@zhoont Do you mean you bought a GPU during Black Friday "sales" wherein they merely dropped close to the so called recommended retail prices AMD or Nvidia claim they are?!
Given the latest news from likes of Gamers Nexus & others, Nvidia is destined to screw consumers even further by not supplying gddr kits toboard partners,so will be a concern if AMD goes the "me too" route or not!🙄☹️
Having perused the crazy prices of SSD's & ddr 5 even before this,it will only increase the price gouging tactics in the hands of too few megacorps. Whether PC or console, gamers are going to be the ones to suffer & that's even before one talks about subscription services, live services etc. 😔
Well, about the "best" one could make of the RDR PS5 version is seemingly the "free" upgrade,(not that I've tried popping in my ps4 disc yet)...given the GTA "Definitive edition" trilogy remaster never allowed an upgrade (from ps4 disc), unless you bought the overpriced digital crossbuy version!
Ultimately though, when you think of the squillions Take-two & Strauss Zelnick gets in bonuses, always found it rich how people defended their cheapskate approach to music license renewals & the sheer amount of updates just to make that lot even functional!🙄
Suppose one should be happy RDR & Undead Nightmare even got out of ps3 jail onto current gen, but hardly holding my breath for the likes of Bully/Canis Canem Edit (not sure the ps2 classic emulated ps4 version runs on ps5?), or The Warriors, much less GTA LCS/VCS will ever see light of day.
As others have noted. Anything claiming to be a sequel but isn't playing as Jade trying to find P'eyj isn't Beyond Good & Evil 2. The 360/PS3 era cg trailer felt the closest to a sequel we ever got.😔
That swearing gorilla trying way too hard to be edgy & the whole pretence just seemed to be an online MMO set loosely in the Beyond Good & Evil universe. Given Ubisoft's continued rhetoric on single player games being dead, hold little hope we'll ever see the sequel it deserves.
For the actual hardware itself, another quality product overseen by system architect Mark Cerny & the engineering crews...albeit at a higher price point than PS4 for using higher end tech.
From a First Party publishing & services perspective...not so good & indeed at times tone deaf. Some strong launch era titles, but with Jim Ryan's captain's pick Hermen Hulst taking over from the respected Shuhei Yoshida (& Shawn Layden when studio operations were region based), the pressuring studios by Green lighting live service games with seemingly little to no single player/campaign modes & then pushing for the Bungie buyout (wherein a number of the veterans had already moved on or forced out by new management even prior to Destiny), & giving them greater say in Worldwide Studios & start ups on the promise of quick to make Fortnite, or Overwatch pots of gold were disastrous.😕
You saw the likes of Bluepoint noted for their remakes & remasters,instead become support for Sony Santa Monica & then wasted on a God of War Universe live service game! 🙄
Playstation players could perhaps live with PC ports of older games if it meant resources back into what made first party output great. Instead we saw PS5 remasters of PS4 games ala The Last of Us minus online modes & yet still full price! Or stuff like Until Dawn getting rushed out buggy & shoehorned into Unreal engine,no upgrade path for existing owners & teasing of a sequel we'll sadly unlikely see now!😔
We saw Playstation Plus rejigged with multiple tiers with the promise of a classic games library of PS1,PS2,PSP classics & some regions even streaming PS3. But most regions remain on PS Deluxe to this day. PS1 & PS2 Classic releases have been sporadic, limited third party participation, even Sony failing to bring the likes of PS2 Ratchet & Clank, God of War etc.
Despite the number of PS3 locked series (many with online modes & dlc opportunities), like Resistance, Motorstorm, Little Big Planet 1 & 2 etc., they're left in the proverbial attic storage ala Toy Story by Hulst & the likes of the Hot Shots devs instead making Switch games.
Meantime existing PS plus users find they can no longer access subscription sales unless for a limited time upgrade of tiers & whacked with multiple price increases notably in regions where Playstation outsells the competition. Sub Stacking of discounts like the old days when one could buy a subscription in retail stores became a dirty word within PS Ivory towers.
Sadly, most of the older guard like Shuhei Yoshida & co.,have retired or been "retired", & couldn't even say who the public face of Playstation is now whether the Indie Games division, much less the faceless execs that post on their blog & avoid any public interaction.😕
Unfortunately I can't see the disconnect improving with PS6 planning now coming onto their radar.
As much as PC Gaming is supposed to provide "freedoms" over console gaming, recent years have felt anything but!
Between GPU price increases & now DDR 5, (& even SSD prices have tended to plateau with PCIE 4 & PCIE 5 SSD's too pricey), etc.,& even Windows 11 itself being bloatware, advertorial spyware it's very much a sad sign next gen whether PS6, Steam Cube, XB, or PC Windows will be wallet gouging!😕
Great to see Hermen still hasn't given up on his Fortnite/live service pot of gold nor his favouritism for any Guerilla games project vs axing all the ones he either blamed on Jim Ryan "forcing" him to greenlight or blaming his "advisory group" of Bungie wisdom!🙄
Never hurts to read the fine print of a "free" upgrade...after all the shambolic GTA Trilogy "definitive edition" doesn't to my knowledge allow a free upgrade to the ps5 & Take-two actually increased the price of the cross buy digital version!🙄
Still,credit where its due to the likes of Double Eleven for porting a game that was reportedly held together by "spaghetti coding" BITD & gave it the TLC it deserved.
Should let them bring the likes of GTA IV & maybe even Bully Scholarship Edition (given PS owners only ever got the PS2 edition), or GTA LCS/VCS to current gen,one can dream!😅
Ironic Ratchet fans still can't access ps2/ps3 era games on current gen via ports/emulation but Hermen Hulst gets his "don't you guys have phones!" moment.🙄
Feels like more & more that Jim Ryan was given a tap on the shoulder by Sony's Hiroki Totoki to retire quietly or be fired. How Hermen Hulst as his "yes man", promotion in Worldwide Studios (at Shuhei Yoshida's expense), whom obviously not only pushed it on a clueless Jim but then setup the Bungie heads as an "advisory group",still has his job boggles the mind!🤯 Given the retirements or otherwise in studios like Naughty Dog,Insomniac, Bend & others during the Live service push who'd succeed Hulst is anyone's guess,unfortunately.😕
Just a reminder that the same Take-two management farmed off the GTA Trilogy remastered "definitive edition", to Grove Street Games & A.I. & not spring $$ for the full song lists despite claiming how "dear" the older games were to them....or Take-two Strauss Zelnick denying Private Division was closed despite indie developers being left in the lurch.
Meantime undoubtedly his bonuses are undoubtedly kept safe in between the alleged scrapping & restart of GTA VI that saw one half of the Houser's leave Rockstar.
Wonder if they'll try to monetise the shops in single player to get certain hairstyles, clothing etc.?🙄
@katamariUK Thanks for the feedback, it's a strange one! Can see some of the featured titles here in the aforementioned "Playstation Indies" or "Hot Deals", on PS5 but yep the November Savings tile/tab on PS4 & PS5 you're left wondering if they were intended for the sale or a future "second wave" there's so many full priced ones?!🤔
Nothing from the bot that represents Playstation's local Twitter account in reply either,no surprises!🙄
One of the bigger issues underlying this is whom is actually running Playstation's Indie Initiatives team now? With Shuhei Yoshida's "retirement" (after being sidelined by Jim Ryan into it), the heir apparent seemed to be Greg Rice, but I've seen on his twitter profile that he lists "previously" both his positions of Double Fine & Playstation & he now involved in a group Day of the Devs overseeing Indie games promotion.
So who is left at Playstation to actually run their Indie games division which presumably should actually include oversight into how these sort of A.I. Slop is getting through the submissions process?
With the 3500 games discounted article being redirected here,my comment has gone to the Bermuda triangle! Anyway, the "November Savings tile/sales tab appears completely broken on both my PS4 & PS5 PSN Apps.
Can't see some of these games listed like Blasphemous II or Animal Well, whilst Crash Bandicoot 4 (& indeed other Crash compilations), are full priced, no discounts. See a bunch of games, maybe 1/2 to 3/4 at full price listing's....
Playstation Indies Tile,& All Deals on PS4 PSN App, & Playstation Indies & "Hot Deals" app tiles working normally on PS5, but November Savings is a hot mess both late last night & now daytime. PSN Store region down under runs off the EU PSN curious to hear if any other regions seeing this as well?!🤔🤯
@get2SammyB or indeed anyone else...can see the Playstation Indies sale & "Hot Deals" okay, but so far the "November Savings" section seems a hot mess of games at full price, undiscounted, maybe only 1/3 or so of them discounted...haven't looked it up on PS4 & hopefully updates properly overnight on PS5 but rather strange! 🤔 Down Under PSN here so effectively tied into EU PSN region traditionally.
Won't pretend there wasn't expansion disks back in the day whether to some RPG's, or like Antheads to It Came From the Desert on Amiga, or Starcraft Brood Wars or Warcraft 3 Frozen Thrones etc....but likewise can also remember when you might’ve unlocked extra fighters on the Tekken games or cars in Gran Turismo or other race car games & you didn't have to fork out many times over the base game!🙄
As others have already said, a confusing answer when you look at say The Warriors which certainly wasn't open world either, but was certainly a nice movie spin off by Rockstar!
Unfortunately the PS3 certainly drew the short straw from Rockstar during that period missing out on Bully Scolarship Edition, timed exclusive GTA IV DLC & the somewhat visually inferior RDR port common of the era when the 360 was treated as the "lead" dev platform by most third parties.
Can recall the EA Bond games of the PS2 era though not as fun as Splinter Cell or Hitman, still had their charm with driving sections, using Bond gadgets & some typical blowing things up...just can't help but think Rockstar were a bit more sidetracked that their heart really wasn't into doing Agent when GTA IV was beckoning & RDR & LA Noire both experiencing development issues that drew Rockstar into both more than initially planned. 🤔
@joey302 Morally with you 100%! As to why? Dunno what's the situation on licensing with Saturn between the bios & emulation needed for consoles,but looking at sites like GOG where the likes of Populus,First Samurai, North vs South etc., will feature PC or Console versions & other old Amiga emulated listing's like Cinemaware's classics got delisted the Amiga licensed re-releases are few & far between & seemingly a mess. Pretty sure the recently announced The A1200 had been in limbo for quite some time due to all the mess the ownership of OS/tech rights!🙄
Makes me annoyed seeing the Amiga versions often left out of compilations as a result of ligitious "owners" whom had nothing to do with the original tech or games to begin with!
I do recall the odd Amiga preview BITD but never saw it in action & half thought it never came out on after Commodore went belly up. Did eventually play it on rental on PS1 but vaguely recall having better fun with the likes of Motor Toon Grand Prix 2, or the odd NFS, V Rally, & then Twisted Metal World Tour * Gran Turismo...will be curious to see some of the other ports but sounds like a shame about some of the missing ones not included here.
Oh well, better than the FMV ones that were mentioned with the LRG announcement!
If LRG want to put earlier Megadrive CD era games on modern gens could they at least pick decent to good ones?!🙄 Can think of the Misadventures of Flink (also had an Amiga CD32 port),& the same team went onto the Adventures of Lomax on PS1 also a fun platform action romp.
Core Design also did a few Mega CD games like Soulstar & Thunderhawk, along with others that had their origins on Amiga at the time like the Heimdall series, Jaguar racing, Chuck Rock & Bubba & Stix to name some...all fairly obscure & forgotten today but likely to have more playability than some of their latest announcements.😕
Whilst we all have our preferences,eg PS1: Alundra, Adventures of Lomax, Colony Wars, Wing Commander 3 & 4,Discworld series, PSP Ultimate Ghosts'n'Goblins, EA Classics compilation of Desert Strike, Wing Commander, PS2: SSX Series,NFS Underground 1 & 2, Splinter Cell series, Maximo Quest for Glory & Army of Zin, GTA LCS & VCS.....the biggest gripes I'd have about Sony's PS Classics program is the lack of will/budget chasing after third parties & how they could take notes on how GOG encourage their audience to wishlist requests, which no guarantee, but its a means to prod publishers into getting into their archives & seeing what's possible!
So...on one hand ragnarok has finally hit...but given Microsoft's current direction hope for the fans it hasn't been left to H.A.L the A.I. assistant to handle the PS5 port & the black hole that is the Unreal Engine that swallows up frames per second like they're appetisers at a party!
The potential sounds promising even if a glorified Visual Novel when its compared to the likes of TWD adventures.🤔
@ShogunRok No real consequences for who's dispatched to whatever "rescue" then? Can recall in the original "This is the Police" you could lose rookies if they didn't have enough backup or a more senior option,(who might then request time off later etc.). Or is it more like Oxenfree where conversation choices are likely the main "gameplay",thus far?
Yes Sarah,its soo antiquated that Phil "Gamer" Spencer convinced Satya to let him use the corporate credit card to buy up Zenimax & then Activision Blizzard cos it it'd bring millions more Gamepass exclusives...until it didn't & the board wanted a return on investment!😂
Funny how she isn't demanding Mariokart etc., become multiformat crossplay either!🙄
Hard to get much of a read on Hideaki Nishino given his low public profile & main achievements seem to have been price increases on PS Hardware & PSN services!😕
Would happily swap Shuhei Yoshida's experience over Hermen Hulst's continued misfires with live service ventures & mismanagement of previous high flying studios before his appointment by Jim Ryan!
Whilst this every bit smacks of EA going the Take-two route getting a quick & dirty port just like the GTA Trilogy "definitive edition" being farmed off to the mess of its release, I wonder if a wider issue is also at play...namely whether if another example of a Big AAA publisher having lost old source codes of older gen versions whether PC or PS3/360 etc.
Has Quantic Dream hired some ex-Bungie staff from their "advisory group" to Sony?!🙄😂 Nevermind Disney has managed to devalue the Star Wars brand enough that outside of Respawn's efforts can't help but think they'll face an Ubisoft like flop! Shame...enjoyed the likes of Heavy Rain & Detroit Become Human.
@get2sammyb Seemingly Playstation Studios execs didn't do their homework very well if they truly thought Tencent were keen on a mobile Last of Us...came across a YouTube video recently discussing World War Z & abandoned potential sequel(s). The interesting side note was Zombie movies tend to get an automatic ban hammer in China apparently...so doesn't seem to be a stretch to think the same would apply to a video game like TLOU!🤔
She wasn't wrong on the consequences...but unfortunately they were setup for failure from a (relatively),underfunded FTC vs the corporate lawyer armies of both Activision & especially Microsoft....nevermind Microsoft's "influence" across the political divides in Congress (with loose donation laws),& other territories where like most megacorps enough "compensation" & vague political promises tend to overcome regulatory governance.🙄
The days of Teddy Roosevelt like determination to tear down Megacorps has mostly vanished whether U.S.,or other regions (like mine Down Under). Indeed the failure of the courts to break up Microsoft in the 90's "browser wars" in favour of deals with rescuing a then floundering Apple & look at how they have grown from then.
And that's not including current day where the judiciary over there seemingly receive "gifts" much like their political counterparts & self rule on conflicts of interest & its not hard to work out how the Megacorps continue to get bigger!
Famitsu near perfect!👏 Eurogamer: This is soo samey & boring like the first one!😴😭 Play a "new" Mariokart with token extra cosmetics...."this is brilliant, phwoar!"🙄😂
So among the many desparate arguments for the Microsoft purchase of Activision Blizzard was the one as one of the BIG US companies woe betide if it fell into foreign hands!🤯😱 But cos of "free" jets etc.,100% Saudi ownership is okay now? E.A. as always in the modern era shooting itself in the foot & calling it progress.🙄
You know what could've been a great way to celebrate? How about releasing the first two GOW games that started it all on current gen!
Literally have a PS2 Classics emulation but don't want to use it....also have Bluepoint & a PS3 HD Collection they could've reworked much like Bluepoint brought Uncharted trilogy to PS4 back in the day!🙄 But Hermen does find money to blow on failed live service games?!🤯
Can remember when seeing if you completed GTA Vice City 100% completion it gave Tommy Vercetti a joke t-shirt to wear....now we see Sony not only having shut down the PS Stars program (which was being majorly nerfed not including rewards points for subbing to PS Plus anyways), but locking "loot" purchases behind trophies?!🤯
Not forgetting the multiple hardware & PS Plus price hikes,(esp.in the regions ala Down Under, EU etc.),no discounts for resubbing to PS Plus Essential anymore in sales like Days of Play, Black Friday etc., a generally lacklustre PS Deluxe/Classics releases with little Third Party support, & departures of the likes of Shuhei Yoshida or anyone that'd publicy engage with its audience.
Not exactly putting a great case forward for buying next gen when they've been hopelessly tone deaf this generation!🙄
Gee,if only Hermen Hulst had a specialist studio that had a history of pulling off high quality remasters & remakes that could've possibly worked on Bloodborne... because it made total sense to pivot Bluepoint after Demon Souls on a multiplayer live service game set in the God of War universe... allegedly! What Hermen lacks in public silence with the Playstation community as overseer of Worldwide Studios, he obviously must be a fast, slick talker with Hiroki Totoki & those shareholder meetings to still have his job!🙄
Waiting for Randy to tweet "buy a PS6, peasant!",next!🙄🤣 Just remember this is the same Randy that sold everyone Aliens Colonial Marines on a non playable trailer only to claim minimal involvement by Gearbox & collectively blame everyone else but themselves afterwards!
Was intrigued by the original trailer, & been looking out for more info...but will definitely wait on a full release...rather hated the Tellttale episodic formula whether Dam & Max, their Monkey Island or Walking Dead...& though not Telltale well recall the delays & disappointed Kings Quest remake with its great opening chapter & let down with the short later ones!
Not saying its same thing, but rather wait for an informed judgement on the whole thing. Fingers crossed!
Remember prior to the PS5 launch when Epic ran that Unreal Engine 5 tech demo & Sony stated how they'd made strategic minor investments of Epic shares & working with them to ensure Unreal Engine 5 would be a fully optimised experience on Playstation? Good times!😂 Another Jim Ryan inspired moment of brilliance!🙄😅
If a company as old as Sega could get hoodwinked by Gearbox over Alien Colonial Marines, then IO Interactive shouldn't feel that bad,(& there are other publishers long gone back in the 8bit & 16bit era who scrambled on last minute rewrites from scratch when they suddenly found out a game was in such dev hell it needed "something" to ship out)!
That said,it should serve as a cautionary tale to keep an eye on how things are progressing before rolling out the marketing machine.
@Yiro998 Be careful what you wish for! Yes,I do own a PC,nothing flash by today's standards with i5 Intel, (before they became their current basket case),& rtx 3060 combo...have aspirations to do another build someday but between Windows 11 SSD potentially killing updates, Nvidia & AMD gpu price gouging duopoly, & hoping your latest Asrock, Asus or insert name manufacturer hasn't pulled something dodgy on the latest motherboard releases that might fry a CPU it's a continual roulette spin getting something that doesn't cost a small fortune or bites you trying to upgrade a CPU or similar later!
Shrinkflation definitely isn't something I had on my 2025 console bingo card,even moreso when digital players need all the storage they can scrape!
@Ludacritz All that's missing is Hermen appointing the likes of departed Pete Parsons or another ex-Bungie or even ex-Guerilla favourite to take over!🙄 Might be mistaken but fairly sure this is one of Hulst's pet projects from Jim Ryan appointing him as Worldwide Studios head & their haphazard throw live service game ideas at the dartboard & come up with a Sony Fortnite/ Overwatch. I still think to Shuhei Yoshida's half joking he might’ve pushed back on some of Jim's pitches as a more seasoned & experienced head. Unfortunately I suspect Hermen moved other similar older producers on from Worldwide Studios & got some of his old ex-guerilla colleagues into Worldwide Studios who similarly wouldn't push back against their old Guerilla Games boss in greenlight8ng so many now cancelled projects.
Guessing Sony is looking to diversify their PS6 options with territories that are more noted for their portable gaming probably having more of the hybrid model vs markets that do well with the traditional console. Whilst it doesn't help the perception of how much next gen hardware is actually pushed with "new" games, they're unlikely to ignore the PS5 base of 80+million in the shorter term much as the PS4 ended up with more cross gen than initially expected.
@get2sammyb Having issues (Down Under), with the PS5 PSN Store not actually showing the Playstation Indies sale. Can see it on the PS4 PSN ,(Though obviously not any PS5 Only games),but the only way to see any from this deal on PS5 is going to "All Deals".😕 Very strange!
Is anyone else (esp. Down Under),having any issues seeing the "Playstation Indies" sale on PS5? Could view it on PS4,(though onv.,not PS5 only titles),but wasn't visible on PS5 during the Gamescom promotion nor this one?🤔
Seems like the only way is to select "All deals" which is cumbersome given different finishing dates etc. Very odd!😕
@Medic_alert 🤣👏 Bravo,you win the internet today! Yes, a simplified procedure is long overdue but without at least matching competing storefronts is hardly going to win over customers....will only be useful possibly for at launch bugfests ala Fallout 76 or Cyberpunk etc.
@LogicStrikesAgain Whilst I can't recall exact timings & names,just recall snippets/mentions of veteran departures & then of the occasional ex-guerilla person moving from there to join Hulst,& feeling like it was more like concentrating his powerbase with like minded colleagues. Though Shuhei Yoshida made light of his shift by Jim Ryan to revive their Indies initiative, still think of his quote he might’ve pushed back a bit on some of Ryan's ideas as telling...would he have been so keen on Bungie? Can't help but doubt it!
@Get2sammyb Can only assume Herman still has his position after throwing so many others onto the proverbial train tracks,by fast talking Hiroki Totoki on this "multimedia" big game strategy!🙄 As others have noted,unlike Hulst's obsession with creating a first party fortnite, hits can come from small ideas that evolve/grow on their own....& even the likes of AAA IP's like Uncharted,or The Last of Us,(keeping in mind Bruce Straley is the forgotten half of it's creation),creations during a difficult phase for Playstation first & second parties wrestling with the Playstation 3's technology & certainly not worried if their game was adaptable to movie spin-offs!🙄
Looking for some multiplayer mix in the Playstation offerings was fine. But one only has to look at the mass cancellations, lay-offs, closures or "repivots", to see an executive out of his depth. Sadly with the departure of so many notable management whether the likes of Shawn Layden,Shu Yoshida, or even ND or Insomniac etc.,in recent years you wonder who can help Playstation find their creative mojo again.😕
Maybe when Hermen got annoited by the clueless Jim Ryan as his captain's pick Worldwide Studios head,(& embarking on their massive live service spree including buying Bungie's "expertise"),maybe moving on reportedly veteran Playstation producers & replacing them with ex-guerilla game colleagues that wouldn't disagree with their old studio boss was among the many mistakes & bad calls Hulst has made.
For all the previous "creative freedom", Sony first parties used to state they enjoyed, one can only speculate on some of the senior r"etirements" or departures with the mandates to create IP's with multiplayer only, or heavy emphasis on from devs experienced in single player games.
Likewise, in the rare interviews I'd recalled from Hulst, never heard him mention some of Playstation's historical IP's ala Jak & Daxter,Sly Raccoon, Little Big Planet, Resistance, Motorstorm & others unlike Shuhei Yoshida, or Shawn Layden would.
His prattling on of ways to expand IP's to other mediums rather smacks of Xbox's disastrous Xbox One "TV,TV,TV!",launch.
Unfortunately, the legacy of Jim Ryan & Herman Hulst's mismanagement has seen the upper echelon of Sony group executives weilding a far tighter financial reign on Playstation operations & it feels like the "suits" rather than management with knowledge of & appreciation of their gaming fanbase that are calling the shots now.
Given Hulst was hyping up Concord prior to release & was taking advice from the likes of Bungie Execs suggest it's his failings to surround himself with objective management rather than people wanting to keep an out of his depth boss happy that was the real failing.
@wiiware @CP2 Yep,if there's one talent Hermen Hulst clearly has is being a fast talker to Investor calls & Hiroki Totoki ("It was all Jim's fault,I was just following his orders!").😋😂 If memory serves,(& obviously the prequel), Helldivers II started development before Hulst's reign of chaos. Guessing it possibly had a more AA level funding too,albeit I'm sure the dev studio these days enjoy top support to keep them on board as the guardians of one of Playstation's few hits in the multiplayer sphere this generation.
Another executive getting a golden parachute payout. Have seen some worthwhile YouTube videos which mentioned between his & a fellow ex-Microsoft's ascension as Bungie execs several of the veterans actually responsible for their earlier Halo hits were moved on or "retired",prior to the original Destiny.
Unfortunately, the rather clueless Jim Ryan & newly annoited Hermen Hulst as his captain's pick to takeover Worldwide Studios from Shuhei Yoshida (& Shawn Layden as U.S. Studios head prior to that),& enact a massive live service push within Playstation fell for Bungie's "expertise" hook,line & sinker!🙄
We've heard Shuhei mention the factions TLOU spin off played well,(albeit ND weren't Rockstar sized to continue big content updates ala GTAO & juggle new single player projects). But other projects within Playstation quietly cancelled or not given a green light.
Long time veteran Playstation studios producers quietly departed for ex-Guerilla colleagues who worked under Hulst taking their place. New studio start-ups included the likes of recently departed Bungie talent to fund the likes of Concord & Bungie & Hulst were absolutely convinced they had their Fortnite style mega hit...which bombed like Tunguska!
Add to it flopped Destiny releases & further Bungie lay-offs to compensate & boost flagging kpi's to try avoid Sony contractual takeover & you get the present mess that has represented Worldwide Studios output under Hermen Hulst's mismanagement.
Jim Ryan quietly announces his "retirement" en route to mass Playstation Studios lay-offs & closures,& the decidedly non-gaming now Sony group chairman Hiroki Totoki taking the reigns of Playstation long enough to note the sea of red spending by Ryan & Hulst on Bungie & flops like Concord & clearly demanded changes.
How Hermen Hulst has retained his job during a decidedly messy tenure & listening to the departing Bungie's head "expertise",on live service games is still something I'm puzzled at!🤔😕
@Bettyswollocks Bioshock Infinite being part of that "elite" circle of games like Watchdogs etc., with vertical slice demo's promising so much extra you couldn't help but wonder if you'd stumbled into an alternate Mandela/ Berestain Bear alternate timeline!🤯😅
The reality sadly if they were waiting on Ken Levine to stop dreaming up new mechanics & ideas,they'd be still probably very aiming for a ps5 or ps6 release window!
Judging from the last we'd heard anything on his latest game,they'll probably need this director's help to pull "something" together for that too by the time he gets whatever Bioshock 4 ends up as. 😕
Given 2K's parent company Take-two were happy enough to dish out Grand Theft Auto Trilogy "definitive edition" in its infamous shambolic state,(Sorry! To quote Strauss Zoellick just a bug or two!😋🤯),one wonders what shape this must be in to fail Take-two's low bar!😱😂
Comments 1,489
Re: This RAM Crisis Is Looking Like a Nightmare for the PS6
@zhoont Do you mean you bought a GPU during Black Friday "sales" wherein they merely dropped close to the so called recommended retail prices AMD or Nvidia claim they are?!
Given the latest news from likes of Gamers Nexus & others, Nvidia is destined to screw consumers even further by not supplying gddr kits toboard partners,so will be a concern if AMD goes the "me too" route or not!🙄☹️
Having perused the crazy prices of SSD's & ddr 5 even before this,it will only increase the price gouging tactics in the hands of too few megacorps.
Whether PC or console, gamers are going to be the ones to suffer & that's even before one talks about subscription services, live services etc. 😔
Re: Red Dead Redemption PS5 Another Subpar Re-Release from Rockstar
Well, about the "best" one could make of the RDR PS5 version is seemingly the "free" upgrade,(not that I've tried popping in my ps4 disc yet)...given the GTA "Definitive edition" trilogy remaster never allowed an upgrade (from ps4 disc), unless you bought the overpriced digital crossbuy version!
Ultimately though, when you think of the squillions Take-two & Strauss Zelnick gets in bonuses, always found it rich how people defended their cheapskate approach to music license renewals & the sheer amount of updates just to make that lot even functional!🙄
Suppose one should be happy RDR & Undead Nightmare even got out of ps3 jail onto current gen, but hardly holding my breath for the likes of Bully/Canis Canem Edit (not sure the ps2 classic emulated ps4 version runs on ps5?), or The Warriors, much less GTA LCS/VCS will ever see light of day.
Re: Beyond Good & Evil 2 PS5 May Not Be Dead Just Yet
As others have noted. Anything claiming to be a sequel but isn't playing as Jade trying to find P'eyj isn't Beyond Good & Evil 2.
The 360/PS3 era cg trailer felt the closest to a sequel we ever got.😔
That swearing gorilla trying way too hard to be edgy & the whole pretence just seemed to be an online MMO set loosely in the Beyond Good & Evil universe. Given Ubisoft's continued rhetoric on single player games being dead, hold little hope we'll ever see the sequel it deserves.
Re: Poll: Five Years of PS5 - How Would You Rate Sony's Console?
For the actual hardware itself, another quality product overseen by system architect Mark Cerny & the engineering crews...albeit at a higher price point than PS4 for using higher end tech.
From a First Party publishing & services perspective...not so good & indeed at times tone deaf. Some strong launch era titles, but with Jim Ryan's captain's pick Hermen Hulst taking over from the respected Shuhei Yoshida (& Shawn Layden when studio operations were region based), the pressuring studios by Green lighting live service games with seemingly little to no single player/campaign modes & then pushing for the Bungie buyout (wherein a number of the veterans had already moved on or forced out by new management even prior to Destiny), & giving them greater say in Worldwide Studios & start ups on the promise of quick to make Fortnite, or Overwatch pots of gold were disastrous.😕
You saw the likes of Bluepoint noted for their remakes & remasters,instead become support for Sony Santa Monica & then wasted on a God of War Universe live service game! 🙄
Playstation players could perhaps live with PC ports of older games if it meant resources back into what made first party output great. Instead we saw PS5 remasters of PS4 games ala The Last of Us minus online modes & yet still full price! Or stuff like Until Dawn getting rushed out buggy & shoehorned into Unreal engine,no upgrade path for existing owners & teasing of a sequel we'll sadly unlikely see now!😔
We saw Playstation Plus rejigged with multiple tiers with the promise of a classic games library of PS1,PS2,PSP classics & some regions even streaming PS3. But most regions remain on PS Deluxe to this day. PS1 & PS2 Classic releases have been sporadic, limited third party participation, even Sony failing to bring the likes of PS2 Ratchet & Clank, God of War etc.
Despite the number of PS3 locked series (many with online modes & dlc opportunities), like Resistance, Motorstorm, Little Big Planet 1 & 2 etc., they're left in the proverbial attic storage ala Toy Story by Hulst & the likes of the Hot Shots devs instead making Switch games.
Meantime existing PS plus users find they can no longer access subscription sales unless for a limited time upgrade of tiers & whacked with multiple price increases notably in regions where Playstation outsells the competition. Sub Stacking of discounts like the old days when one could buy a subscription in retail stores became a dirty word within PS Ivory towers.
Sadly, most of the older guard like Shuhei Yoshida & co.,have retired or been "retired", & couldn't even say who the public face of Playstation is now whether the Indie Games division, much less the faceless execs that post on their blog & avoid any public interaction.😕
Unfortunately I can't see the disconnect improving with PS6 planning now coming onto their radar.
Re: Suddenly the PS5 Pro Doesn't Look That Expensive Anymore
As much as PC Gaming is supposed to provide "freedoms" over console gaming, recent years have felt anything but!
Between GPU price increases & now DDR 5, (& even SSD prices have tended to plateau with PCIE 4 & PCIE 5 SSD's too pricey), etc.,& even Windows 11 itself being bloatware, advertorial spyware it's very much a sad sign next gen whether PS6, Steam Cube, XB, or PC Windows will be wallet gouging!😕
Re: Another Horizon Online PS5 Game Is Coming Before Horizon 3, It's Claimed
Great to see Hermen still hasn't given up on his Fortnite/live service pot of gold nor his favouritism for any Guerilla games project vs axing all the ones he either blamed on Jim Ryan "forcing" him to greenlight or blaming his "advisory group" of Bungie wisdom!🙄
Re: First PS Plus Extra Game for December 2025 Announced
Never hurts to read the fine print of a "free" upgrade...after all the shambolic GTA Trilogy "definitive edition" doesn't to my knowledge allow a free upgrade to the ps5 & Take-two actually increased the price of the cross buy digital version!🙄
Still,credit where its due to the likes of Double Eleven for porting a game that was reportedly held together by "spaghetti coding" BITD & gave it the TLC it deserved.
Should let them bring the likes of GTA IV & maybe even Bully Scholarship Edition (given PS owners only ever got the PS2 edition), or GTA LCS/VCS to current gen,one can dream!😅
Re: New Ratchet & Clank Game Announced, But Not for the Platform You Want
Ironic Ratchet fans still can't access ps2/ps3 era games on current gen via ports/emulation but Hermen Hulst gets his "don't you guys have phones!" moment.🙄
Re: Sony Speaks on Bungie Acquisition Disaster, Takes an 'Impairment Loss'
Feels like more & more that Jim Ryan was given a tap on the shoulder by Sony's Hiroki Totoki to retire quietly or be fired. How Hermen Hulst as his "yes man", promotion in Worldwide Studios (at Shuhei Yoshida's expense), whom obviously not only pushed it on a clueless Jim but then setup the Bungie heads as an "advisory group",still has his job boggles the mind!🤯
Given the retirements or otherwise in studios like Naughty Dog,Insomniac, Bend & others during the Live service push who'd succeed Hulst is anyone's guess,unfortunately.😕
Re: 'Morale in the Studio Is at Rock Bottom': Rockstar Whistleblower Alleges Union Busting as GTA 6 Is Delayed
Just a reminder that the same Take-two management farmed off the GTA Trilogy remastered "definitive edition", to Grove Street Games & A.I. & not spring $$ for the full song lists despite claiming how "dear" the older games were to them....or Take-two Strauss Zelnick denying Private Division was closed despite indie developers being left in the lurch.
Meantime undoubtedly his bonuses are undoubtedly kept safe in between the alleged scrapping & restart of GTA VI that saw one half of the Houser's leave Rockstar.
Wonder if they'll try to monetise the shops in single player to get certain hairstyles, clothing etc.?🙄
Re: 45+ PS5, PS4 Games to Buy in PS Store's November Savings Sale
@katamariUK Thanks for the feedback, it's a strange one! Can see some of the featured titles here in the aforementioned "Playstation Indies" or "Hot Deals", on PS5 but yep the November Savings tile/tab on PS4 & PS5 you're left wondering if they were intended for the sale or a future "second wave" there's so many full priced ones?!🤔
Nothing from the bot that represents Playstation's local Twitter account in reply either,no surprises!🙄
Re: Shameless Clones of Viral Hit Games Like Megabonk Continue to Plague PS Store
One of the bigger issues underlying this is whom is actually running Playstation's Indie Initiatives team now?
With Shuhei Yoshida's "retirement" (after being sidelined by Jim Ryan into it), the heir apparent seemed to be Greg Rice, but I've seen on his twitter profile that he lists "previously" both his positions of Double Fine & Playstation & he now involved in a group Day of the Devs overseeing Indie games promotion.
So who is left at Playstation to actually run their Indie games division which presumably should actually include oversight into how these sort of A.I. Slop is getting through the submissions process?
Re: 45+ PS5, PS4 Games to Buy in PS Store's November Savings Sale
With the 3500 games discounted article being redirected here,my comment has gone to the Bermuda triangle! Anyway, the "November Savings tile/sales tab appears completely broken on both my PS4 & PS5 PSN Apps.
Can't see some of these games listed like Blasphemous II or Animal Well, whilst Crash Bandicoot 4 (& indeed other Crash compilations), are full priced, no discounts.
See a bunch of games, maybe 1/2 to 3/4 at full price listing's....
Playstation Indies Tile,& All Deals on PS4 PSN App, & Playstation Indies & "Hot Deals" app tiles working normally on PS5, but November Savings is a hot mess both late last night & now daytime. PSN Store region down under runs off the EU PSN curious to hear if any other regions seeing this as well?!🤔🤯
Re: Prices Plunge on Over 3,500 PS5, PS4 Games Ahead of Busy Black Friday Season
@get2SammyB or indeed anyone else...can see the Playstation Indies sale & "Hot Deals" okay, but so far the "November Savings" section seems a hot mess of games at full price, undiscounted, maybe only 1/3 or so of them discounted...haven't looked it up on PS4 & hopefully updates properly overnight on PS5 but rather strange! 🤔 Down Under PSN here so effectively tied into EU PSN region traditionally.
Re: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 May Be the Most Expensive PS5 Game to Date
Won't pretend there wasn't expansion disks back in the day whether to some RPG's, or like Antheads to It Came From the Desert on Amiga, or Starcraft Brood Wars or Warcraft 3 Frozen Thrones etc....but likewise can also remember when you might’ve unlocked extra fighters on the Tekken games or cars in Gran Turismo or other race car games & you didn't have to fork out many times over the base game!🙄
Re: We Never Got Rockstar's Agent Because an Open World Spy Game 'Doesn't Really Work'
As others have already said, a confusing answer when you look at say The Warriors which certainly wasn't open world either, but was certainly a nice movie spin off by Rockstar!
Unfortunately the PS3 certainly drew the short straw from Rockstar during that period missing out on Bully Scolarship Edition, timed exclusive GTA IV DLC & the somewhat visually inferior RDR port common of the era when the 360 was treated as the "lead" dev platform by most third parties.
Can recall the EA Bond games of the PS2 era though not as fun as Splinter Cell or Hitman, still had their charm with driving sections, using Bond gadgets & some typical blowing things up...just can't help but think Rockstar were a bit more sidetracked that their heart really wasn't into doing Agent when GTA IV was beckoning & RDR & LA Noire both experiencing development issues that drew Rockstar into both more than initially planned. 🤔
Re: Retro Mario Kart Rival Races to PS5, PS4 in Street Racer Collection
@joey302 Morally with you 100%! As to why? Dunno what's the situation on licensing with Saturn between the bios & emulation needed for consoles,but looking at sites like GOG where the likes of Populus,First Samurai, North vs South etc., will feature PC or Console versions & other old Amiga emulated listing's like Cinemaware's classics got delisted the Amiga licensed re-releases are few & far between & seemingly a mess. Pretty sure the recently announced The A1200 had been in limbo for quite some time due to all the mess the ownership of OS/tech rights!🙄
Makes me annoyed seeing the Amiga versions often left out of compilations as a result of ligitious "owners" whom had nothing to do with the original tech or games to begin with!
Re: Retro Mario Kart Rival Races to PS5, PS4 in Street Racer Collection
I do recall the odd Amiga preview BITD but never saw it in action & half thought it never came out on after Commodore went belly up.
Did eventually play it on rental on PS1 but vaguely recall having better fun with the likes of Motor Toon Grand Prix 2, or the odd NFS, V Rally, & then Twisted Metal World Tour * Gran Turismo...will be curious to see some of the other ports but sounds like a shame about some of the missing ones not included here.
Oh well, better than the FMV ones that were mentioned with the LRG announcement!
Re: Even More Cult SEGA CD Games Are Somehow Making Their Way to PS5, PS4
If LRG want to put earlier Megadrive CD era games on modern gens could they at least pick decent to good ones?!🙄
Can think of the Misadventures of Flink (also had an Amiga CD32 port),& the same team went onto the Adventures of Lomax on PS1 also a fun platform action romp.
Core Design also did a few Mega CD games like Soulstar & Thunderhawk, along with others that had their origins on Amiga at the time like the Heimdall series, Jaguar racing, Chuck Rock & Bubba & Stix to name some...all fairly obscure & forgotten today but likely to have more playability than some of their latest announcements.😕
Re: Sony's Social Media Tribute to the PS2 Borders on Insulting
Whilst we all have our preferences,eg PS1: Alundra, Adventures of Lomax, Colony Wars, Wing Commander 3 & 4,Discworld series, PSP Ultimate Ghosts'n'Goblins, EA Classics compilation of Desert Strike, Wing Commander, PS2: SSX Series,NFS Underground 1 & 2, Splinter Cell series, Maximo Quest for Glory & Army of Zin, GTA LCS & VCS.....the biggest gripes I'd have about Sony's PS Classics program is the lack of will/budget chasing after third parties & how they could take notes on how GOG encourage their audience to wishlist requests, which no guarantee, but its a means to prod publishers into getting into their archives & seeing what's possible!
Re: Halo Confirmed for PS5, Remake of First Game Out in 2026
So...on one hand ragnarok has finally hit...but given Microsoft's current direction hope for the fans it hasn't been left to H.A.L the A.I. assistant to handle the PS5 port & the black hole that is the Unreal Engine that swallows up frames per second like they're appetisers at a party!
Re: Review in Progress: Dispatch (PS5) - Interactive Superhero Show Could Be Something Special
The potential sounds promising even if a glorified Visual Novel when its compared to the likes of TWD adventures.🤔
@ShogunRok No real consequences for who's dispatched to whatever "rescue" then? Can recall in the original "This is the Police" you could lose rookies if they didn't have enough backup or a more senior option,(who might then request time off later etc.). Or is it more like Oxenfree where conversation choices are likely the main "gameplay",thus far?
Re: Xbox Boss Believes Sony's Strategy of Console Exclusives Is 'Antiquated'
Yes Sarah,its soo antiquated that Phil "Gamer" Spencer convinced Satya to let him use the corporate credit card to buy up Zenimax & then Activision Blizzard cos it it'd bring millions more Gamepass exclusives...until it didn't & the board wanted a return on investment!😂
Funny how she isn't demanding Mariokart etc., become multiformat crossplay either!🙄
Re: For a Fleeting Moment, It Felt Like PS2 Gangster Game Scarface Could Be Getting a Re-Release
"We were trying to stealth post this & grab some preorder money & disappear but now there's been so much attention we're getting DCMA'd! "🤯😱😂
Re: 'Even I Can't Tell the Difference': Shuhei Yoshida Thinks PS6 Needs Something Other Than Just More Power
Hard to get much of a read on Hideaki Nishino given his low public profile & main achievements seem to have been price increases on PS Hardware & PSN services!😕
Would happily swap Shuhei Yoshida's experience over Hermen Hulst's continued misfires with live service ventures & mismanagement of previous high flying studios before his appointment by Jim Ryan!
Re: There Are Big Concerns About Plants vs Zombies' PS5, PS4 Re-Release
Whilst this every bit smacks of EA going the Take-two route getting a quick & dirty port just like the GTA Trilogy "definitive edition" being farmed off to the mess of its release, I wonder if a wider issue is also at play...namely whether if another example of a Big AAA publisher having lost old source codes of older gen versions whether PC or PS3/360 etc.
Re: Heavy Rain Dev Announces Competitive Multiplayer Game Spellcasters Chronicles
Has Quantic Dream hired some ex-Bungie staff from their "advisory group" to Sony?!🙄😂
Nevermind Disney has managed to devalue the Star Wars brand enough that outside of Respawn's efforts can't help but think they'll face an Ubisoft like flop!
Shame...enjoyed the likes of Heavy Rain & Detroit Become Human.
Re: Sony Travelled to China to Discuss Mobile Adaptation of The Last of Us with Tencent
@get2sammyb Seemingly Playstation Studios execs didn't do their homework very well if they truly thought Tencent were keen on a mobile Last of Us...came across a YouTube video recently discussing World War Z & abandoned potential sequel(s). The interesting side note was Zombie movies tend to get an automatic ban hammer in China apparently...so doesn't seem to be a stretch to think the same would apply to a video game like TLOU!🤔
Re: 'Told You So': Ex-FTC Chair Lina Khan Is Having the Last Laugh Over Xbox's Activision Acquisition
She wasn't wrong on the consequences...but unfortunately they were setup for failure from a (relatively),underfunded FTC vs the corporate lawyer armies of both Activision & especially Microsoft....nevermind Microsoft's "influence" across the political divides in Congress (with loose donation laws),& other territories where like most megacorps enough "compensation" & vague political promises tend to overcome regulatory governance.🙄
The days of Teddy Roosevelt like determination to tear down Megacorps has mostly vanished whether U.S.,or other regions (like mine Down Under). Indeed the failure of the courts to break up Microsoft in the 90's "browser wars" in favour of deals with rescuing a then floundering Apple & look at how they have grown from then.
And that's not including current day where the judiciary over there seemingly receive "gifts" much like their political counterparts & self rule on conflicts of interest & its not hard to work out how the Megacorps continue to get bigger!
Re: Ghost of Yotei Gets a Near Perfect Score in Japan's Most Famous Gaming Magazine
Famitsu near perfect!👏
Eurogamer: This is soo samey & boring like the first one!😴😭 Play a "new" Mariokart with token extra cosmetics...."this is brilliant, phwoar!"🙄😂
Re: Mega Publisher EA Agrees to $55 Billion Buyout by Saudi Arabia, Silver Lake, Affinity Partners
So among the many desparate arguments for the Microsoft purchase of Activision Blizzard was the one as one of the BIG US companies woe betide if it fell into foreign hands!🤯😱
But cos of "free" jets etc.,100% Saudi ownership is okay now?
E.A. as always in the modern era shooting itself in the foot & calling it progress.🙄
Re: Sony Celebrates 20 Years of God of War with New PS5 Controller
You know what could've been a great way to celebrate? How about releasing the first two GOW games that started it all on current gen!
Literally have a PS2 Classics emulation but don't want to use it....also have Bluepoint & a PS3 HD Collection they could've reworked much like Bluepoint brought Uncharted trilogy to PS4 back in the day!🙄 But Hermen does find money to blow on failed live service games?!🤯
Re: New PlayStation Rewards Program to Offer Exclusive Merch, Starts Today
Can remember when seeing if you completed GTA Vice City 100% completion it gave Tommy Vercetti a joke t-shirt to wear....now we see Sony not only having shut down the PS Stars program (which was being majorly nerfed not including rewards points for subbing to PS Plus anyways), but locking "loot" purchases behind trophies?!🤯
Not forgetting the multiple hardware & PS Plus price hikes,(esp.in the regions ala Down Under, EU etc.),no discounts for resubbing to PS Plus Essential anymore in sales like Days of Play, Black Friday etc., a generally lacklustre PS Deluxe/Classics releases with little Third Party support, & departures of the likes of Shuhei Yoshida or anyone that'd publicy engage with its audience.
Not exactly putting a great case forward for buying next gen when they've been hopelessly tone deaf this generation!🙄
Re: Sony's Still Not Doing Anything with Bloodborne, It's Claimed
Gee,if only Hermen Hulst had a specialist studio that had a history of pulling off high quality remasters & remakes that could've possibly worked on Bloodborne... because it made total sense to pivot Bluepoint after Demon Souls on a multiplayer live service game set in the God of War universe... allegedly!
What Hermen lacks in public silence with the Playstation community as overseer of Worldwide Studios, he obviously must be a fast, slick talker with Hiroki Totoki & those shareholder meetings to still have his job!🙄
Re: 'Quit Game and Restart': PS5 Pro Has the Worst Version of Borderlands 4
Waiting for Randy to tweet "buy a PS6, peasant!",next!🙄🤣
Just remember this is the same Randy that sold everyone Aliens Colonial Marines on a non playable trailer only to claim minimal involvement by Gearbox & collectively blame everyone else but themselves afterwards!
Re: Superhero Adventure Game Dispatch Confirmed for PS5, and It's Releasing Episodically
Was intrigued by the original trailer, & been looking out for more info...but will definitely wait on a full release...rather hated the Tellttale episodic formula whether Dam & Max, their Monkey Island or Walking Dead...& though not Telltale well recall the delays & disappointed Kings Quest remake with its great opening chapter & let down with the short later ones!
Not saying its same thing, but rather wait for an informed judgement on the whole thing. Fingers crossed!
Re: Site News: Where's Our Borderlands 4 PS5 Review?
Remember prior to the PS5 launch when Epic ran that Unreal Engine 5 tech demo & Sony stated how they'd made strategic minor investments of Epic shares & working with them to ensure Unreal Engine 5 would be a fully optimised experience on Playstation? Good times!😂 Another Jim Ryan inspired moment of brilliance!🙄😅
Re: MindsEye Flopped So Badly That Its Publisher Is Questioning If It Should Publish Games Ever Again
If a company as old as Sega could get hoodwinked by Gearbox over Alien Colonial Marines, then IO Interactive shouldn't feel that bad,(& there are other publishers long gone back in the 8bit & 16bit era who scrambled on last minute rewrites from scratch when they suddenly found out a game was in such dev hell it needed "something" to ship out)!
That said,it should serve as a cautionary tale to keep an eye on how things are progressing before rolling out the marketing machine.
Re: Rumour: To Avoid Even More PS5 Price Increases, Digital Edition to Get Reduced SSD Space
@Yiro998 Be careful what you wish for! Yes,I do own a PC,nothing flash by today's standards with i5 Intel, (before they became their current basket case),& rtx 3060 combo...have aspirations to do another build someday but between Windows 11 SSD potentially killing updates, Nvidia & AMD gpu price gouging duopoly, & hoping your latest Asrock, Asus or insert name manufacturer hasn't pulled something dodgy on the latest motherboard releases that might fry a CPU it's a continual roulette spin getting something that doesn't cost a small fortune or bites you trying to upgrade a CPU or similar later!
Shrinkflation definitely isn't something I had on my 2025 console bingo card,even moreso when digital players need all the storage they can scrape!
Re: Sony's Troubled Live Service Game Fairgames Just Can't Catch a Break
@Ludacritz All that's missing is Hermen appointing the likes of departed Pete Parsons or another ex-Bungie or even ex-Guerilla favourite to take over!🙄
Might be mistaken but fairly sure this is one of Hulst's pet projects from Jim Ryan appointing him as Worldwide Studios head & their haphazard throw live service game ideas at the dartboard & come up with a Sony Fortnite/ Overwatch.
I still think to Shuhei Yoshida's half joking he might’ve pushed back on some of Jim's pitches as a more seasoned & experienced head. Unfortunately I suspect Hermen moved other similar older producers on from Worldwide Studios & got some of his old ex-guerilla colleagues into Worldwide Studios who similarly wouldn't push back against their old Guerilla Games boss in greenlight8ng so many now cancelled projects.
Re: Rumour: PS6 Handheld Device Can Be Docked Like Nintendo Switch 2
Guessing Sony is looking to diversify their PS6 options with territories that are more noted for their portable gaming probably having more of the hybrid model vs markets that do well with the traditional console.
Whilst it doesn't help the perception of how much next gen hardware is actually pushed with "new" games, they're unlikely to ignore the PS5 base of 80+million in the shorter term much as the PS4 ended up with more cross gen than initially expected.
Re: 35+ PS5, PS4 Games to Buy in PS Store's PlayStation Indies Sale (North America/Europe)
@get2sammyb Having issues (Down Under), with the PS5 PSN Store not actually showing the Playstation Indies sale. Can see it on the PS4 PSN ,(Though obviously not any PS5 Only games),but the only way to see any from this deal on PS5 is going to "All Deals".😕
Very strange!
Re: 64+ PS5, PS4 Games to Buy in PS Store's Ready Set Play Sale
Is anyone else (esp. Down Under),having any issues seeing the "Playstation Indies" sale on PS5? Could view it on PS4,(though onv.,not PS5 only titles),but wasn't visible on PS5 during the Gamescom promotion nor this one?🤔
Seems like the only way is to select "All deals" which is cumbersome given different finishing dates etc. Very odd!😕
Re: Sony's Convoluted PS Store Refund Process Has Finally Been Streamlined
@Medic_alert 🤣👏 Bravo,you win the internet today!
Yes, a simplified procedure is long overdue but without at least matching competing storefronts is hardly going to win over customers....will only be useful possibly for at launch bugfests ala Fallout 76 or Cyberpunk etc.
Re: 'The Number of Live Service Games Is Not Important': PS5 Boss Gives Rare Insight into Strategy
@LogicStrikesAgain Whilst I can't recall exact timings & names,just recall snippets/mentions of veteran departures & then of the occasional ex-guerilla person moving from there to join Hulst,& feeling like it was more like concentrating his powerbase with like minded colleagues. Though Shuhei Yoshida made light of his shift by Jim Ryan to revive their Indies initiative, still think of his quote he might’ve pushed back a bit on some of Ryan's ideas as telling...would he have been so keen on Bungie? Can't help but doubt it!
@Get2sammyb Can only assume Herman still has his position after throwing so many others onto the proverbial train tracks,by fast talking Hiroki Totoki on this "multimedia" big game strategy!🙄
As others have noted,unlike Hulst's obsession with creating a first party fortnite, hits can come from small ideas that evolve/grow on their own....& even the likes of AAA IP's like Uncharted,or The Last of Us,(keeping in mind Bruce Straley is the forgotten half of it's creation),creations during a difficult phase for Playstation first & second parties wrestling with the Playstation 3's technology & certainly not worried if their game was adaptable to movie spin-offs!🙄
Looking for some multiplayer mix in the Playstation offerings was fine. But one only has to look at the mass cancellations, lay-offs, closures or "repivots", to see an executive out of his depth. Sadly with the departure of so many notable management whether the likes of Shawn Layden,Shu Yoshida, or even ND or Insomniac etc.,in recent years you wonder who can help Playstation find their creative mojo again.😕
Re: 'The Number of Live Service Games Is Not Important': PS5 Boss Gives Rare Insight into Strategy
Maybe when Hermen got annoited by the clueless Jim Ryan as his captain's pick Worldwide Studios head,(& embarking on their massive live service spree including buying Bungie's "expertise"),maybe moving on reportedly veteran Playstation producers & replacing them with ex-guerilla game colleagues that wouldn't disagree with their old studio boss was among the many mistakes & bad calls Hulst has made.
For all the previous "creative freedom", Sony first parties used to state they enjoyed, one can only speculate on some of the senior r"etirements" or departures with the mandates to create IP's with multiplayer only, or heavy emphasis on from devs experienced in single player games.
Likewise, in the rare interviews I'd recalled from Hulst, never heard him mention some of Playstation's historical IP's ala Jak & Daxter,Sly Raccoon, Little Big Planet, Resistance, Motorstorm & others unlike Shuhei Yoshida, or Shawn Layden would.
His prattling on of ways to expand IP's to other mediums rather smacks of Xbox's disastrous Xbox One "TV,TV,TV!",launch.
Unfortunately, the legacy of Jim Ryan & Herman Hulst's mismanagement has seen the upper echelon of Sony group executives weilding a far tighter financial reign on Playstation operations & it feels like the "suits" rather than management with knowledge of & appreciation of their gaming fanbase that are calling the shots now.
Given Hulst was hyping up Concord prior to release & was taking advice from the likes of Bungie Execs suggest it's his failings to surround himself with objective management rather than people wanting to keep an out of his depth boss happy that was the real failing.
Re: Bungie Boss Pete Parsons Departs as Sony Starts to Take Control of Flagging Dev
@wiiware @CP2 Yep,if there's one talent Hermen Hulst clearly has is being a fast talker to Investor calls & Hiroki Totoki ("It was all Jim's fault,I was just following his orders!").😋😂
If memory serves,(& obviously the prequel), Helldivers II started development before Hulst's reign of chaos. Guessing it possibly had a more AA level funding too,albeit I'm sure the dev studio these days enjoy top support to keep them on board as the guardians of one of Playstation's few hits in the multiplayer sphere this generation.
Re: Bungie Boss Pete Parsons Departs as Sony Starts to Take Control of Flagging Dev
Another executive getting a golden parachute payout. Have seen some worthwhile YouTube videos which mentioned between his & a fellow ex-Microsoft's ascension as Bungie execs several of the veterans actually responsible for their earlier Halo hits were moved on or "retired",prior to the original Destiny.
Unfortunately, the rather clueless Jim Ryan & newly annoited Hermen Hulst as his captain's pick to takeover Worldwide Studios from Shuhei Yoshida (& Shawn Layden as U.S. Studios head prior to that),& enact a massive live service push within Playstation fell for Bungie's "expertise" hook,line & sinker!🙄
We've heard Shuhei mention the factions TLOU spin off played well,(albeit ND weren't Rockstar sized to continue big content updates ala GTAO & juggle new single player projects). But other projects within Playstation quietly cancelled or not given a green light.
Long time veteran Playstation studios producers quietly departed for ex-Guerilla colleagues who worked under Hulst taking their place. New studio start-ups included the likes of recently departed Bungie talent to fund the likes of Concord & Bungie & Hulst were absolutely convinced they had their Fortnite style mega hit...which bombed like Tunguska!
Add to it flopped Destiny releases & further Bungie lay-offs to compensate & boost flagging kpi's to try avoid Sony contractual takeover & you get the present mess that has represented Worldwide Studios output under Hermen Hulst's mismanagement.
Jim Ryan quietly announces his "retirement" en route to mass Playstation Studios lay-offs & closures,& the decidedly non-gaming now Sony group chairman Hiroki Totoki taking the reigns of Playstation long enough to note the sea of red spending by Ryan & Hulst on Bungie & flops like Concord & clearly demanded changes.
How Hermen Hulst has retained his job during a decidedly messy tenure & listening to the departing Bungie's head "expertise",on live service games is still something I'm puzzled at!🤔😕
Re: BioShock Infinite Executive Returns to Rescue BioShock 4 from Dev Hell
@Bettyswollocks Bioshock Infinite being part of that "elite" circle of games like Watchdogs etc., with vertical slice demo's promising so much extra you couldn't help but wonder if you'd stumbled into an alternate Mandela/ Berestain Bear alternate timeline!🤯😅
The reality sadly if they were waiting on Ken Levine to stop dreaming up new mechanics & ideas,they'd be still probably very aiming for a ps5 or ps6 release window!
Judging from the last we'd heard anything on his latest game,they'll probably need this director's help to pull "something" together for that too by the time he gets whatever Bioshock 4 ends up as. 😕
Re: BioShock Infinite Executive Returns to Rescue BioShock 4 from Dev Hell
Given 2K's parent company Take-two were happy enough to dish out Grand Theft Auto Trilogy "definitive edition" in its infamous shambolic state,(Sorry! To quote Strauss Zoellick just a bug or two!😋🤯),one wonders what shape this must be in to fail Take-two's low bar!😱😂