very 'muddy' to me even on a PS4 Pro. GoY looks excellent (played on PS5 Pro), with stunning looking locations, and that really helps the game in my opinion.
The Spyglass in GoY allows you to highlight distant POI and add them to your map, allowing you to use the map much more effectively. There is still a lot of side content - it feels better handled and more interesting than I remember for GoT, and the Spyglass mechanic likely aids in this. The wolf mechanic is a nice touch.
The combat is also better than I remember, and I prefer the new weapons to the stances in GoT.
If they released a Story type expansion for GoY, I would be buying it day 1.
I ordered 1 pin badge. I didn't bother with the other 2 items as they just didn't seem elite enough, as you don't need the platinum to buy them - only the game complete trophy.
The 'hours played' on my PS5 account is just not accurate - how do I know this? Because apparently I played Hogwarts legacy for over 100 hours in a single day - quite an achievement really...
(I got into thinking it was very inaccurate and started checking it daily)
Now looking for my next purchase - NG4 might be next, but I'm still slightly unsure. The Pro enhancements look excellent, but the environments look a bit too samey. Its user score on the PS Store does look very good though.
Nearly everything is bad for the planet. I wish they would start focusing on the bigger culprits, and suggest sensible, practical, achievable solutions. All this approach does is just make people more likely to ignore every similar message.
@AdamNovice Good point - I had forgotten Chameleon, but at the moment I only see him as side content.
I wondered that with Carnage, but you have the whole Yuri / Peter team up signposted - "might take months to find him, but will let you know when I do".
I Agree that Peter may enter a little way in, once Miles having taken out a few b-tier villains realises who he is really up against.
You might be right with a wedding between Peter and MJ - but if so I can't see it being 'off screen', more likely it will be ruined by Goblin / Otto as part of their return - the writers just love to torture poor Peter...
I tend to buy deluxe editions only if the price difference isn't massive and there is something I want. With this price difference, they can keep the additional planes... (and probably the 'game' which I might have taken a punt on if it was budget priced, but £70 sounds far too much for what it is).
The set up is kind of odd as it makes it clear that Peter is taking a break from Spiderman 'duties' - can't blame him with all the s**t he's gone through over the last few years.
But, nearly all of the set up for Spiderman 3 is basically related to Peter alone:
Dr Octavius teaming with Norman Osborne (Miles has practically no history with either).
More teases for Green Goblin although its not clear if Norman or Harry or both will become the Goblin(s).
The Yuri / Carnage storyline which has so far not involved Miles. Also, as safe as it is meant to be, Peter still has a Symbiote 'suit'.
Realistically, all of this needs wrapping up in part 3.
As far as I can think, the only 'unfinished business' for Miles relates to a small teaser that I don't fully understand - his mums new boyfriends daughter (if I remember that correctly) - maybe Spidergirl?
I just get the impression, helped by the fact that this is a popular franchise with a good engine powering it, that they won't want to finish it with part 3.
I think all of Peter's current 'unfinished business' will be concluded in part 3, but they may use the next game to set up additional characters / storylines, or just have a clean slate for part 4.
As to the teased female character (miles' mums boyfriends daughter) - this could be for Part 3 only, set up for part 4 during part 3, or for a spin off.
I just hope that Part 3 does not end with Pete dying or being written out, though I suspect it might. Miles is likeable enough, but Peter Parker IS Spiderman for me.
@11001100110zero I do whats best for me - which is staying on PS consoles, for now at least.
The main reasons are 1) Sony 1st party games, and 2) The inherent issues with PC, which whilst improving over time are not close enough to be plug into TV and play and everything works, at least not yet. Literally everyone I know who games on PC does not find it a seamless experience, some find it infuriating. Let's not forget that there are also bad PC ports of games too - console is not the only place this can happen eg stuttering on UE5 games which would drive me crazy.
In regards to Sony 1st party games, them moving completely in the direction this article suggests would be good for me potentially in the future - if PC goes in the direction it needs to to attract console players in any significant numbers, which I think it probably will. But its also a foolish mistake for Sony who rely almost entirely on their ecosystem, not the money they make on 1st party software.
My comment was based around the business sense of this idea and how it could affect my choices going forwards.
1 MAJOR barrier against me ever buying a PC is that I wouldn't be able to play every Sony 1st party game, day 1. A LOT of my playtime is spent on Sony 1st party, and I consider them easily the best.
If Sony goes down the route suggested in this article it removes 1 of the main things (not the only thing) that keeps me on Sony's consoles.
@Northern_munkey I quite agree with you on cost. A lot of these 'build a PC as good as X for £/$' are a load of rubbish - they conveniently miss out components or extras you would need to buy, or use 2nd hand parts (or 'new in box" from ebay lol). Some even practically suggest piracy.
I say this as someone who has been considering PC for a long while, purely for higher framerates - but it still has FAR too many inherent issues at this moment in time. If Sony hadn't have released the Pro, I would have moved, and I will think again based on how underpowered the PS6 is when it launches, because I have serious concerns.
I will say this in a separate comment though as well, but if Sony moved to release all their games on PC day 1, it would remove 1 major barrier I have in moving to PC - Sony's 1st party games make up a LOT of my playtime!
@themightyant Not a bad analogy - I've probably heard it before, but can't remember it. It makes sense.
It does raise into question what on earth these devs are doing to 'target' 4k on series X and 1440p on base PS5 - either this is just bad development / under utilisation on PS5, and/or the series X is going to have (potentially serious) performance issues to achieve it. Or we get to testing and find out it doesn't matter what target they are using, they are both running at 1080p lol.
@Brawl4002 I didn't see the 3rd act of SM2 as rushed, I just saw it as them trying not to repeat the mistake of SM1 - where the section of the game with escaped prisoners constantly attacking you, went on far too long to the point of getting tiresome.
After all, they had clearly listened to the main complaints of the 1st game, with how they handled this and the side content - ie less filler, more additional story.
Now, if your complaint is the fighting mechanics of the symbiote horde enemies - I 100% agree with you. They were damage sponges, and a lot of the mechanics that worked on other enemies were useless on them.
@LifeGirl
If thats the case then, people have no claim to a refund - this was a collection, not a remake.
An improved AI would be nice - input reading is cheap after all, and I lived through that era so would be hesitant to go back and buy games that used it.
But, if the games are behaving as expected, thats on the buyer.
The input lag, thats a different story, but it seems like they fixed this
Edit: sounds like the input lag isn't fixed - so if people want refunds thats the thing to request it on.
I really like what Insomniac have been doing with Spiderman - I really enjoyed SM2 (a big improvement on 1 imo); and Wolverine looks amazing too.
I don't necessarily see how much further they can take Spiderman though, past the Venom side game, and Spiderman 3 (which was nicely set up during SM2). However, if we then get Wolverine 2, Insomniac have their hands full for a good few years yet.
It would be nice to see another R&C game during this time as well.
The PS5 is by far the more custom of the 2, even to the point of being a non standard arrangement of components on the main chip. Various other parts, most notably the SSD and controller are custom too.
In this regard, the Xbox is very much a 'standard' parts build, with nothing out of the ordinary. 1 area I suppose you could say is custom is the RAM setup - split pool with 2 different speeds of RAM, but this was cost based, and has worked against the console on a number of occasions.
RE 'features' the PS5 doesn't support - you are probably thinking hardware based Variable Rate Shading (VRS). This really has proved itself to be less impactful than some said it would be (often with miniscule gains), and you can use a software based VRS on PS5 anyway. I remember NX gamer spoke a lot about this during his reviews of Dead Space.
You are right about 52 slower compute units vs 36 faster ones for the PS5, and that this has proved more difficult to code for (utilisation of more compute units) - leading to better overall performance on PS5 in a greater number of cases.
However in terms of the GPU comparison, its likely not close to 20%. The 12 Tflops stated by MS is a theoretical max value, same as 10.3 is on the PS5. A number of devs etc came out (quite early on if I recall) with more realistic figures (ie real world normal use) for series X of 10.5 if you can fully utilise all compute units. We also know for a fact that the PS5 is 10 Tflops under normal operation - as Mark Cerny has clarified this, including clock speeds, when discussing PS5 Pro (16.7 Tflop normal operation), and 'flopflation' - his term for when theoretical maximums are much higher than real world normal use.
1 final point regarding the whole custom vs std build - if devs do a 'lazy' PC port it is often the PS5 (and Pro) that will suffer more, due to it being a more custom build. But this is a very bad way to properly take advantage of any console.
I've only ever subscribed to essential, so stray is a new addition for me, and I just don't agree with the criticism aimed at its inclusion, because it was on the other tiers.
It may not be a popular opinion, but peoples expectations here for the 3 free games per month are just ridiculous sometimes.
Comments 2,908
Re: PS5's Biggest Game Has Not Released Yet, PlayStation Boss Teases
I don't think its GTA6 - I just can't think they would be giving this 'accolade' to any 3rd party game.
Maybe its Wolverine - we know what wizards Insomniac are, or maybe its Intergalactic.
Personally, I would guess its a game they haven't yet properly announced though, but its only a guess. They rarely announce games very early these days.
Re: Sony to Stimulate Japanese PS5 Sales with Cheaper, Language Locked Model
@Dogbreath
I don't think too badly of Sony, and I don't see any need for an investigation.
To be fair, the only reason they have the market dominance they have now is because their main rival (Xbox) has been on a path of complete self destruction over a number of years.
The Activision acquisition was just the last dozen or so nails in the coffin. Xbox wanted it for gamepass, a broken model (at least the day 1 aspect of it), which even Sony said was unsustainable. To get it they needed in excess of $70bn from their parent company, Microsoft, and in return have had various requirements forced upon them - including ridiculous profit margin requirements, and the effective loss of their own exclusives.
All Sony had to do was offer a decent alternative.
I also think Sony will come to see PC and maybe even Nintendo as much more important rivals in the coming years.
However, Sony has to be careful as to how this Japan only console looks - they have a vast English speaking userbase - why can't they do a cheaper, English locked Console, if this is possible for Japan? They have singled out effectively 1 language / region for 'special treatment', which is not a good look.
Re: PS5 'In the Middle' of Its Lifecycle, Claims Sony
@themightyant
Apologies for not replying earlier - I received no notification of a reply from the site, and just happened to read your comment - it may be the way you inserted the quote, but I don't know.
I understand that we are at the point of diminishing returns, but the rumoured 2.5x performance seems very low compared to what we saw between PS4 and PS5.
I will add that I'm sure I've read 2-3x performance, so without anything concrete, I would always tend towards the lower number.
This could of course all change - the architecture sounds good, but we have no clue on clock speeds.
We also have an engine - UE5, which is becoming more and more widespread even now, that seems to be very demanding even on current high spec PCs.
Obviously the big unknown is the part around architecture and ML that Cerny and AMD has been working on. It sounds really positive, but it also sounds like the PS6 will really depend on its use, and how early will/can its functionality be utilised properly (particularly if we are only 2 years away).
If all the PS6 can do is better graphics at 30 and 60fps, I really worry for it (the promise of RT will not work for some as that was promised for PS5) - 30fps has to be gone next gen, with 60fps Graphics modes, and 90fps+ Performance modes.
The ball is in Sony's court, as the saying goes, to prove that this is a PS6, not a PS5 Pro Pro. And they will need the sales to 'kick-start' the generation properly.
To me, better but a bit later (late 2028 seems good to me too), is preferable - people say the main reason for 2027 is to coincide with Xbox's next launch, but at this stage I don't even think that should be a factor. I don't think too many will look elsewhere, unless Sony really messes up the PS6 launch, then anything could happen.
I will add that my ideal is a more powerful than usual Pro available at the start of the generation - yes, it might be expensive, but having it all gen, and not upgrading would offset this.
Re: Sony to Stimulate Japanese PS5 Sales with Cheaper, Language Locked Model
@get2sammyb
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this beg the question as to why they can't do similar with an English speaking model for UK/USA?
Re: Stellar Blade Success Helps Korean Games Thrive, Ex PlayStation Boss Believes
Stellar Blade is a very highly polished game on a technical level, particularly on Pro. One of the very best 3rd party games in this regard, and an incredible achievement.
But, I thought that overall, Lies of P was the MUCH better game (and also highly polished).
Re: PS5 Fans Say Ghost of Yotei Plays Better, But Can't Match Ghost of Tsushima's Story or Hero
All I know is that I wasn't a big fan of Tsushima- I played it once when it released, but wouldn't again, and didn't buy the DLC.
It didn't click with me - I found it a bit boring, and I didn't like Jin, his story, or a lot of the side content. The graphics were also very 'muddy'.
I nearly didn't bother with Yotei.
But I'm glad I did. GoY is easily my favourite game this year, and probably one of my Top 10 this generation. A really fantastic game - one I will replay, and would instantly snap up any story DLC.
Re: What Time Is PlayStation's State of Play Japan?
If its not in English I will wait and pick up the highlights here, and any trailers I'm interested in.
Re: PS5 'In the Middle' of Its Lifecycle, Claims Sony
I'm still no where near convinced about that 2027 date - it just says PS6 will be far too underpowered or too expensive to me.
The PS6 needs to convince people to upgrade, on mass, from PS5 - Thats the main competition, not Xbox any longer. However, if they mess it up, thats when people may look elsewhere.
Re: PS5 Sales Now Top 84.2 Million Units, Well on Way to 100 Million Milestone
@Titntin
Very true indeed - it was the reason I moved back for PS4, and stayed for PS5!
Re: PS5, PS4 Userbase Keeps on Getting Bigger, Attracts More Players Year-on-Year
@nomither6
Even crystal clear ones (glasses) can have that coating that dulls down the really bright spots lol.
Re: PS5 Sales Now Top 84.2 Million Units, Well on Way to 100 Million Milestone
@Titntin
The last Xbox I owned was a 360.
It has been sad to see the path of self destruction they have been on, arguably since then - often through greed, but also through not listening to their real customers.
I wasn't being clever or nitpicking (I know you didn't think I was) - I just think Sony (or indeed Nintendo) shouldn't take credit, but see it as a "this is what can happen if" warning.
Re: PS5, PS4 Userbase Keeps on Getting Bigger, Attracts More Players Year-on-Year
@Oram77
For me, this generation has been the best yet, with some really amazing games. I'm not against Sony/others doing remakes of a few games from last gen either. I also think the hardware - base & Pro, have been good. SSD's have made a real difference too.
Whenever I see these "its been a crap gen" posts, I have to really wonder what kind of rose tinted spectacles people are wearing.
I do have 3 major criticisms though:
1) I do have to agree that this gen would have been even better without Sony's LS push. I don't think their output has been bad, but it could have been even better.
2) The increasing habit of devs putting out unfinished/ unoptimised games really needs to stop before it seriously harms the industry (Day 1 sales are being damaged, with an increase in wait for sale mentality).
3) For sanity sake stop using UE5, or at least calm down using all its "features". (We still have 2 years to go yet!)
Re: PS5 Sales Now Top 84.2 Million Units, Well on Way to 100 Million Milestone
@Titntin
"they've oblterated their main rival"
I think their main rival this generation did a pretty good job of obliterating themselves! Lol
Re: PS5 Sales Now Top 84.2 Million Units, Well on Way to 100 Million Milestone
Sony would be mad to release the PS6 too early / too underpowered / with not enough games in place, with momentum like this. (The rumour of the next Xbox launching in 2027 shouldn't sway them).
Re: Silent Hill 2 Puts Incredible Survival Horror on More Platforms This Month
@Medic_alert
I just checked the DF video - to make sure I wasn't talking rubbish and on (base) PS5 the performance mode drops res to 864p - which does indeed indicate around this or a bit lower at 30fps on Series S. Sorry.
Im hoping for a proper Pro patch too, for both this and SH F - then I will likely buy them both.
I think, if they do one, we will be waiting until the new PSSR/FSR4.
This particular team has never impressed me with their technicals, so I'm not going to hold my breath lol. But, maybe a different team could port to Switch 2 (I have no idea).
Re: Silent Hill 2 Puts Incredible Survival Horror on More Platforms This Month
@Medic_alert
You would think thats how it should work - and it really should.
But this engine is just far too resource hungry for this generation of hardware, and for general use in my opinion - PS5 generally struggles with it, and you often end up with only just above 720p at 60fps. Series S will likely be limited to 30fps, and there is not much lower to go. Even very expensive PC's seem to struggle at times.
Re: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Beloved Soundtrack Snubbed in Prestigious Music Awards
Some whole games get snubbed, even at game awards - eg Hogwarts Legacy!
Re: Silent Hill 2 Puts Incredible Survival Horror on More Platforms This Month
@Medic_alert
They are likely having a lot of trouble getting it to work on Switch 2 as its UE5. In the ports Ive seen tested - which is admittedly not all of them - Switch 2 normally comes in between PS4 Pro and S2, but often much closer to PS4 Pro.
Im not saying its not possible, but this team don't seem to be the most technically gifted from the evidence we have.
Re: After GTA 6 Delay, Wolverine PS5 Doubles Down on Fall 2026 Release Date
I will be buying Wolverine Day 1 regardless of of its release date - it wouldn't matter if it released the same day as GTA6.
In regards GTA6 - if its not a good 60fps on Pro, I will not be buying it at all.
Re: Poll: Is Ghost of Yotei Better Than Ghost of Tsushima?
GoT never clicked with me - I think in part I just didn't think much to the story, however, GoY was an amazing game.
If I had reviewed them both I would have given GoT a straight 6, and GoY a 9.5 - I vastly preferred Yotei in every respect.
Graphics isn't polled here - I played GoT on a PS4 Pro and found it underwhelming for its time and muddy looking. I played GoY on a PS5 Pro and found it to look excellent - a real treat.
Re: Don't Expect Any PS5 Exclusives from Square Enix in the Future
@Leinad7
An Xbox PC makes much more sense than them doing another console (which I believe would just not sell at all).
However, I don't see it selling enough to encourage separate optimisation from normal PC code.
I also don't expect it to be a massive upgrade on PS6, particularly in actual real world performance, even if it looks good on paper. The price point being rumoured is not really high enough given that without a closed ecosystem they will need to profit on the hardware alone.
Re: Don't Expect Any PS5 Exclusives from Square Enix in the Future
@omadeli
I think DS2 used Sony's Decima engine from Horizon Forbidden West. I agree with what you are saying though.
Re: Don't Expect Any PS5 Exclusives from Square Enix in the Future
@TrollOfWar
Agree that optimisation in general has gone downhill fast this gen, except Sony 1st party studios which are generally outstanding in this regard (including where they 'loan' their engines eg DS2, a game I have no interest in but it was technically excellent).
Maybe I should have said, in relation to 3rd party exclusives, that there is hope that it will be better optimised on PS, than if they were launching on multiple systems.
Re: Don't Expect Any PS5 Exclusives from Square Enix in the Future
@PuppetMaster
When I think about it, I may actually have only bought 1 SE game this gen. Last gen, it was a lot more!
Re: Don't Expect Any PS5 Exclusives from Square Enix in the Future
@UltimateOtaku91
I think developers need some serious holding back!
Series S has been good for PS5 users this gen, and I think S2 may help a lot as we go through the last few years of this gen.
My feeling is that as we get into next gen either 3rd party AAA's will start to either just not launch on S2, or only offer severly reduced versions on S2 - much like S1 in this generation.
Maybe I'm wrong - the PS6's capability over PS5 (based on limited info) does not appear to be even close to the difference between PS4 and PS5.
Certainly the new PS handheld is going to hold back developers ambitions on PS6 - its only roughly half as powerful as a PS5. That is of course if it sells well, otherwise its support could evaporate fast.
PS5 cross gen is likely to last much longer too, complicating matters even further.
Re: Don't Expect Any PS5 Exclusives from Square Enix in the Future
@TrollOfWar
Just seeing that 'exclusive' label is enough to make some people interested - I see it all the time from people.
To some it is just a shallow response - the 'its only on my console / that make me feel special' point of view, which may be wrong but it does affect a lot of people.
To me 'exclusive' means its likely to be better optimised for the hardware - though given SE's recent track record that really does not apply these days any more sadly.
I do agree with your other post that Switch2 and Series S versions may help keep their technical 'ambitions' in check, allowing better performing PS5 versions - something I think will have a big affect next generation with Sony's handheld holding back developers technical 'ambitions'.
Re: Don't Expect Any PS5 Exclusives from Square Enix in the Future
I used to see SE as an important developer of PS exclusives - but over the last number of years that has just reduced.
The horrible technical performance on show in FF16 (I played the demo) just demonstrated that they were no longer building their games well, and specific to the console hardware.
I suspect that Sony's interest in exclusives from them has reduced too - maybe not yet in terms of marketing, but in terms of money offered and support. Maybe this is the reason behind SE's new approach.
There was a time I would have thought this was bad for SE and bad for Playstation, but I don't think thats the case now - I don't think this affects Playstation at all now.
But I do think this is risky for SE. If they lose Sony's marketing it will be a loss for them, but a game simply being a PS console exclusive made it feel like a 'much bigger deal' to a lot of PS console owners, even if only from a perception point of view. Will their new approach net them enough sales elsewhere to counter this - Im not so sure.
It also means they are going to be working on far more versions for the initial launch of every game that would have been exclusive - given recent games technical performance, I'm not sure thats a good idea at all.
Re: 'Morale in the Studio Is at Rock Bottom': Rockstar Whistleblower Alleges Union Busting as GTA 6 Is Delayed
I still don't know what to make of this story.
On one hand I do not like the way R* has behaved, and it just appears from what is written in the article that they were looking for any reason.
Unless there was a more serious breach of confidentiality than is suggested, this is not how a company behaves that values its staff - Even if R* are being genuine, unless the breach is serious, there is no need to go straight to sacking people in my opinion.
On the other hand, I do not personally often like Unions - I do not like how demanding (particularly over Pay) they can get, and how some seem to refuse to negotiate sensibly, often seeming like they are more interested in their own reputation.
There was a case nearby (that I have no connection with) where a company was affected by Union strikes - if all the reports were true the Union demands were too high (various pay % increase offers were published).
Sadly, I suspect that site will be shut in the next couple of years, with production moved elsewhere if the company fears a repeat - a LOT of people will be out of work if that happens.
Re: GTA 6 Delayed Again, Pushed Back to November 2026
@StitchJones
If its not 60fps it will be (literally) unplayable to me, even poor adherence to 60fps is unplayable to me.
I couldn't care less how 'good' or 'generational' a game is otherwise, I would be completely unable to enjoy it - I would much rather buy a 6/10 game with perfect 60fps as I could get some enjoyment out of it.
If games like DW origins with that amount of characters on-screen can run at 70-100fps, and games like SM1, SMMM, SM2, R&C, GOWR, Hogwarts, Stellar Blade, RE Village, RE4 Remake etc etc can all run in excess of (and often well in excess of) 60fps then there is no excuse.
Edit: Therefore that is what I am hoping this delay is to ensure.
Re: GTA 6 Delayed Again, Pushed Back to November 2026
If it's a good 60fps on Pro I will likely buy it.
If it isn't, I definitely won't buy it.
Re: Game of the Month: Ghost of Yotei (October 2025)
@Darude84
Please bear in mind I only played through GoT once, back when it launched, so I'm a bit hazy on some of the details. I didn't replay or buy the dlc as I just didn't find it enjoyable enough.
I didn't like the whole Samurai honorable, ghost bad, story of GoT - whereas GoY may be a relatively typical 'revenge' story in some ways, but I enjoyed it far more. I also though the character of Atsu was at times better written than Jin, and there was a better supporting cast.
The way Atsu's backstory is filled out - particularly in the early stages felt much better, backed up by the enjoyable mechanic of switching between timeframes (though I will agree that 'Young' Atsu is grating on a VA / Processing front - its the same actor).
Graphically, I wasn't a fan of GoT - it always looked very 'muddy' to me even on a PS4 Pro. GoY looks excellent (played on PS5 Pro), with stunning looking locations, and that really helps the game in my opinion.
The Spyglass in GoY allows you to highlight distant POI and add them to your map, allowing you to use the map much more effectively.
There is still a lot of side content - it feels better handled and more interesting than I remember for GoT, and the Spyglass mechanic likely aids in this.
The wolf mechanic is a nice touch.
The combat is also better than I remember, and I prefer the new weapons to the stances in GoT.
If they released a Story type expansion for GoY, I would be buying it day 1.
Hope this helps.
Re: Physical Edition at Fault Again for the Second Terminator 2D Delay
This is clearly a load of rubbish, and nothing to do with the Physical version...
They should just admit they are having difficulty with the AI...
Re: Pay $150 for a Ghost of Yotei Jacket in Sony's 'Rewards' Scheme Update
I completed GoY today, with the platinum.
I ordered 1 pin badge.
I didn't bother with the other 2 items as they just didn't seem elite enough, as you don't need the platinum to buy them - only the game complete trophy.
(Sarcasm, apart from completed it with platinum)
Re: Nintendo's New Playtime Tracker Has the Granular Gameplay Activity Data We Want from PS5
The 'hours played' on my PS5 account is just not accurate - how do I know this? Because apparently I played Hogwarts legacy for over 100 hours in a single day - quite an achievement really...
(I got into thinking it was very inaccurate and started checking it daily)
Re: Ghost of Yotei Can't Beat Battlefield 6 as EA's Shooter Dominates PS5 in October
Just finished the amazing GoY - easily my GOTY.
Now looking for my next purchase - NG4 might be next, but I'm still slightly unsure. The Pro enhancements look excellent, but the environments look a bit too samey. Its user score on the PS Store does look very good though.
Re: Study Claims Physical PS5 Games Are 100 Times Worse for the Planet Than Digital Downloads
Nearly everything is bad for the planet.
I wish they would start focusing on the bigger culprits, and suggest sensible, practical, achievable solutions.
All this approach does is just make people more likely to ignore every similar message.
Re: Reebok's PS1 Sneakers Are So Good They'll Boot Up Your Nostalgia
I don't know about "Boot up the Nostalgia", I'm sure at the price they're asking more like your getting a 'Boot up the a** ' lol
Re: Marvel 'Proud' to Collaborate with Spider-Man, Wolverine Maker for 'Many Years to Come'
@AdamNovice
Good point - I had forgotten Chameleon, but at the moment I only see him as side content.
I wondered that with Carnage, but you have the whole Yuri / Peter team up signposted - "might take months to find him, but will let you know when I do".
I Agree that Peter may enter a little way in, once Miles having taken out a few b-tier villains realises who he is really up against.
You might be right with a wedding between Peter and MJ - but if so I can't see it being 'off screen', more likely it will be ruined by Goblin / Otto as part of their return - the writers just love to torture poor Peter...
Re: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 May Be the Most Expensive PS5 Game to Date
I tend to buy deluxe editions only if the price difference isn't massive and there is something I want. With this price difference, they can keep the additional planes... (and probably the 'game' which I might have taken a punt on if it was budget priced, but £70 sounds far too much for what it is).
Re: Marvel 'Proud' to Collaborate with Spider-Man, Wolverine Maker for 'Many Years to Come'
@Lowdefal
Before I continue,
SPOILERS FOR SPIDERMAN 2
Yes, and No, in my opinion.
The set up is kind of odd as it makes it clear that Peter is taking a break from Spiderman 'duties' - can't blame him with all the s**t he's gone through over the last few years.
But, nearly all of the set up for Spiderman 3 is basically related to Peter alone:
Also, as safe as it is meant to be, Peter still has a Symbiote 'suit'.
Realistically, all of this needs wrapping up in part 3.
As far as I can think, the only 'unfinished business' for Miles relates to a small teaser that I don't fully understand - his mums new boyfriends daughter (if I remember that correctly) - maybe Spidergirl?
I just get the impression, helped by the fact that this is a popular franchise with a good engine powering it, that they won't want to finish it with part 3.
I think all of Peter's current 'unfinished business' will be concluded in part 3, but they may use the next game to set up additional characters / storylines, or just have a clean slate for part 4.
As to the teased female character (miles' mums boyfriends daughter) - this could be for Part 3 only, set up for part 4 during part 3, or for a spin off.
I just hope that Part 3 does not end with Pete dying or being written out, though I suspect it might.
Miles is likeable enough, but Peter Parker IS Spiderman for me.
Re: Leaked Cross-Buy Icon on PS5 Hints at Mysterious Pro-Consumer Move from Sony
@11001100110zero
I do whats best for me - which is staying on PS consoles, for now at least.
The main reasons are 1) Sony 1st party games, and 2) The inherent issues with PC, which whilst improving over time are not close enough to be plug into TV and play and everything works, at least not yet.
Literally everyone I know who games on PC does not find it a seamless experience, some find it infuriating.
Let's not forget that there are also bad PC ports of games too - console is not the only place this can happen eg stuttering on UE5 games which would drive me crazy.
In regards to Sony 1st party games, them moving completely in the direction this article suggests would be good for me potentially in the future - if PC goes in the direction it needs to to attract console players in any significant numbers, which I think it probably will. But its also a foolish mistake for Sony who rely almost entirely on their ecosystem, not the money they make on 1st party software.
My comment was based around the business sense of this idea and how it could affect my choices going forwards.
Re: Leaked Cross-Buy Icon on PS5 Hints at Mysterious Pro-Consumer Move from Sony
1 MAJOR barrier against me ever buying a PC is that I wouldn't be able to play every Sony 1st party game, day 1.
A LOT of my playtime is spent on Sony 1st party, and I consider them easily the best.
If Sony goes down the route suggested in this article it removes 1 of the main things (not the only thing) that keeps me on Sony's consoles.
Re: Leaked Cross-Buy Icon on PS5 Hints at Mysterious Pro-Consumer Move from Sony
@Northern_munkey
I quite agree with you on cost.
A lot of these 'build a PC as good as X for £/$' are a load of rubbish - they conveniently miss out components or extras you would need to buy, or use 2nd hand parts (or 'new in box" from ebay lol). Some even practically suggest piracy.
I say this as someone who has been considering PC for a long while, purely for higher framerates - but it still has FAR too many inherent issues at this moment in time. If Sony hadn't have released the Pro, I would have moved, and I will think again based on how underpowered the PS6 is when it launches, because I have serious concerns.
I will say this in a separate comment though as well, but if Sony moved to release all their games on PC day 1, it would remove 1 major barrier I have in moving to PC - Sony's 1st party games make up a LOT of my playtime!
Re: PS5's PUBG Port Will Target a Lower Resolution Than Xbox Series X, Trophies Won't Transfer
@themightyant
Not a bad analogy - I've probably heard it before, but can't remember it. It makes sense.
It does raise into question what on earth these devs are doing to 'target' 4k on series X and 1440p on base PS5 - either this is just bad development / under utilisation on PS5, and/or the series X is going to have (potentially serious) performance issues to achieve it.
Or we get to testing and find out it doesn't matter what target they are using, they are both running at 1080p lol.
Re: Marvel 'Proud' to Collaborate with Spider-Man, Wolverine Maker for 'Many Years to Come'
@Brawl4002
I didn't see the 3rd act of SM2 as rushed, I just saw it as them trying not to repeat the mistake of SM1 - where the section of the game with escaped prisoners constantly attacking you, went on far too long to the point of getting tiresome.
After all, they had clearly listened to the main complaints of the 1st game, with how they handled this and the side content - ie less filler, more additional story.
Now, if your complaint is the fighting mechanics of the symbiote horde enemies - I 100% agree with you. They were damage sponges, and a lot of the mechanics that worked on other enemies were useless on them.
Re: Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection PS5, PS4 Patch Reduces Input Lag After Some Fans Requested Refunds
@LifeGirl
If thats the case then, people have no claim to a refund - this was a collection, not a remake.
An improved AI would be nice - input reading is cheap after all, and I lived through that era so would be hesitant to go back and buy games that used it.
But, if the games are behaving as expected, thats on the buyer.
The input lag, thats a different story, but it seems like they fixed this
Edit: sounds like the input lag isn't fixed - so if people want refunds thats the thing to request it on.
Re: Marvel 'Proud' to Collaborate with Spider-Man, Wolverine Maker for 'Many Years to Come'
I really like what Insomniac have been doing with Spiderman - I really enjoyed SM2 (a big improvement on 1 imo); and Wolverine looks amazing too.
I don't necessarily see how much further they can take Spiderman though, past the Venom side game, and Spiderman 3 (which was nicely set up during SM2). However, if we then get Wolverine 2, Insomniac have their hands full for a good few years yet.
It would be nice to see another R&C game during this time as well.
Re: Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection PS5, PS4 Patch Reduces Input Lag After Some Fans Requested Refunds
Did ALL the original games use input reading or was it just some of them? (I had it in mind that only some earlier titles did).
If it was only some of the games, do those that didn't now use it as part of the AI?
Re: PS5's PUBG Port Will Target a Lower Resolution Than Xbox Series X, Trophies Won't Transfer
@Max_the_German
Your both kind of right.
The PS5 is by far the more custom of the 2, even to the point of being a non standard arrangement of components on the main chip. Various other parts, most notably the SSD and controller are custom too.
In this regard, the Xbox is very much a 'standard' parts build, with nothing out of the ordinary. 1 area I suppose you could say is custom is the RAM setup - split pool with 2 different speeds of RAM, but this was cost based, and has worked against the console on a number of occasions.
RE 'features' the PS5 doesn't support - you are probably thinking hardware based Variable Rate Shading (VRS). This really has proved itself to be less impactful than some said it would be (often with miniscule gains), and you can use a software based VRS on PS5 anyway. I remember NX gamer spoke a lot about this during his reviews of Dead Space.
You are right about 52 slower compute units vs 36 faster ones for the PS5, and that this has proved more difficult to code for (utilisation of more compute units) - leading to better overall performance on PS5 in a greater number of cases.
However in terms of the GPU comparison, its likely not close to 20%.
The 12 Tflops stated by MS is a theoretical max value, same as 10.3 is on the PS5.
A number of devs etc came out (quite early on if I recall) with more realistic figures (ie real world normal use) for series X of 10.5 if you can fully utilise all compute units.
We also know for a fact that the PS5 is 10 Tflops under normal operation - as Mark Cerny has clarified this, including clock speeds, when discussing PS5 Pro (16.7 Tflop normal operation), and 'flopflation' - his term for when theoretical maximums are much higher than real world normal use.
1 final point regarding the whole custom vs std build - if devs do a 'lazy' PC port it is often the PS5 (and Pro) that will suffer more, due to it being a more custom build. But this is a very bad way to properly take advantage of any console.
Re: PS Plus Essential Subscribers Bemoan 'Crap Selection' in Latest Update
I've only ever subscribed to essential, so stray is a new addition for me, and I just don't agree with the criticism aimed at its inclusion, because it was on the other tiers.
It may not be a popular opinion, but peoples expectations here for the 3 free games per month are just ridiculous sometimes.