The timing of this is interesting - still under the Biden administration, but just barely, essentially forcing the Trump administration to take a look at this some time early this year.
In addition to the US-China politics involved here, there may be some partisan US politics involved.
Also, the US Supreme Court hears arguments this week about the law requiring Tik Tok to divest or be banned in the US.
Would I buy a hypothetical PS6, with unknown performance and price point, over the hypothetical PC with nearly infinite range of performance and price points? How do you answer that, unless you're a fan boy of one or the other and wouldn't consider one of the options if it was free?
What's highly probably is the PS6 will be relatively inexpensive compared to a gaming PC, though that will still mean $600-800 US. And it will be reasonably performant, likely wildly outperforming any PC available at the same price on release day (and for a year or two later, most likely). Sure, I expect PC players will brag (honestly) that their PC runs rings around the PS6, even as the video card in their setup cost as much - probably more - than the PS6.
What else will we see in the PS6? Haptics that make the DualSense look clunky? PSVR3 support (or radically improved PSVR2 performance)? Hopefully some hall effect joysticks, please. I won't make any decisions until we see what we're getting, and how much it will cost.
I think it says something that there are over 100 GotY awards available - it pretty much waters it down so they don't mean all that much.
I mean, if I publish a YouTube video naming it my personal GotY, will that increase the total to 105? And why would anyone care what MY opinion is, except for ME?
Sony doesn't want to make too many and end up with stock they can't sell - I suspect much of the shortage is simply that. Unless they commit to the PS6 supporting the same drive (and why not?), they have NO incentive to overproduce drives, especially when they see they can make another (small) batch and sell them all at any time.
I was never interested in trying Suicide Squad. I might, before it goes offline in six months, just so I can be sure I didn't miss anything.
But I own the other two - which I think have been on sale for around $1 each, recently (okay, maybe not THAT low, but close to it). They fall in the category of nobody buying them any more even on sale, so it's time to cash in whatever we can with Plus.
The most simplistic statement I could come up with over the recent Net Neutrality policy in the US (namely, that there is no longer a federally mandated policy) ran over 150 words. It's hard to talk about anything in ANY detail with that type a limit.
Maybe somebody can help - got a PSVR2 on sale this year, and I'm trying this game. I can't get past the opening menu where I set my options. Pressing X or O does nothing, moving the left stick does nothing (either dualsense or the psvr2 controllers), I literally can't start the game, I'm stuck at the "Game Setup" menu. Am I missing some VR standard I'm supposed to know?
My first console was the Atari 2600, but I'm not so old I can't learn new things - but I'm stuck and I don't like it.
Welltris was AWESOME, and easily my favorite Tetris variant. It's been almost impossible to find anywhere. I've never considered Tetris Forever before this announcement, now I'm off to see what the price is.
I'm in what feels like a weird, lonely place where I think all sides are being ridiculous at best and nearly terminally toxic at worst.
You can't complain that you don't like video games because protagonists don't look like you and they need more diversity, and then get upset when other people complain that they don't like the diverse protagonists that don't look like them. If it matters, then it matters to everyone, right?
At the same time, neither side seems to refrain from downright abusive posts and arguments. It seems like an absurd thing to need to say, but I'll go out on a limb here - death threats should never be involved in any discussion in civil society.
This is a lesser layer of that - trying to ruin the joy of playing a game with spoilers, true or not. I'm not sure if it's worse if they made up the spoilers or if they're real - but attacking a studio like this is just offensive. Let them make the game they want to make, and criticize it - or enjoy it - based on what they actually release.
If you don't like the directions their games go, don't buy their games, and they'll have to adjust to the market. It ought to be that simple.
New patch (Dec 12 or somewhere around then) added transmog.
It also added a transmog bug - make your outfit look like the Banuk Werak outfit, and get the auto-healing from that outfit no matter what you're actually wearing. My kid (nearly old enough to drink here in the US) discovered that and tried reporting it, but Sony doesn't seem to have a place to report bugs in the Remastered edition.
So you're saying we're about to get two years of complaining about the lack of fresh updates on whatever games are announced for a 2026+ release. Oh joy.
Oh, I guess it may be as little as one full year of complaining. That's a bit better, but still not something to get excited about.
Here's the list, copied/pasted from the YouTube chapter stops (times removed):
Stellar Blade The Last Of Us Part 1 The Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered Tekken 8 Pacific Drive Helldivers 2 Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Cyberpunk 2077 Animal Well Final Fantasy VII Remake Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Alan Wake 2 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Spider-Man Remastered Spider-Man Miles Morales Spider-Man 2 Cocoon Armored Core VI Baldur's Gate 3 Sea of Stars Final Fantasy XVI Street Fighter 6 Diablo IV No Man's Sky Humanity Star Wars: Jedi Survivor God of War Ragnarok Resident Evil Village Resident Evil 4 Stray Elden Ring Hades The Finals Demon's Souls Final Fantasy XIV Online Dead Space Devil May Cry 5 Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart It Takes Two Deathloop Horizon Forbidden West Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered Gran Turismo Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Destiny 2 Inscryption Balatro Assassin's Creed Valhalla Hogwarts Legacy Sifu Kena: Bridge of Spirits The Pathless Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Fortnite Genshin Impact Apex Legends Tales Of Arise Grand Theft Auto V Persona 5 Royal The Witcher 3 Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut Life Is Strange: True Colours Guardians of the Galaxy Astro Bot & Astro's Playroom Death Stranding: Director's Cut Returnal Personal 3 Reload Silent Hill 2
It would be nice to post the full list in the article. The YouTube description shows it, though - THANK YOU for the chapter stops!
Bundling Astro Bot & Astro's Playroom feels like cheating.
The only game I would add is Sackboy's Big Adventure - that's a blast to play if you like platformers at all. It showcases the DualSense controller like few games other than Astro do, it's a blast to play couch co-op (a dying feature), and it has some truly amazing musical levels that are worth going back to.
It should definitely make the top 60 - there are games on the list I played and enjoyed that I'd kick to make room for it, including Kena and Guardians of the Galaxy.
EDIT: Unbundling Astro makes it 69 games - put Sackboy in like he belongs and call it an even 70!!!
@RoomWithaMoose As for why no one's actively calling Star Wars old, it just feels more current.
Star Wars has a new generation of actors playing a new generation of roles - multiple generations, actually. Harrison Ford isn't still showing up in all the Star Wars movies like he is for all the Indiana Jones movies.
Meanwhile, while this game uses someone else for the voice, it's still Ford's character all over again - which it SHOULD be. But it feels old because it's about one character set in one time, not about a universe with a wealth of characters spanning generations.
$350 (US) at Costco, with Horizon and a charging station bundled in, I decided was worth a shot.
We'll see. I'm not sure the games will keep rolling out, and I wish there was compatibility with the old PSVR since I picked up some of those titles from PS+ years ago, but maybe there's a chance the PC adapter might improve its longevity.
As for the original question...I figure more options for play are good. If there are games where using your hands as a controller make sense, then this is a huge plus. I just don't see how a cleaning mini game is better because it doesn't require a controller - someone has to deliver a more compelling experience than that. It's not just the tech, it's the application of the tech that matters.
One thing I've learned is that you can't predict what technology will do in the next 10 years with any degree of accuracy. What this tells me, though, is that Sony thinks they don't have anything revolutionary planned that won't be easily matched by the competition, which sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me.
I don't see any practical way this would let you play disk-based PS4/5/6 games, unless it's streaming from a console, which is what the Portal is for.
I don't see Sony wanting to invest in a new storage format for games for this, either. They got really sensible with the PS5, allowing standard SSD storage for it, and I think they may have finally learned their lessons there.
Which means this handheld is almost certainly going to be digital only.
Likewise, there's a greater than even chance the PS6 will be digital only, unless everyone goes out and buys physical UHD Blu-Ray movies in greater numbers to keep that portion of the industry alive and well and an example to Sony of how they don't want to leave money on the table. That's unlikely to happen, just as the trend to increasingly digital games sales seems unlikely to waver, so the need for a drive is increasingly eroding. There's a reason PCs often don't come with optical drives any more, and that Steam is the juggernaut it is.
My first PlayStation was the PS3, which I bought originally for Blu-Ray movies and didn't expect to get hooked on the gaming. Since then I've had a PS4, PS4 Pro, and launch-day PS5. My only exposure to the PS1 or PS2 is through remastered games (though I do love Sly Cooper). This may be only the second or third time I've seen the PS1 startup and heard that sound.
So this carries no nostalgia for me at all. Cool, once, but I'm one of the 2% who will be happy to go back to the "normal" PS5 startup.
@carlos82 Speaking of PSVR2, the Pro benefits this hugely in the few games so far that have been updated for it
Nobody seems to be talking about that much. I've been toying with PSVR2 (and there are great black Friday sales for it this year), but wondered if the Pro would help it or not. Glad to hear it does.
Picked up the PS4 disk for $10 while it was banned from the PS Store, so I ended up with quite a steal, I think. I only played a little bit of the intro, waiting for the PS5 version - and by the time that dropped, I was busy and never got back to it. Now I'm waiting for a better sale on Phantom Liberty, but I might just go ahead at 20% off since I got such a deal on the base game.
Not now, though, I bought myself Stellar Blade as an early Christmas gift, and I'm addicted.
Compatibility. Give me something like the PS Portal (DualSense controller baked in) AND software to play games from Playstation locally (AND, dare I ask, ability to play PC games if I want), as well as streaming options, and you may have a winner.
But there are SO MANY details that matter and would affect sales, and one of them is Sony's inability to properly support Vita (which died just as I was ready to buy in) and PSVR1/2. If nobody trusts them to build an ecosystem, then the sales will be too lackluster for them to invest in building an ecosystem....
I let my Plus membership lapse in early November, before the Nov Essential games dropped, hoping for a sale like this.
I'll renew on the last day I can redeem the Nov games, because I didn't finish Ghostwire Tokyo when it was on the middle tier, but I may be going with just the Essential tier this time.
To be fair, everyone has a really, really hard time getting into these jobs. There are more would-be game designers than there are game designers making a living doing game design. As an Asian company, I expect there were a lot of people involved we'd call part of a "minority" in the US or UK.
And it's okay to make a game for an audience of men, just as it's okay to make a game for an audience of women, or of teens, or of children. If you don't like the aesthetic of this game, it's really good that nobody is forcing you to support it or play it, right?
The people asking to track used games sales are missing the point. To Sony and the developer, used game sales are irrelevant, because they don't make money from those sales (directly - that can change if the buyer later purchases DLC).
Yes, there may be more games played from disc than the sales numbers imply (I bet Sony has access to that data - surely they know you played the game from a disc), but from a sales perspective that's not useful information, unless it's to tell them they'd make MORE money if they could get rid of the used market!
The fact is, Microsoft knew what developers wanted back with the XBox One announcement, which was pure developer wish fulfillment. If you go back and look at that today, however, it looks a lot like where the industry is heading - we're very nearly there right now.
I think the entire industry is shuffling their communication strategy. If they announce a game too early, they face years of "is it ready yet?" that keeps the game in the news in an almost entirely negative way. If they're too tight-lipped, they get whining that they're not forthcoming (probably from the same people who would be pestering them with "is it ready yet?" every week if they'd been more open).
I don't see any communication strategy that is likely to make everyone happy - so I suspect studios and companies are trying to figure out what strategies seem to minimize cost and maximize profit. That may be different for different studios, games, and fan bases, but I suspect it will lead to more "we'll tell you when we're ready."
But I just don't see much upside to Sony being vocal about what's in the pipeline more than a few months before release, unless there's some specific tie-in to change that for a particular game.
Played Ghostwire while it was on Plus Extra - might finish it, now.
Wasn't thrilled with Hot Wheels 1 (seemed like you just needed the car with the best boost and that was the game), but decided to give 2 a shot and picked it up on sale a couple days ago. Oh well, it was cheap, and I got a lot of the DLC, so whatever. Should have known.
But oh...my Plus expires the day before these drop. I'll wait for any Black Friday sales before I pick it up again. If I miss this month...oh well.
It does seem to load the game world faster. The max chunk display is a lot higher, too (you can see further into the distance). It's also first version of Bedrock Minecraft to support bundles, so there's that (though that applies to all versions, including the PS4).
I found it awkward to get, though - do NOT grab the PS5 Minecraft Preview in the store, that's not the right thing, and the new PS5 version doesn't show up in a store search. I had to have Minecraft (PS4) selected on the main screen, then see the "Free PS5 version" graphic in the lower right and go pick it from there. Then I could "buy" the PS5 version for $0 and download it.
My kid (old enough to vote) preordered it, and the family PS5 is still her primary PS5, so I'll get to play it, too.
Looking forward to it - Lego games are typically loaded with humor as well as some simple puzzles. Definitely worth a look. Not expecting GoY material, just a fun distraction for a while, and I suspect it will do well at that. I'll also probably be replaying the first game's PS5 version - not sure if it's brilliant or stupid to have them drop so close to each other.
There's a third option they could have taken, which thankfully they didn't - AI-driven Lance Riddick clone. Have someone do the motion capture, they already have the character model, and AI is reasonably good at copying voice.
I'd rather they NOT go that way. A new actor is better, hopefully he'll do well, whoever it is.
But if they took Riddick out of the Zero Dawn Remaster, I won't buy the upgrade.
For everyone "complaining" it's only $50, the simple solution is they should buy two copies, to reward them for the lower price and to encourage other companies to follow suit.
@LifeGirl Good point - there's a whole generation that's more likely to get news of all kinds from YouTube than from reading anything, anywhere. Why read a review of a game when you can watch someone play? Bonus points if it's someone who has become something of a celebrity you're following over time, across games.
I'm not sure I'd compare something like HermitCraft or the Twitch streams of various players to a game magazine, but they likely scratch some of the same itches, and are certainly wildly popular! I think my wife listens to "BDubs" more than me.
As much as you might love them, all magazines are dinosaurs.
The very nature of print media means that magazines are old news by the time you get your hands on them. Any news they might manage to break will be spread online before you see your copy - like plot spoilers, but for news.
We're past the time of demo disks, so they don't have that going for them.
I'm old enough to remember PC magazines with lines and lines of BASIC for you to type in by hand, to recreate some game or tool - I've enjoyed generations of computer and gaming publications, and I've watched them all vanish. Sites like this are their replacement - so enjoy them while they last, they're bound to be replaced by something else in the next 20 years!
If you played Ghost of Tsushima, one of the characters (though not a playable character) was a female archer you had as a companion on some missions. Did they have problems with her? No?? Why not, when she seemed overpowered (despite being both female and old, as I recall)?
Yes, there's a chance the game could go over the top with woke nonsense - but just having a female main character isn't woke nonsense, even if that character is supposed to be faster and stronger than the average man. At least let them finish the game and read a review before you condemn something you know almost nothing about.
I'd like to play more as the character I know, but honestly, I'm more interested in playing in the environment they built than as any specific character. I'll almost certainly be buying this one (pending reviews).
First, remasters of recent games are relatively cheap to make. Assets for recent games are likely easy to locate, and the ownership isn't usually a mess making licensing easy. It may be harder to track down the source code and graphics for older games, and studio ownership may have changed making it difficult to figure out who really owns what.
Second, they're selling. It's like microtransactions - you can complain about them all you want, but SOMEONE is still spending money on them, so we see more. So long as sales justify the cost, they'll keep coming.
I love that game, but I'm not sure I'm interested in a remaster. It was a lot of fun and I wouldn't mind playing again for a bit, but there's other stuff I haven't played that I already own or will cost less than a remaster.
If they decide to resurrect the franchise for a sequel, I might change my mind.
Personally, I want MORE PS5 Pro news - but not just yet. I want it when people like Digital Foundry have a real one in their hands and can do some honest comparisons to the base PS5.
It drops on my birthday, so it seems like a perfect gift, right? But even if I was willing to spend $800 right now (if I buy it, I need the disk drive...but that's outside my current budget given recent expenses), I'd want some real-world comparisons first, before I decide.
We're still too much in the wild speculation stage, and not enough in the true side-by-side comparison stage. Let's see what the real-world improvements actually are before we celebrate it or condemn it.
I don't understand why people are willing to pay more to start a few days earlier - but then, I've learned to curb my FOMO and wait until a good sale, so I'm rarely leaping in on release day for any game.
It makes more sense to me for season-based games like EA Sports titles, where a few extra days could give you a competitive advantage early.
You're asking for a list - who says Microsoft has such a list?
This presumes that Microsoft has a master plan already written that they're just waiting to tell us about when they feel like it. Business rarely works like that.
They tried something with a few former exclusives, and watched how that worked out. If they'd bombed, or caused enough backlash to scare them, that would have been the end of it. Now, they're trying some more. They can afford to try a variety of different things to figure out what seems to give them the best chance to make the most money. THAT is what they'll do.
I think it's absurd to argue that this hurts Microsoft's brand. Look at all the conversation, all the speculation about which game SHOULD go next or MIGHT go next! This is free PR for Microsoft, and it only helps them. Every game people mention as a possibility is an advertisement reminding everyone they could go play that game on XBox, and every actual announcement is an invitation to a new market to pay full price for an old game. It's a win-win.
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Re: Gaming Colossus Tencent Added to US Blacklist, Accused of Ties to Chinese Military
The timing of this is interesting - still under the Biden administration, but just barely, essentially forcing the Trump administration to take a look at this some time early this year.
In addition to the US-China politics involved here, there may be some partisan US politics involved.
Also, the US Supreme Court hears arguments this week about the law requiring Tik Tok to divest or be banned in the US.
Re: Talking Point: Is PlayStation Right in Saying PC Isn't a 'Major Risk' to Console Business?
Would I buy a hypothetical PS6, with unknown performance and price point, over the hypothetical PC with nearly infinite range of performance and price points? How do you answer that, unless you're a fan boy of one or the other and wouldn't consider one of the options if it was free?
What's highly probably is the PS6 will be relatively inexpensive compared to a gaming PC, though that will still mean $600-800 US. And it will be reasonably performant, likely wildly outperforming any PC available at the same price on release day (and for a year or two later, most likely). Sure, I expect PC players will brag (honestly) that their PC runs rings around the PS6, even as the video card in their setup cost as much - probably more - than the PS6.
What else will we see in the PS6? Haptics that make the DualSense look clunky? PSVR3 support (or radically improved PSVR2 performance)? Hopefully some hall effect joysticks, please. I won't make any decisions until we see what we're getting, and how much it will cost.
Re: PS5's Astro Bot Now the Most Decorated Platformer Ever with Over 100 GOTY Awards
I think it says something that there are over 100 GotY awards available - it pretty much waters it down so they don't mean all that much.
I mean, if I publish a YouTube video naming it my personal GotY, will that increase the total to 105? And why would anyone care what MY opinion is, except for ME?
Re: Unfortunately, PS5's Disc Drive Add-On Shortage Doesn't Seem to Be Getting Better
Sony doesn't want to make too many and end up with stock they can't sell - I suspect much of the shortage is simply that. Unless they commit to the PS6 supporting the same drive (and why not?), they have NO incentive to overproduce drives, especially when they see they can make another (small) batch and sell them all at any time.
Re: Bayonetta Turns 15, Announcements Planned to Celebrate
If they're not announcing PS5 versions of all the games, then I don't care much about their celebration.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Essential Games for January 2025?
I was never interested in trying Suicide Squad. I might, before it goes offline in six months, just so I can be sure I didn't miss anything.
But I own the other two - which I think have been on sale for around $1 each, recently (okay, maybe not THAT low, but close to it). They fall in the category of nobody buying them any more even on sale, so it's time to cash in whatever we can with Plus.
Re: Site News: The Push Square Mailbox Is Officially Open, Send Us Your Letters
The most simplistic statement I could come up with over the recent Net Neutrality policy in the US (namely, that there is no longer a federally mandated policy) ran over 150 words. It's hard to talk about anything in ANY detail with that type a limit.
Re: Mini Review: Pixel Ripped 1978 (PSVR2) - Atari Adds Impressively to Newest Nostalgic Treat
Maybe somebody can help - got a PSVR2 on sale this year, and I'm trying this game. I can't get past the opening menu where I set my options. Pressing X or O does nothing, moving the left stick does nothing (either dualsense or the psvr2 controllers), I literally can't start the game, I'm stuck at the "Game Setup" menu. Am I missing some VR standard I'm supposed to know?
My first console was the Atari 2600, but I'm not so old I can't learn new things - but I'm stuck and I don't like it.
Re: Tetris Forever Adds Welltris to Playable Collection, More Updates in the Works
Welltris was AWESOME, and easily my favorite Tetris variant. It's been almost impossible to find anywhere. I've never considered Tetris Forever before this announcement, now I'm off to see what the price is.
Yes, seriously. It's amazing.
Re: Intergalactic PS5's Toxic Detractors Peddling Patently Fake 'Leaked' Story Details
I'm in what feels like a weird, lonely place where I think all sides are being ridiculous at best and nearly terminally toxic at worst.
You can't complain that you don't like video games because protagonists don't look like you and they need more diversity, and then get upset when other people complain that they don't like the diverse protagonists that don't look like them. If it matters, then it matters to everyone, right?
At the same time, neither side seems to refrain from downright abusive posts and arguments. It seems like an absurd thing to need to say, but I'll go out on a limb here - death threats should never be involved in any discussion in civil society.
This is a lesser layer of that - trying to ruin the joy of playing a game with spoilers, true or not. I'm not sure if it's worse if they made up the spoilers or if they're real - but attacking a studio like this is just offensive. Let them make the game they want to make, and criticize it - or enjoy it - based on what they actually release.
If you don't like the directions their games go, don't buy their games, and they'll have to adjust to the market. It ought to be that simple.
Re: Stellar Blade: Spire 4 Walkthrough - Cans, Design Patterns, Beta Cores, Body Cores, Exospines, Passcodes, Camps
Hypertube, beta core one, take the path on the RIGHT and double-jump around the wall.
Re: Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (PS5) - A Sublime Remaster of a Modern PlayStation Classic
New patch (Dec 12 or somewhere around then) added transmog.
It also added a transmog bug - make your outfit look like the Banuk Werak outfit, and get the auto-healing from that outfit no matter what you're actually wearing. My kid (nearly old enough to drink here in the US) discovered that and tried reporting it, but Sony doesn't seem to have a place to report bugs in the Remastered edition.
Re: Poll: What Will Win Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024?
Since this is a PS site, I expected a lot of people might want Astro Bot to win - I'm surprised so many think it will. I don't see it happening.
If I were a betting man, my money would be on Erdtree.
Re: You Can Get Excited for The Game Awards, Says Reputable Journalist
So you're saying we're about to get two years of complaining about the lack of fresh updates on whatever games are announced for a 2026+ release. Oh joy.
Oh, I guess it may be as little as one full year of complaining. That's a bit better, but still not something to get excited about.
Re: Video: Over 60 of the Most Essential PS5 Games So Far
Here's the list, copied/pasted from the YouTube chapter stops (times removed):
Stellar Blade
The Last Of Us Part 1
The Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered
Tekken 8
Pacific Drive
Helldivers 2
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Cyberpunk 2077
Animal Well
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Alan Wake 2
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Spider-Man Remastered
Spider-Man Miles Morales
Spider-Man 2
Cocoon
Armored Core VI
Baldur's Gate 3
Sea of Stars
Final Fantasy XVI
Street Fighter 6
Diablo IV
No Man's Sky
Humanity
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor
God of War Ragnarok
Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil 4
Stray
Elden Ring
Hades
The Finals
Demon's Souls
Final Fantasy XIV Online
Dead Space
Devil May Cry 5
Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart
It Takes Two
Deathloop
Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered
Gran Turismo
Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves
Destiny 2
Inscryption
Balatro
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Hogwarts Legacy
Sifu
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
The Pathless
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Fortnite
Genshin Impact
Apex Legends
Tales Of Arise
Grand Theft Auto V
Persona 5 Royal
The Witcher 3
Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut
Life Is Strange: True Colours
Guardians of the Galaxy
Astro Bot & Astro's Playroom
Death Stranding: Director's Cut
Returnal
Personal 3 Reload
Silent Hill 2
Re: Video: Over 60 of the Most Essential PS5 Games So Far
It would be nice to post the full list in the article. The YouTube description shows it, though - THANK YOU for the chapter stops!
Bundling Astro Bot & Astro's Playroom feels like cheating.
The only game I would add is Sackboy's Big Adventure - that's a blast to play if you like platformers at all. It showcases the DualSense controller like few games other than Astro do, it's a blast to play couch co-op (a dying feature), and it has some truly amazing musical levels that are worth going back to.
It should definitely make the top 60 - there are games on the list I played and enjoyed that I'd kick to make room for it, including Kena and Guardians of the Galaxy.
EDIT: Unbundling Astro makes it 69 games - put Sackboy in like he belongs and call it an even 70!!!
Re: Round Up: Indiana Jones Reviews Are Live, Mostly Very Strong
Star Wars has a new generation of actors playing a new generation of roles - multiple generations, actually. Harrison Ford isn't still showing up in all the Star Wars movies like he is for all the Indiana Jones movies.
Meanwhile, while this game uses someone else for the voice, it's still Ford's character all over again - which it SHOULD be. But it feels old because it's about one character set in one time, not about a universe with a wealth of characters spanning generations.
Re: Random: Monster Hunter's Got to Have the Best Motion Capture in Gaming
So the monsters don't move like wild animals, they move like human beings pretending to be wild animals?
If it works, it works.
Re: Sony Still Working on PSVR2, Full Hand Tracking Tech Is On the Way
$350 (US) at Costco, with Horizon and a charging station bundled in, I decided was worth a shot.
We'll see. I'm not sure the games will keep rolling out, and I wish there was compatibility with the old PSVR since I picked up some of those titles from PS+ years ago, but maybe there's a chance the PC adapter might improve its longevity.
As for the original question...I figure more options for play are good. If there are games where using your hands as a controller make sense, then this is a huge plus. I just don't see how a cleaning mini game is better because it doesn't require a controller - someone has to deliver a more compelling experience than that. It's not just the tech, it's the application of the tech that matters.
Re: Ex-PlayStation Boss Thinks the Days of Consoles Are Numbered
One thing I've learned is that you can't predict what technology will do in the next 10 years with any degree of accuracy. What this tells me, though, is that Sony thinks they don't have anything revolutionary planned that won't be easily matched by the competition, which sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me.
Re: New PlayStation Handheld Looking Even More Likely as Digital Foundry Backs Up Reports
I don't see any practical way this would let you play disk-based PS4/5/6 games, unless it's streaming from a console, which is what the Portal is for.
I don't see Sony wanting to invest in a new storage format for games for this, either. They got really sensible with the PS5, allowing standard SSD storage for it, and I think they may have finally learned their lessons there.
Which means this handheld is almost certainly going to be digital only.
Likewise, there's a greater than even chance the PS6 will be digital only, unless everyone goes out and buys physical UHD Blu-Ray movies in greater numbers to keep that portion of the industry alive and well and an example to Sony of how they don't want to leave money on the table. That's unlikely to happen, just as the trend to increasingly digital games sales seems unlikely to waver, so the need for a drive is increasingly eroding. There's a reason PCs often don't come with optical drives any more, and that Steam is the juggernaut it is.
Re: Sony Brings Back Iconic PS1 Startup Screen on PS5, But Only for a Limited Time
My first PlayStation was the PS3, which I bought originally for Blu-Ray movies and didn't expect to get hooked on the gaming. Since then I've had a PS4, PS4 Pro, and launch-day PS5. My only exposure to the PS1 or PS2 is through remastered games (though I do love Sly Cooper). This may be only the second or third time I've seen the PS1 startup and heard that sound.
So this carries no nostalgia for me at all. Cool, once, but I'm one of the 2% who will be happy to go back to the "normal" PS5 startup.
Re: Gran Turismo 7 Lauded as 'One of the Best PS5 Pro' Games Yet
Nobody seems to be talking about that much. I've been toying with PSVR2 (and there are great black Friday sales for it this year), but wondered if the Pro would help it or not. Glad to hear it does.
Re: Cyberpunk 2077, Phantom Liberty Make Bank for CD Projekt Red with Impressive Sales Figures
Picked up the PS4 disk for $10 while it was banned from the PS Store, so I ended up with quite a steal, I think. I only played a little bit of the intro, waiting for the PS5 version - and by the time that dropped, I was busy and never got back to it. Now I'm waiting for a better sale on Phantom Liberty, but I might just go ahead at 20% off since I got such a deal on the base game.
Not now, though, I bought myself Stellar Blade as an early Christmas gift, and I'm addicted.
Re: Rumour: PlayStation Event Could Be Incoming, Sony's Very Busy 'Behind the Scenes'
Nothing until 1Q 2025, unless its something for the Game Awards.
Re: Talking Point: Would You Want a Steam Deck-Like Portable PlayStation?
So many details matter.
Proprietary storage vs regular storage.
Cost. Size. Battery life.
Compatibility. Give me something like the PS Portal (DualSense controller baked in) AND software to play games from Playstation locally (AND, dare I ask, ability to play PC games if I want), as well as streaming options, and you may have a winner.
But there are SO MANY details that matter and would affect sales, and one of them is Sony's inability to properly support Vita (which died just as I was ready to buy in) and PSVR1/2. If nobody trusts them to build an ecosystem, then the sales will be too lackluster for them to invest in building an ecosystem....
Re: PS Plus Black Friday Discounts Again Seem Completely Random
I let my Plus membership lapse in early November, before the Nov Essential games dropped, hoping for a sale like this.
I'll renew on the last day I can redeem the Nov games, because I didn't finish Ghostwire Tokyo when it was on the middle tier, but I may be going with just the Essential tier this time.
Re: Stellar Blade's Eve Will Attack You if You Act Inappropriately in New PS5 DLC
To be fair, everyone has a really, really hard time getting into these jobs. There are more would-be game designers than there are game designers making a living doing game design. As an Asian company, I expect there were a lot of people involved we'd call part of a "minority" in the US or UK.
And it's okay to make a game for an audience of men, just as it's okay to make a game for an audience of women, or of teens, or of children. If you don't like the aesthetic of this game, it's really good that nobody is forcing you to support it or play it, right?
Re: LEGO Horizon Adventures (PS5) - Dull Design Lets Down This Gorgeous Spin-Off
So it sounds like, come for the graphics, stay for the combat, suffer through the boring linear stages?
Re: PS5 Pro Packaging Flaunts Its Disc-Free Nature
The people asking to track used games sales are missing the point. To Sony and the developer, used game sales are irrelevant, because they don't make money from those sales (directly - that can change if the buyer later purchases DLC).
Yes, there may be more games played from disc than the sales numbers imply (I bet Sony has access to that data - surely they know you played the game from a disc), but from a sales perspective that's not useful information, unless it's to tell them they'd make MORE money if they could get rid of the used market!
The fact is, Microsoft knew what developers wanted back with the XBox One announcement, which was pure developer wish fulfillment. If you go back and look at that today, however, it looks a lot like where the industry is heading - we're very nearly there right now.
Re: Sony Adopting 'Show Don't Tell' Strategy with PS5
I think the entire industry is shuffling their communication strategy. If they announce a game too early, they face years of "is it ready yet?" that keeps the game in the news in an almost entirely negative way. If they're too tight-lipped, they get whining that they're not forthcoming (probably from the same people who would be pestering them with "is it ready yet?" every week if they'd been more open).
I don't see any communication strategy that is likely to make everyone happy - so I suspect studios and companies are trying to figure out what strategies seem to minimize cost and maximize profit. That may be different for different studios, games, and fan bases, but I suspect it will lead to more "we'll tell you when we're ready."
But I just don't see much upside to Sony being vocal about what's in the pipeline more than a few months before release, unless there's some specific tie-in to change that for a particular game.
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for November 2024 Announced
Played Ghostwire while it was on Plus Extra - might finish it, now.
Wasn't thrilled with Hot Wheels 1 (seemed like you just needed the car with the best boost and that was the game), but decided to give 2 a shot and picked it up on sale a couple days ago. Oh well, it was cheap, and I got a lot of the DLC, so whatever. Should have known.
But oh...my Plus expires the day before these drop. I'll wait for any Black Friday sales before I pick it up again. If I miss this month...oh well.
Re: Reminder: You Must Accept PS Stars Terms of Service to Keep Earning Points
You don't get points on subscriptions - but you DO get points on NEW signups or RENEWALS.
So let Plus expire for a day, then sign up for it again.
Re: Minecraft's Native PS5 Port Is Now Available, Free Upgrade for PS4 Players
It does seem to load the game world faster. The max chunk display is a lot higher, too (you can see further into the distance). It's also first version of Bedrock Minecraft to support bundles, so there's that (though that applies to all versions, including the PS4).
I found it awkward to get, though - do NOT grab the PS5 Minecraft Preview in the store, that's not the right thing, and the new PS5 version doesn't show up in a store search. I had to have Minecraft (PS4) selected on the main screen, then see the "Free PS5 version" graphic in the lower right and go pick it from there. Then I could "buy" the PS5 version for $0 and download it.
Re: Construction Complete on LEGO Horizon Adventures as Game Goes Gold
My kid (old enough to vote) preordered it, and the family PS5 is still her primary PS5, so I'll get to play it, too.
Looking forward to it - Lego games are typically loaded with humor as well as some simple puzzles. Definitely worth a look. Not expecting GoY material, just a fun distraction for a while, and I suspect it will do well at that. I'll also probably be replaying the first game's PS5 version - not sure if it's brilliant or stupid to have them drop so close to each other.
Re: Horizon's Sylens Will Be Recast Following the Passing of Lance Reddick
There's a third option they could have taken, which thankfully they didn't - AI-driven Lance Riddick clone. Have someone do the motion capture, they already have the character model, and AI is reasonably good at copying voice.
I'd rather they NOT go that way. A new actor is better, hopefully he'll do well, whoever it is.
But if they took Riddick out of the Zero Dawn Remaster, I won't buy the upgrade.
Re: Expedition 33 Dev Confirms $50 Price Is Correct, '30+ Hours of Main Game'
For everyone "complaining" it's only $50, the simple solution is they should buy two copies, to reward them for the lower price and to encourage other companies to follow suit.
Re: Opinion: The Price of Playing PS5 Games Day One Is Getting Higher and Higher
Wait 6-12 months and you save even more, though lately Sony has been slower to discount. Spider-Man 2 still hasn't dropped below $50.
Re: Tetris Forever Compiles Over 15 Versions in Digital Eclipse's Latest Documentary Game
Anybody heard of Welltris? When I saw this, I was hoping it would include a remake of that, too. Never seen it on anything modern.
Re: Mini Review: Transformers: Galactic Trials (PS5) - A Nice Idea Gone Awry
I'm looking forward to this being the big PS Plus free game for July 2025.
Re: Subscribers Start Receiving Their Final Copies of PLAY Magazine
@LifeGirl Good point - there's a whole generation that's more likely to get news of all kinds from YouTube than from reading anything, anywhere. Why read a review of a game when you can watch someone play? Bonus points if it's someone who has become something of a celebrity you're following over time, across games.
I'm not sure I'd compare something like HermitCraft or the Twitch streams of various players to a game magazine, but they likely scratch some of the same itches, and are certainly wildly popular! I think my wife listens to "BDubs" more than me.
Re: Subscribers Start Receiving Their Final Copies of PLAY Magazine
As much as you might love them, all magazines are dinosaurs.
The very nature of print media means that magazines are old news by the time you get your hands on them. Any news they might manage to break will be spread online before you see your copy - like plot spoilers, but for news.
We're past the time of demo disks, so they don't have that going for them.
I'm old enough to remember PC magazines with lines and lines of BASIC for you to type in by hand, to recreate some game or tool - I've enjoyed generations of computer and gaming publications, and I've watched them all vanish. Sites like this are their replacement - so enjoy them while they last, they're bound to be replaced by something else in the next 20 years!
Re: PS5's Ghost of Yotei Triggers Social Media, Ex-Sony Exec Says 'If You Don't Like It, Don't Buy It'
If you played Ghost of Tsushima, one of the characters (though not a playable character) was a female archer you had as a companion on some missions. Did they have problems with her? No?? Why not, when she seemed overpowered (despite being both female and old, as I recall)?
Yes, there's a chance the game could go over the top with woke nonsense - but just having a female main character isn't woke nonsense, even if that character is supposed to be faster and stronger than the average man. At least let them finish the game and read a review before you condemn something you know almost nothing about.
I'd like to play more as the character I know, but honestly, I'm more interested in playing in the environment they built than as any specific character. I'll almost certainly be buying this one (pending reviews).
Re: Poll: What Did You Think of Sony's State of Play for September 2024?
Some nice pieces in there, including some announcements (like release dates for both Horizon games mentioned).
The Ghost of Yotai surprise at the end was awesome. Loved the first game.
I don't even own Stellar Blade yet (still waiting for a decent sale), but already excited about the Nier crossover. I've got to pick up Stellar Blade.
Better than I expected, if not as good as I'd hoped for.
Re: Reaction: Why There Are So Many Unnecessary PS5 Remasters for Games That Don't Need Them
This is absurdly simple - they're profitable.
First, remasters of recent games are relatively cheap to make. Assets for recent games are likely easy to locate, and the ownership isn't usually a mess making licensing easy. It may be harder to track down the source code and graphics for older games, and studio ownership may have changed making it difficult to figure out who really owns what.
Second, they're selling. It's like microtransactions - you can complain about them all you want, but SOMEONE is still spending money on them, so we see more. So long as sales justify the cost, they'll keep coming.
Re: Rumour: Days Gone PS5 Remaster Speculation Starts to Spread
I love that game, but I'm not sure I'm interested in a remaster. It was a lot of fun and I wouldn't mind playing again for a bit, but there's other stuff I haven't played that I already own or will cost less than a remaster.
If they decide to resurrect the franchise for a sequel, I might change my mind.
Re: PS5 Pro Shows Real Promise in First Expert Analysis
Personally, I want MORE PS5 Pro news - but not just yet. I want it when people like Digital Foundry have a real one in their hands and can do some honest comparisons to the base PS5.
It drops on my birthday, so it seems like a perfect gift, right? But even if I was willing to spend $800 right now (if I buy it, I need the disk drive...but that's outside my current budget given recent expenses), I'd want some real-world comparisons first, before I decide.
We're still too much in the wild speculation stage, and not enough in the true side-by-side comparison stage. Let's see what the real-world improvements actually are before we celebrate it or condemn it.
Re: PS5 Fans Who Paid $110 for Star Wars Outlaws Early Access Asked to Restart Saves
I don't understand why people are willing to pay more to start a few days earlier - but then, I've learned to curb my FOMO and wait until a good sale, so I'm rarely leaping in on release day for any game.
It makes more sense to me for season-based games like EA Sports titles, where a few extra days could give you a competitive advantage early.
Re: Fatal Run 2089 Revives Atari's Classic Combat Racer on PS5
Arcade racing, shooting...sign me up.
Re: Reaction: It's Time for Xbox to Tell Us Which Games It's Bringing to PS5, and Which Games It Isn't
You're asking for a list - who says Microsoft has such a list?
This presumes that Microsoft has a master plan already written that they're just waiting to tell us about when they feel like it. Business rarely works like that.
They tried something with a few former exclusives, and watched how that worked out. If they'd bombed, or caused enough backlash to scare them, that would have been the end of it. Now, they're trying some more. They can afford to try a variety of different things to figure out what seems to give them the best chance to make the most money. THAT is what they'll do.
I think it's absurd to argue that this hurts Microsoft's brand. Look at all the conversation, all the speculation about which game SHOULD go next or MIGHT go next! This is free PR for Microsoft, and it only helps them. Every game people mention as a possibility is an advertisement reminding everyone they could go play that game on XBox, and every actual announcement is an invitation to a new market to pay full price for an old game. It's a win-win.