In the shorter ti medium term might not make too much difference to gamers for games already published & out there. BUT will be a right royal pain to indie devs either working on unreleased titles,or existing ones recently released regarding console ports, patch updates etc.,if managed by the publisher.
New staff,& wherein they need to learn the various PSN,Eshop,,XB Store backends,ditto the third party who might’ve had good relationships with the old staff are suddenly dealing with new crew for PSN,Gamepass deals etc.
The old crew likely have a backer,& be up & running sooner than later,but the indie devs tied to existing deals will be left feeling like the meat in the sandwich meantime!
@get2sammyb The decision to add a 2tb SSD more expensive,(cheaper than when the ps5 expansion slot was enabled though),but wise given the file sizes needed...whether if the higher resolution textures are included in the same standard ps5 game update files time will tell i guess!🤔
Unfortunately,one only has to look at the Nvidia/AMD GPU Duopoly (& typically AMD being a gen behind on raytracing tech),as far as what constitutes mid range "value" 192bit gpu's now being around $900-$1200+ (My region),depending on if you're team green or team red to realise even the "cheap" 128bit cards being $600-700 that next gen PS6 & Xbox won't be cheaper & probably more than PS5 launch prices were.😕
Might help if they didn't have a CEO who had only worked at one of their in-house Studios (not including the ones they closed!),prior to being promoted to his World Wide studios role wherein he focused on remasters for TV tie-ins!🙄😂
Just brainstorming off the top of my head, but Legend of Dragoon, Lomax, Colony Wars, Wipeout, Alundra (at least as UK publisher), Motor Toon Grand Prix, Lemmings. Then Jak, Ratchet, Sly Raccoon,Getaway(?),Infamous, Motorstorm, Last Guardian,SOTC/ICO, Twisted Metal (forgetting the last one like an Indiana Jones sequel!),Litlle Big Planet, LBP Karting (effectively morphing Mod Nation racers into it),Resistance.
Daresay I've left some others ala Rain etc.,from Studio Japan but I am glad for Astrobot. But yep, maybe hire some execs & managers that know your catalogue! Or maybe its more code for 'Stuff that can be turned into our own GTA/COD cashcow"?🙄😂
Back in my former lifetime of being (ultimately), a games store manager we initially had ps4 copies ship of Saints Row 4(?), ship on release which shipped with the "full" EU version with certain banned Aussie content thanks to our quaint classification rules which even updated saw previously MA15+ games mostly get tagged as R18+!
Don't think I sold any of the offending copies before we got ordered to pull them off the shelves & ship them back,but I imagine a small number slipped out there.
Before my time on release,but also later we couldn't trade in the Hot Coffee ps2 GTA San Andreas even though you needed an Action Replay (not sold by the store),to even access it after that version was recalled.
Whilst I know Playstation marketing seems to prefer pushing the mega blockbusters &/or new indies, the Suikoden games were very much part of PS1 folklore as per the later Final Fantasy games were! Missed opportunity...again!
Oh well,at least no timed exclusives. Let's hope the delay has meant Konami has allowed the devs to do the job properly rather than rush it out on the back of Eiyuden Chronicle's launch. 🙏🤞
Activision decided to pull out of single player titles in favour of live service games".... More like due to Bobby Kotick "investing" in an army of lawyers & NDA "settlements",trying to get the Microsoft buyout across the line & give himself a golden parachute!🙄
In my region still 900 odd points short of reaching the elusive $30 7500pts,so sadly guessing I'll unlikely hit it before the changes start influencing things...
Albeit even if they'd announced it on the PS Blog, I get stuck in an endless loop logging in on the Web or the App -but then doesn't allow me leave any posts/feedback anymore!😕🤐
Goes to show not much has changed in the post Jim Ryan era to the previous one with this & pricing on remakes like Until Dawn.
Whilst the Xbox division pivoted from hardware console numbers over a generation ago,to "user engagement",Microsoft has seemingly gotten shy with sharing exacting Gamepass engagement to shareholders these days by trying to merge PC Windows & Xbox all under the same umbrella.
Whilst Satya might be aiming to assure shareholders the billions lent to Xbox is going well, you can bet internally they're looking closely at how the new multi-tiered Gamepass numbers are faring to dictate potential future multiplatform releases even if as potential "stealth drops" later
@LiamCroft @Sequel That's awesome news! 👍Always regarded Barrington 's contribution as understated much like his works in Inspector Morse/Lewis tv series,it perfectly set the mood for each & every scene.
Rented the first two games on ps1,as rarely saw them in the shops,but eventually picked them up on PC CD Rom,as I did Beneath a Steel Sky having only played the Amiga demo of the latter
It was only when upgrading to a Celeron 900mhz build from my original Celeron 266,did I learn of a hires mode for the graphics when I'd been perfectly content with the lores ones all those years,was quite an eye opener!😅
Played the DS Directors Cut which was alright but not quite as good as the original & picked up the GOG versions years later. Liam you definitely owe yourself playing the original one here! Guessing you won't need to ring a toll number Playstation hints like as I needed to multiple times to learn just exactly how you needed to pass the goat! Not so easy on the non analogue ps1 OG controller!!😂😱
I almost get the feeling Phil has gone from showing up early to Satya's board meetings (when he could use the corporate credit card ad infinitum to buy up whatever he wanted), to dreading the phone calls from HQ & needing to flash his corporate I.D badge ,& insist to Satya's secretary he definitely has an invite these days!😋
I well remember ringing the Playstation tips line toll number on Broken Sword & trying to get past that dastardly goat! 😅 Rented both hames on PS1 before buying them on PC CD ROM & eventually seeing them in high resolution mode! First game in particular with locations like Lochmarne Pub still my favourite!
Guessing they may include the Director's Cut extras which felt a bit sandwiched in compared to the originals classic opening...Paris in the Fall.
They want all their legacy fighting games on PS4/PS5? Oh good,I look forward to them putting Alien vs Predator out on anything else but an overpriced arcade fighting stick!😋
It's easy to pin this solely on Jim Ryan,(& not to suggest as SIE head he doesn't bear responsibility). But a critical part of that "entourage" is now co-SIE head Hermen Hulst either.
With stories like the recent ones about Sony looking for possible content or studio opportunities in China/India etc.,suggests Hiroshi Totoki (as previous interim SIE Head & still Sony Group 2IC) is keeping a close watch on the spreadsheets now. One only has to look at the brutal axe weilding of SIE studios & projects.
They might well still splash $$ on third party timed deals,but I doubt we'll see many multi billion studio buyouts vs smaller studios chasing that live service Gold. Its unfortunate that to seemingly claw back those overspends its not only come at a cost regarding Bungie staff,but other Sony studios (eg those in the UK),copped the repercussions.
As always,the higher ups get quiet payouts & move on,or like Hulst promoted!
@danzoEX Yep. Always found it rather strange how PS3,nevermind PS4 never saw Academy Edition,Table Tennis or GTA IV Complete edition ports...but then again look how long it took for Red Dead Redemption/Undead Nightmare to get just a PS4 gen port!🙄
Much like tightwad Take-two will never do a proper GTA "Definitive edition" with full soundtracks etc., because they don't want to fork out on certain music licensing that increased from the PS2 era! Or GTA LCS/VCS etc.😕
Although being an LRG release means ridiculous shipping fees to my neck of the woods precludes considering a physical copy,(mores the pity),will keep an eye out assuming they don't stuff up the digital release like they have in the past to select PSN regions & not others. (Only more recently addressed in some cases).
Whilst clearly there wasn't enough there for the kind of mega blockbuster GTA/COD beating live service game,(or without a heavily expanded ND to maintain it & still work on other projects),its surprising if no thought was given to retask some of it into a dlc expansion or similar to TLOU 2.
Given this is the same Randy that (in my former life), stood in front of a bunch of us games store managers showing off Colonial Marines trailers extolling how amazing it was!!...🙄 And then all the collectors editions i ended up getting cancelled as I couldn't flog them in good conscience without warning customers if I still wanted them as regular customers to preorder anything again! "Sure Jan!"😂 I'll wait!!
This brings to mind the demise of another Indie Publisher Versus Evil Games literally on Xmas eve last year by Tiny Build coincidentally after announcing a mega millions investment by Atari & allegedly missed transactional payments by them after buying out Versus Evil.
As others have said,the entire staff have been gutted,publishing operations outsourced to a third party,literally the only thing remaining is the name! 🙄 A true word salad response by Ziff Davis worthy of a Strauss Zelnick or Phil Spencer double Dutch reward!
Commiserations to those affected,including in dev games finding out they've been dumped onto a new group without any warning.😕
Has there been anyone else find some crossbuy PS4/5 games occupy their wishlists even after adding both versions to their library thus needlessly taking up one of their woshlist allotment....annoying when you're limited to 99 maximum or whatever it is!🤔
"They're blessed with marketing budgets we'd dream of!"....says the marketing division rep of a company whose parent is a multi trillion corporation that has spent billions buying up the biggest AAA Third party publishers!
I bet Playstation's acquisitions team had "Gamer" Phil Spencer's corporate credit card to splash the cash too!🙄😅
So much for a certain other site claiming it was back "globally"...so globally is only the U.S. now?!😅 Had logged out & in & wondering why it wasn't working!😔
At least Push Square got it right. Not hodig y breath Down Under but hopefully tied into the EU Store region return.🤞🙏
Not the first or last time one has to only look at the likes of Metal Gear & Bayonetta in the last few years,or as others have said already Resident Evil. Anyway,a diplomatic response...whereas look at say select past GTA voice actors that though their chances of an appearance again were unlikely, they well & truly burnt bridges when they were quite vocal on complaining about video game payments vs other mediums!
@dskatter Yep,it's a shame considering Double Fine did remasters of Day of the Tentacle (& Maniac Mansion technically hidden away!),& Full Throttle but no such luck for Sam & Max Hit the Road,or Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade or Fate of Atlantis. Likewise there was the Secret of Monkey Island 1 & 2 remasters done by Disney back in the PS3/360 era & GOG/Steam, that'd be welcome too! Oh & the much forgotten Curse of Monkey Island!
The Telltale adaptations were alright,but not quite as the golden era Lucasfilm games were.
Did play a little bit of it back in the day & the respawns were amusing. But if I had a wishlist of ports,it'd be the mainstream PS2 & PS3 Ratchet & Clank games,& the Resistance series.
Still surprises me that Sony bought Bluepoint who produced some great remasters & reboots but instead they're working on a "original IP"! Though time will tell what that is.🤔
There's been some comments (& not that I don't agree with the sentiment),about why they don't hire modders that are involved with PCX2 & others to write the emulators?
One of the co-founders of Implicit Conversions that have been tasked with the PSP/PS1/PS2 emulation efforts,Jake Stine apparently was involved with PCSX2 in the past. So there literally is a modder of experience involved.
I agree its annoying when the OG company that made the consoles should have the documentation of its old hardware but to what extent we don't know. The PS1-PS3 engineers like Ken Katuragi have long retired from their roles. Matk Cerny as a developer no doubts knew how to get the best out of the older gens having helped make some of their top games. But as lead on PS4,PS5 & possibly PS6 he's busy with next gen work & its never a clear cut thing.🤔
Though we're not going to see Implicit bag their employers or imply they only funded a cheap emulation effort,it would be interesting if Push Square did an interview (or DF),& discuss the challenges of official emulation design.
Sony have always used a mix of hardware or at times software efforts BITD. Eg: PS1 emulation on ps3 & PSP were pretty good from memory. But is this PS2 effort based off the so-so emulation that was used on the original PS2 Classics on PS4?
Ever since I learned in GTA V PS3 version how earning decent $$ to afford additional properties etc was tied into buying & selling on the stock market & then there were online & offline versions i knew the GTA games as I fondly enjoyed were being stripped away....by how much with GTA Online I could've never guessed until when I used to work was swarmed with digital shark card purchases!
I miss old Rockstar,its wearing a suit & tie & laughs along with Strauss Zelnick's jokes in board room meetings!🙄😔
Still a bit of a concern on if the camera is a bit wonky as I got too far into one of the maze like sections with guards last lime on PS3 & lost & stuck it'd need a restart....there's an intriguing story underneath. Oh well,will keep an eye out for a discount later.
Still bums me out the ideas for a single player focused sequel back in the ps3 era got abandoned by Ubisoft/Ancel in favour of the MMO online live service pipedream monstrosity with swearing gorillas...what a waste of an IP!😑
Seen Dead Rising 1 & 2 ps4 ports on sale on the odd occasion but never quite took the plunge despite enjoying the little bit I tried on 360 once. The time limit is a central part of the game, but can see myself getting distracted with side quests!🤔 Well,that or replaying it i think to do things you missed first time?
In theory,it would be a wonderful thing. However even with the recent RPCS3 update you still need some reasonable CPU horsepower to throw at emulation. I find it a pity that for all the $$ thrown at buying Nixxes,mobile dev studios,Bungie,alongside the smaller purchases of Insomniac,Bluepoint etc., some of that wasn't assigned to a porting studio or two.
For example we don't know what Bluepoint is working on other than "original IP"...but would've loved to have seen stuff like Rain,LBP 1 & 2, PS3 era Ratchet & Clank,Motorstorm series,Resistance series & others in the Sony catalogue get even a more basic port. A mid range price to compensate for just unscaled old gfx,not everything needs a high end remake. Good way to test the waters for some on a sequel/reboot too!
As it is,still PS1 stuff,nevermind 3rd party ps2 stuff that'd be ideal for porting out there if they could convince publishers....Maximo please Capcom?
Clearly Embracer saw the Nvidia CEO's "the more you spend,the more you save!",speech...& believed it! 😂 Grabs a bag of crisps & comfy chair awaiting who they'll blame when their next A.I. driven reboot flops!
I'll admit to occasionally playing a bit of Bubsy on the department store demo Megadrive BITD, (Can only imagine whoever did it cackling in delight taking out lethal enforces or Mortal Kombat & replacing it)!😂
Felt uninspired in a glut of similar platformers but a little surprised it got its reputation when I'd seen some worse ones out there! McDonald's Land for example! That said, the only way they could polish Bubsy 3 is with a belt sander & grind it to oblivion!😱😂
Much like say Earthworm Jim,anything beyond the 2d 16bit era games feels like a waste of disc space...those CD-R's aren't as easy to find as they used to be after all!😋
Well this is something I didn't have on my bingo card for 2024!🤯 Owned the OG Miles Edgeworth game which I thought was alright if filler between waiting for more of the mainstream Ace Attorney series....heard the sequel was pretty good but felt as mythical as the Sherlock Holmes themed one!
To now have most of the older gen releases on PS4 (& even resorting to picking up the odd entry on Steam if they get a decent discount),is a joy even if i can't yell Ojection like i did on DS or bang the stylus like the judge does his gavel!😅
Wonder if this will pave the way for the 3ds games to get a port & complete the set?!🤔🤞 Also,given Capcom have only ever done PS4 ports please Mr Corny make sure to slip in PS4 backwards compatibility on PS6,cos I'd hate having to re-buy PS5 native ports by the time that happens!
Given the lack of hype for this,one wonders how much of an effort has been made here...an upped rezzed PS3HD version? I'd be interested,but the biggest turn off as you went further was the God awful camera & clunky controls into some rather maze like sections...you just feel rather lost! One to watch a review on first & cross fingers.
Seeing a few "Gamer Phil" defenders talking about edited comments etc.,but it's right on form for Lies of P Phil to rewrite history. He likes to make 360 era Xbox as being the only time they engaged in such activities. There'd been numerous occasions they signed up indie gamepass exclusives on the basis they were timed exclusives. He signed up Tomb Raider as a timed exclusive...as others have correctly stated he literally convinced Microsoft to bank roll two of the biggest AAA Publishers in Zenimax Bethesda & a (relatively) "cheaper" Activision after Kotick's skeletons of mismanagement tanked their share price for a multi trillion Microsoft to take full advantage of. The same Phil who in court documents had a wish list of most other major third parties & the xbox management talking up using Microsoft money to spend Sony out of the market.
Again though,when you have a softball interviewer Team Green cheerleader like Ryan McCaffrey who falsely tweets fanboy assertions like he did on Black Myth Wukong,what do you expect?
I do agree,Layden is a much missed Sony Exec. You can't say any exec is perfect,but you could see the love & passion he had for Playstation history whether bigger selling or smaller titles. Don't tend to get the same vibe with Hermen Hulst. But you want to see the real Phil,you just go back to the behind the scenes communications of cancelling multiplatform releases,& further acquisition targets...or how he left Sarah Bond & Matt Booty to be the ones to do damage control over studio closures...he was MIA until now to be good guy Phil all over again. 🙄
@KundaliniRising333 "Phil actually does interviews"....what,the same Phil Spencer that'd been in hiding when the studio closures got announced & left the P.R Waffle to Matt Booty etc ?🤔 As for his "hard hitting interview",by Ryan McCaffrey,I hear you reply? This is the same "objective journalist"/IGN Editor,who just a couple of days ago falsely tweeted "Sony must've money hatted Black Myth: Wukong exclusivity",only to delete it & refuse to acknowledge his biased opinion rather than it being "optimisation issues" (reads Series S)....nor did he press Phil Spencer on how devs are having issues trying to achieve parity between Series S/X ...
But then again,this is the same Ryan McCaffrey who cheerled the buyouts of Zenimax Bethesda & Activision Blizzard,buyouts but let him give the nice guy Phil double Dutch P.R. answer on mass layoffs? Hardly an interview!
As for the "they were planning multiplatform years ago!",yeah there was a lot more releases planned to be multiplatform...until Phil Spencer cancelled them despite his public promises & "case by case" claims...until seemingly being dragged by his heels by the Microsoft board into reversing course in more recent times!🙄
I don't disagree that we'll see that much change with Hermen Hulst as far as public engagement goes...he's no Shawn Layden!
Sounds promising. Though as mentioned by others,licensing (sadly),&/or a lack of will hasn't seen much third party support.🤔😑
Instead of the mobile ported GTA Trilogy remastered series,imagine the OG PS2 versions with full soundtracks,& LCS/VCS games. Or the Maximo series,(but given the lack of RE2/3,or Dino Crisis 1 & 2). Likewise when EA had games like the SSX series,or NFS Underground 1&2, Wing Commander 3 & 4,Desert/Jungle Strike,Ubisoft's Splinter Cell series to name a few!
But an improved emulation effort will hopefully see wider spread engagement/purchases to test the theory backwards compatibility is "unpopular". Easier to claim when you put a low grade effort & don't chase actual classic titles.
Put the effort in,& chase the less obscure titles, & I'd hope the support would be there.🤞🙏
The other part of the interview doing the rounds but not discussed here was his pushing "motion capture is the way forward",& seemingly implying hand drawn animation is old hat etc.
Goes in hand with previous interviews where he mentioned they considered a Jak sequel a few years ago but he believes they've moved on as a serious/narrative style now.... Don't get me wrong,I loved the Drake series, & TLOU 1,but remember games like the Jak series much like Insomniac's Ratchet could have their humorous moments or I dunno,be "fun" too?
Maybe just old & cynical, but not everything needs a dreary TLOU 2 narrative!
Still disappointing how the vast majority of PSP & PS1 "Classics" have tended to be mostly not,!😕 There either is a severe lack of will on the part of 3rd party publishers ot the budget devoted to acquiring such content means they're unwilling.
RE 2 & 3,Dino Crisis 1 & 2, Ultimate Ghosts'n'Goblins, Gran Turismo 1 & 2, Colony Wars series,Alundra, Blood Omen Legacy of Kain, Adventures of Lomax,Rayman, GTA 1 & 2,just to name a few! Can't say I'm holding my breath on the innumerable PS2 "classics" based on their current efforts!
Strauss Zelnik & Take-two: "We haven't shuttered those studios!",(frantically waves hand), dammit,it always worked for Obi-wan in Star Wars!🙄😂
Sure Strauss,& the GTA Trilogy remastered "definitive edition",only had a "minor" problem at launch & didn't need months of patches which still didn't cover up the missing soundtracks & terrible underbaked port by a mobile dev!😂
A couple of curiosities to note out of this: 1) Totoki besides retaining his overall Sony Group role, (& was acting in a "interim" capacity with Playstation),seems to be keeping a closer watch on the books,with the dual CEO's.
2) Insofar as Hulst having an expanded role, time will tell. 🤔 As the public "face" of Playstation Studios,it's been hard to get a read on him. When he did give rare interviews,it was pushing the Ryan era initiatives of live service games,(several which been shuttered),& remasters of several PS4 hits to PS5 alongside PC & Mobile studio acquisitions.
He would touch on PS Studios legacy titles, but apart from the limited PSN streaming regions, most older titles remain unavailable on modern platforms,eg: Ratchet & Clank classics, GOW 1 & 2, Sly Raccoon,LBP 1 & 2,infamous 1 & 2, Resistance just to name a few.
Whether much changes under his watch time will tell. 🤔
3) As for Hideaki Nanshino, presumably that still leaves Playstation alumni like Mark Cerny (& his dev company),still carrying on as he does now we hope into PS5 Pro or PS6 in the future,& presumably Shuhei Yoshida in his current Indies role given he was reporting to Jim Ryan before hand.🤞🙏
Guessing we won't be seeing any "big" acquisitions by Playstation anytime soon, the only hope is the arms race will slow a bit in light of the maas layoffs across the AAA landscape.
More deflection & excuses from one of the bigger Microsoft cheerleading "reporter" in Ryan McCaffrey.
Xbox has ALWAYS been a Microsoft entity,since day one,they're literally the parent company & just why "Gamer" Phil Spencer pushed & convinced them to fork out near $88 billion to buy their way back in dominance & cut Sony out not only from potential timed exclusive deals but shut them out period from some of the biggest 3rd party IP's out there like COD.
But between the deals needed to get the sales over the line,(& legals,& associated costs,& losses of third party games going exclusive & subscription based),little surprise the upper management are suddenly asking where their investment has gone not seeing a Windows like market domination of either Xbox or Gamepass.
The silly thing is there was always going to be a price paid for buying two of the biggest third party AAA Publishers,(& their slew of IP's & studios), & releasing solely onto a subscription service day one release with optional purchase.
Its surprising they were prepared to gamble the obvious costs of so many studios short term vs hits to software sales & didn't consider Phil's sales pitch optimistic!🙄 If Bungie's purchase & cancellation of several Sony live service titles are attributed to Jim Ryan, then its laughable the currently in hiding Phil Spencer isn't responsible for Xbox Studios failings.
Given Herman Hulst's love of remasters,(though mostly PS4 to PS5),it's sad he doesn't have the same love for a LBP 1& 2 remaster/remake. It's got plenty of mtx opportunities,& they literally have a creation tool in Dreams that potentially could be reworked for LBP!
As for Microsoft....well they've always had a sense of humour,they gave the normally staid Nintendo board the giggles when they suggested a takeover buyout!!😋😂
Imagine a bizzarro world where a multi trillion software monopoly spends $88 BILLION to acquire two of the biggest AAA Third party publishers,multiple IP's & dev studios,(nevermind the P.R. spend,legal fees vs the FTC & EU & UK regulators,then the undoubted "donations" to various Congress people to put the political blowtorch on the very body designed to protect consumers from big company monopolies!),& then cry poor "we're spread too thinly,we can't afford all these studios!!🙄🤣 Oh wait...🤔
Saw an unattributed quote that supposedly was spoken by Shawn Layden but sounds like him. "Buying studios is easy,managing them is a whole other problem"....whilst he probably has little interest aspiring to returning to Playstation towers it would be well worth the price to find a role back there for him.
"Gamer" Phil Spencer's legacy at this rate will be succeeding in an entire couple of Xbox console generations of players no longer wanting to buy AAA or AA/Indies because they'll only play them on Gamepass!🙄
The only reason Bobby Kotick backflipped on all things Gamepass & Microsoft was that multi million/billion golden parachute after spending all those millions in no fault legal settlements.
Before that he was deadset against it as far as Day One release on subscription services. Even the pricey third party marketing/dlc timed exclusives would only see older COD games on something like PS Plus long after the hard core fans had bought it.
With less $1 Live Gold deals than there used to be let's see how popular it is.
Unlike the staid,corporate Matt Booty email that thanks them for their time,how sad too bad,& no doubt "Gamer Phil" is undoubtedly practising for his constipated pained face & "it's been a tough day" P.R. damage control tweet/interview video, this shows genuine emotion of a studio boss wearing the consequences of decisions made above his pay grade.😕
Maybe he might be giving zero fudges & waiting for a similar fate/consequences,but if not,then the same "angry gamers",that were blowing up over account linking a few days ago,(despite doing so on multiple other games),will vote with their wallets supporting a monopolistic trillion dollar company buying up all the major AAA publishers perhaps isn't such a "win for gamers",after all?🤔🙄
How many times did we hear Microsoft P.R.,& their media & social influencer bots throughout the proceedings in the U.S.,EU,& U.K. how both Zenimax Bethesda & Activision Blizzard buyouts were "good for gamers",& give back "creative freedom".
About the laughable claims of "Gamer" Phil Spencer insist TIMED 3rd party exclusives were the root of all evil versus using the Corporate credit card to remove the likes of Starfield off a PS5 release altogether was also a "win for gamers"?🙄
I don't pretend Playstation is flawless... With Helldivers 2 surprising even their best hopes & a new acting CEO & Sony Group 2IC wanting to cut costs saw savage cutbacks to the Jim Ryan & Herman Hulst era live service investments.
But given this is the second time Microsoft have slashed jobs & closing previously successful studios,(Prey,Evil Within etc),exposes the hypocrisy of Phil Spencer & the Microsoft P.R. machine.
Will be curious after all the vitriol put towards Playstation by certain PC players if they'll be as savage towards Saint Phil when he'll do another "this has been a real tough day for us" tweets.🙄
One would hope we'll see those affected pop up in smaller AA studios or Indies,but invariably we tend to see the cycle repeat when bought out by the bigger publishers time & again these days.😕
As many others have said, it's pretty hard NOT to avoid any AAA published game &/or storefront or both having multiple accounts!
That Sony is joining a very long list of other AAA publishers hardly feels like a capital offence its being made out by certain PC owners...
Not to make light of data/privacy concerns,but as others have said,be more worried about Google, Facebook,heck even Microsoft's recent Windows 11 update has disabled most of the previously used work arounds to create a local account versus strong arming a Microsoft account during setup!🙄😕 (Not to mention adverts in the start menu)
But a linked PSN account is apparently far worse?! Strange hill to fight to the end on!
Strauss Zelnick will undoubtedly still enjoy his regular bonus pay cheque much like Bobby Kotick on his annual Activision Blizzard purges.🙄
So much for Private Division being the "Indie Arm" of the Take-two business...make a successful game,get bought out allegedly on the pretence of stability & guaranteed finance,next thing find your IP rights gone & lights turned off & locks changed at the office!
But one only has to look at how veterans of Rockstar got churned or burned out,& the older games get contracted out to the likes of Grove Street Games for substandard "remasters" & single player dlc cancelled to see Take-two's priorities these days!😑
Comments 1,489
Re: Annapurna Interactive Exodus Sees Entire Staff Resign
In the shorter ti medium term might not make too much difference to gamers for games already published & out there.
BUT will be a right royal pain to indie devs either working on unreleased titles,or existing ones recently released regarding console ports, patch updates etc.,if managed by the publisher.
New staff,& wherein they need to learn the various PSN,Eshop,,XB Store backends,ditto the third party who might’ve had good relationships with the old staff are suddenly dealing with new crew for PSN,Gamepass deals etc.
The old crew likely have a backer,& be up & running sooner than later,but the indie devs tied to existing deals will be left feeling like the meat in the sandwich meantime!
Re: In Case You Missed It, PS5 Pro Has a 2TB SSD Included
@get2sammyb The decision to add a 2tb SSD more expensive,(cheaper than when the ps5 expansion slot was enabled though),but wise given the file sizes needed...whether if the higher resolution textures are included in the same standard ps5 game update files time will tell i guess!🤔
Unfortunately,one only has to look at the Nvidia/AMD GPU Duopoly (& typically AMD being a gen behind on raytracing tech),as far as what constitutes mid range "value" 192bit gpu's now being around $900-$1200+ (My region),depending on if you're team green or team red to realise even the "cheap" 128bit cards being $600-700 that next gen PS6 & Xbox won't be cheaper & probably more than PS5 launch prices were.😕
Re: Sony Execs Seem to Think the Company Doesn't Have Enough Original IP
Might help if they didn't have a CEO who had only worked at one of their in-house Studios (not including the ones they closed!),prior to being promoted to his World Wide studios role wherein he focused on remasters for TV tie-ins!🙄😂
Just brainstorming off the top of my head, but Legend of Dragoon, Lomax, Colony Wars, Wipeout, Alundra (at least as UK publisher), Motor Toon Grand Prix, Lemmings. Then Jak, Ratchet, Sly Raccoon,Getaway(?),Infamous, Motorstorm, Last Guardian,SOTC/ICO, Twisted Metal (forgetting the last one like an Indiana Jones sequel!),Litlle Big Planet, LBP Karting (effectively morphing Mod Nation racers into it),Resistance.
Daresay I've left some others ala Rain etc.,from Studio Japan but I am glad for Astrobot. But yep, maybe hire some execs & managers that know your catalogue! Or maybe its more code for 'Stuff that can be turned into our own GTA/COD cashcow"?🙄😂
Re: Outer Wilds PS5 Physical Edition Ships with Wrong Version on Disc
Back in my former lifetime of being (ultimately), a games store manager we initially had ps4 copies ship of Saints Row 4(?), ship on release which shipped with the "full" EU version with certain banned Aussie content thanks to our quaint classification rules which even updated saw previously MA15+ games mostly get tagged as R18+!
Don't think I sold any of the offending copies before we got ordered to pull them off the shelves & ship them back,but I imagine a small number slipped out there.
Before my time on release,but also later we couldn't trade in the Hot Coffee ps2 GTA San Andreas even though you needed an Action Replay (not sold by the store),to even access it after that version was recalled.
Re: Suikoden 1 & 2 HD Remaster Assembles an Army in March 2025 on PS5, PS4
Whilst I know Playstation marketing seems to prefer pushing the mega blockbusters &/or new indies, the Suikoden games were very much part of PS1 folklore as per the later Final Fantasy games were! Missed opportunity...again!
Oh well,at least no timed exclusives. Let's hope the delay has meant Konami has allowed the devs to do the job properly rather than rush it out on the back of Eiyuden Chronicle's launch. 🙏🤞
Re: Crash Bandicoot 5 Reportedly Cut in Favour of More Live Service Games
Activision decided to pull out of single player titles in favour of live service games"....
More like due to Bobby Kotick "investing" in an army of lawyers & NDA "settlements",trying to get the Microsoft buyout across the line & give himself a golden parachute!🙄
Re: Sony to Short-Change PS Stars Members with PS Plus Renewals Starting Next Year
In my region still 900 odd points short of reaching the elusive $30 7500pts,so sadly guessing I'll unlikely hit it before the changes start influencing things...
Albeit even if they'd announced it on the PS Blog, I get stuck in an endless loop logging in on the Web or the App -but then doesn't allow me leave any posts/feedback anymore!😕🤐
Goes to show not much has changed in the post Jim Ryan era to the previous one with this & pricing on remakes like Until Dawn.
Re: Reaction: It's Time for Xbox to Tell Us Which Games It's Bringing to PS5, and Which Games It Isn't
Whilst the Xbox division pivoted from hardware console numbers over a generation ago,to "user engagement",Microsoft has seemingly gotten shy with sharing exacting Gamepass engagement to shareholders these days by trying to merge PC Windows & Xbox all under the same umbrella.
Whilst Satya might be aiming to assure shareholders the billions lent to Xbox is going well, you can bet internally they're looking closely at how the new multi-tiered Gamepass numbers are faring to dictate potential future multiplatform releases even if as potential "stealth drops" later
Re: Preview: Broken Sword Is Back in the Most Passionate Remaster Possible
@LiamCroft @Sequel That's awesome news! 👍Always regarded Barrington 's contribution as understated much like his works in Inspector Morse/Lewis tv series,it perfectly set the mood for each & every scene.
Rented the first two games on ps1,as rarely saw them in the shops,but eventually picked them up on PC CD Rom,as I did Beneath a Steel Sky having only played the Amiga demo of the latter
It was only when upgrading to a Celeron 900mhz build from my original Celeron 266,did I learn of a hires mode for the graphics when I'd been perfectly content with the lores ones all those years,was quite an eye opener!😅
Played the DS Directors Cut which was alright but not quite as good as the original & picked up the GOG versions years later. Liam you definitely owe yourself playing the original one here! Guessing you won't need to ring a toll number Playstation hints like as I needed to multiple times to learn just exactly how you needed to pass the goat! Not so easy on the non analogue ps1 OG controller!!😂😱
Re: Xbox Renegotiated Indiana Jones Deal to Exclude PS5, Then Ported It Anyway
I almost get the feeling Phil has gone from showing up early to Satya's board meetings (when he could use the corporate credit card ad infinitum to buy up whatever he wanted), to dreading the phone calls from HQ & needing to flash his corporate I.D badge ,& insist to Satya's secretary he definitely has an invite these days!😋
Re: Stone-Cold Classic Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars' PS5 Remaster Releases in September
@Kidfunkadelic83 "Get out McGuire! Come back when you're old enough!"😂 Good old Mr O'Leary always with an eye to his future patronage!😁
Just not so much on discerning would be electrician's who possibly flood his basement!😱😂
Re: Stone-Cold Classic Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars' PS5 Remaster Releases in September
I well remember ringing the Playstation tips line toll number on Broken Sword & trying to get past that dastardly goat! 😅
Rented both hames on PS1 before buying them on PC CD ROM & eventually seeing them in high resolution mode! First game in particular with locations like Lochmarne Pub still my favourite!
Guessing they may include the Director's Cut extras which felt a bit sandwiched in compared to the originals classic opening...Paris in the Fall.
Re: Capcom Wants All of Its Legacy Fighting Games to Be Re-Released on PS5, PS4
They want all their legacy fighting games on PS4/PS5? Oh good,I look forward to them putting Alien vs Predator out on anything else but an overpriced arcade fighting stick!😋
Re: Bungie Accused of Overselling Itself to Sony, Promising Success It Couldn't Deliver
It's easy to pin this solely on Jim Ryan,(& not to suggest as SIE head he doesn't bear responsibility). But a critical part of that "entourage" is now co-SIE head Hermen Hulst either.
With stories like the recent ones about Sony looking for possible content or studio opportunities in China/India etc.,suggests Hiroshi Totoki (as previous interim SIE Head & still Sony Group 2IC) is keeping a close watch on the spreadsheets now. One only has to look at the brutal axe weilding of SIE studios & projects.
They might well still splash $$ on third party timed deals,but I doubt we'll see many multi billion studio buyouts vs smaller studios chasing that live service Gold.
Its unfortunate that to seemingly claw back those overspends its not only come at a cost regarding Bungie staff,but other Sony studios (eg those in the UK),copped the repercussions.
As always,the higher ups get quiet payouts & move on,or like Hulst promoted!
Re: Outstanding Academic Open World Bully Being Added to PS5, PS4 Sub GTA+
@danzoEX Yep. Always found it rather strange how PS3,nevermind PS4 never saw Academy Edition,Table Tennis or GTA IV Complete edition ports...but then again look how long it took for Red Dead Redemption/Undead Nightmare to get just a PS4 gen port!🙄
Much like tightwad Take-two will never do a proper GTA "Definitive edition" with full soundtracks etc., because they don't want to fork out on certain music licensing that increased from the PS2 era! Or GTA LCS/VCS etc.😕
Re: Tomba! Special Edition (PS5) - PS1 Oddity Remains a Fun, Fresh, and Unique Platformer
Although being an LRG release means ridiculous shipping fees to my neck of the woods precludes considering a physical copy,(mores the pity),will keep an eye out assuming they don't stuff up the digital release like they have in the past to select PSN regions & not others. (Only more recently addressed in some cases).
Re: Naughty Dog Allegedly Found Bungie's Feedback on Binned The Last of Us 2 Multiplayer Extremely Helpful
Whilst clearly there wasn't enough there for the kind of mega blockbuster GTA/COD beating live service game,(or without a heavily expanded ND to maintain it & still work on other projects),its surprising if no thought was given to retask some of it into a dlc expansion or similar to TLOU 2.
Re: Randy Pitchford Says Fans Will Be 'Very, Very Happy' with Next Borderlands Game
Given this is the same Randy that (in my former life), stood in front of a bunch of us games store managers showing off Colonial Marines trailers extolling how amazing it was!!...🙄 And then all the collectors editions i ended up getting cancelled as I couldn't flog them in good conscience without warning customers if I still wanted them as regular customers to preorder anything again! "Sure Jan!"😂 I'll wait!!
Re: The Humble Games Team Has Reportedly Been Laid Off
This brings to mind the demise of another Indie Publisher Versus Evil Games literally on Xmas eve last year by Tiny Build coincidentally after announcing a mega millions investment by Atari & allegedly missed transactional payments by them after buying out Versus Evil.
As others have said,the entire staff have been gutted,publishing operations outsourced to a third party,literally the only thing remaining is the name! 🙄 A true word salad response by Ziff Davis worthy of a Strauss Zelnick or Phil Spencer double Dutch reward!
Commiserations to those affected,including in dev games finding out they've been dumped onto a new group without any warning.😕
Re: We Find This PS5 Wishlist Issue Irrationally Irksome
Has there been anyone else find some crossbuy PS4/5 games occupy their wishlists even after adding both versions to their library thus needlessly taking up one of their woshlist allotment....annoying when you're limited to 99 maximum or whatever it is!🤔
Re: 'PlayStation's Blessed with Marketing Budgets We're Not Able to Enjoy,' Xbox Bigwig Bemoans
"They're blessed with marketing budgets we'd dream of!"....says the marketing division rep of a company whose parent is a multi trillion corporation that has spent billions buying up the biggest AAA Third party publishers!
I bet Playstation's acquisitions team had "Gamer" Phil Spencer's corporate credit card to splash the cash too!🙄😅
Re: PS Stars Finally Coming Back Online in North and South America
So much for a certain other site claiming it was back "globally"...so globally is only the U.S. now?!😅 Had logged out & in & wondering why it wasn't working!😔
At least Push Square got it right. Not hodig y breath Down Under but hopefully tied into the EU Store region return.🤞🙏
Re: Frank West Voice Actor Won't Be Returning for Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
Not the first or last time one has to only look at the likes of Metal Gear & Bayonetta in the last few years,or as others have said already Resident Evil. Anyway,a diplomatic response...whereas look at say select past GTA voice actors that though their chances of an appearance again were unlikely, they well & truly burnt bridges when they were quite vocal on complaining about video game payments vs other mediums!
Re: Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered Tells a Tale on PS4 This August
@dskatter Yep,it's a shame considering Double Fine did remasters of Day of the Tentacle (& Maniac Mansion technically hidden away!),& Full Throttle but no such luck for Sam & Max Hit the Road,or Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade or Fate of Atlantis.
Likewise there was the Secret of Monkey Island 1 & 2 remasters done by Disney back in the PS3/360 era & GOG/Steam, that'd be welcome too! Oh & the much forgotten Curse of Monkey Island!
The Telltale adaptations were alright,but not quite as the golden era Lucasfilm games were.
Re: Sunset Overdrive PS5 Port Not Happening, Insomniac's Too 'Busy'
Did play a little bit of it back in the day & the respawns were amusing. But if I had a wishlist of ports,it'd be the mainstream PS2 & PS3 Ratchet & Clank games,& the Resistance series.
Still surprises me that Sony bought Bluepoint who produced some great remasters & reboots but instead they're working on a "original IP"! Though time will tell what that is.🤔
Re: PS5, PS4's New PS2 Emulator Fails to Pass Tech Test
There's been some comments (& not that I don't agree with the sentiment),about why they don't hire modders that are involved with PCX2 & others to write the emulators?
One of the co-founders of Implicit Conversions that have been tasked with the PSP/PS1/PS2 emulation efforts,Jake Stine apparently was involved with PCSX2 in the past. So there literally is a modder of experience involved.
I agree its annoying when the OG company that made the consoles should have the documentation of its old hardware but to what extent we don't know. The PS1-PS3 engineers like Ken Katuragi have long retired from their roles. Matk Cerny as a developer no doubts knew how to get the best out of the older gens having helped make some of their top games. But as lead on PS4,PS5 & possibly PS6 he's busy with next gen work & its never a clear cut thing.🤔
Though we're not going to see Implicit bag their employers or imply they only funded a cheap emulation effort,it would be interesting if Push Square did an interview (or DF),& discuss the challenges of official emulation design.
Sony have always used a mix of hardware or at times software efforts BITD. Eg: PS1 emulation on ps3 & PSP were pretty good from memory. But is this PS2 effort based off the so-so emulation that was used on the original PS2 Classics on PS4?
Re: GTA 6 Fans Nervous As GTA Online Locks Crucial Quality of Life Feature Behind GTA+ Sub on PS5, PS4
Ever since I learned in GTA V PS3 version how earning decent $$ to afford additional properties etc was tied into buying & selling on the stock market & then there were online & offline versions i knew the GTA games as I fondly enjoyed were being stripped away....by how much with GTA Online I could've never guessed until when I used to work was swarmed with digital shark card purchases!
I miss old Rockstar,its wearing a suit & tie & laughs along with Strauss Zelnick's jokes in board room meetings!🙄😔
Re: Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition (PS5) - Cult Classic's Remaster Nearly Picture Perfect
Still a bit of a concern on if the camera is a bit wonky as I got too far into one of the maze like sections with guards last lime on PS3 & lost & stuck it'd need a restart....there's an intriguing story underneath. Oh well,will keep an eye out for a discount later.
Still bums me out the ideas for a single player focused sequel back in the ps3 era got abandoned by Ubisoft/Ancel in favour of the MMO online live service pipedream monstrosity with swearing gorillas...what a waste of an IP!😑
Re: Legendary Zombie Game Dead Rising Gets a Second Remaster, Out in 2024
Seen Dead Rising 1 & 2 ps4 ports on sale on the odd occasion but never quite took the plunge despite enjoying the little bit I tried on 360 once. The time limit is a central part of the game, but can see myself getting distracted with side quests!🤔 Well,that or replaying it i think to do things you missed first time?
Re: Rumour: Sony's Still Working on PS3 Emulation for PS5
In theory,it would be a wonderful thing. However even with the recent RPCS3 update you still need some reasonable CPU horsepower to throw at emulation.
I find it a pity that for all the $$ thrown at buying Nixxes,mobile dev studios,Bungie,alongside the smaller purchases of Insomniac,Bluepoint etc., some of that wasn't assigned to a porting studio or two.
For example we don't know what Bluepoint is working on other than "original IP"...but would've loved to have seen stuff like Rain,LBP 1 & 2, PS3 era Ratchet & Clank,Motorstorm series,Resistance series & others in the Sony catalogue get even a more basic port. A mid range price to compensate for just unscaled old gfx,not everything needs a high end remake. Good way to test the waters for some on a sequel/reboot too!
As it is,still PS1 stuff,nevermind 3rd party ps2 stuff that'd be ideal for porting out there if they could convince publishers....Maximo please Capcom?
Re: Embracer Claims Newly Adopted AI Policy Will 'Massively Enhance Game Development'
Clearly Embracer saw the Nvidia CEO's "the more you spend,the more you save!",speech...& believed it! 😂 Grabs a bag of crisps & comfy chair awaiting who they'll blame when their next A.I. driven reboot flops!
Re: Bubsy Is Back in the Purrfect Collection on PS5
I'll admit to occasionally playing a bit of Bubsy on the department store demo Megadrive BITD, (Can only imagine whoever did it cackling in delight taking out lethal enforces or Mortal Kombat & replacing it)!😂
Felt uninspired in a glut of similar platformers but a little surprised it got its reputation when I'd seen some worse ones out there! McDonald's Land for example!
That said, the only way they could polish Bubsy 3 is with a belt sander & grind it to oblivion!😱😂
Much like say Earthworm Jim,anything beyond the 2d 16bit era games feels like a waste of disc space...those CD-R's aren't as easy to find as they used to be after all!😋
Re: Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Brings Miles Edgeworth Spin-Offs to PS4
Well this is something I didn't have on my bingo card for 2024!🤯 Owned the OG Miles Edgeworth game which I thought was alright if filler between waiting for more of the mainstream Ace Attorney series....heard the sequel was pretty good but felt as mythical as the Sherlock Holmes themed one!
To now have most of the older gen releases on PS4 (& even resorting to picking up the odd entry on Steam if they get a decent discount),is a joy even if i can't yell Ojection like i did on DS or bang the stylus like the judge does his gavel!😅
Wonder if this will pave the way for the 3ds games to get a port & complete the set?!🤔🤞
Also,given Capcom have only ever done PS4 ports please Mr Corny make sure to slip in PS4 backwards compatibility on PS6,cos I'd hate having to re-buy PS5 native ports by the time that happens!
Re: Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition Release Seems Imminent on PS5
Given the lack of hype for this,one wonders how much of an effort has been made here...an upped rezzed PS3HD version? I'd be interested,but the biggest turn off as you went further was the God awful camera & clunky controls into some rather maze like sections...you just feel rather lost!
One to watch a review on first & cross fingers.
Re: Ex-PS5 Exec Shawn Layden Isn't Holding Back His Feelings on Xbox
Seeing a few "Gamer Phil" defenders talking about edited comments etc.,but it's right on form for Lies of P Phil to rewrite history. He likes to make 360 era Xbox as being the only time they engaged in such activities.
There'd been numerous occasions they signed up indie gamepass exclusives on the basis they were timed exclusives. He signed up Tomb Raider as a timed exclusive...as others have correctly stated he literally convinced Microsoft to bank roll two of the biggest AAA Publishers in Zenimax Bethesda & a (relatively) "cheaper" Activision after Kotick's skeletons of mismanagement tanked their share price for a multi trillion Microsoft to take full advantage of. The same Phil who in court documents had a wish list of most other major third parties & the xbox management talking up using Microsoft money to spend Sony out of the market.
Again though,when you have a softball interviewer Team Green cheerleader like Ryan McCaffrey who falsely tweets fanboy assertions like he did on Black Myth Wukong,what do you expect?
I do agree,Layden is a much missed Sony Exec. You can't say any exec is perfect,but you could see the love & passion he had for Playstation history whether bigger selling or smaller titles. Don't tend to get the same vibe with Hermen Hulst.
But you want to see the real Phil,you just go back to the behind the scenes communications of cancelling multiplatform releases,& further acquisition targets...or how he left Sarah Bond & Matt Booty to be the ones to do damage control over studio closures...he was MIA until now to be good guy Phil all over again. 🙄
Re: Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Says DOOM Franchise Is Something That 'Everyone Deserves to Play'
@KundaliniRising333 "Phil actually does interviews"....what,the same Phil Spencer that'd been in hiding when the studio closures got announced & left the P.R Waffle to Matt Booty etc ?🤔
As for his "hard hitting interview",by Ryan McCaffrey,I hear you reply? This is the same "objective journalist"/IGN Editor,who just a couple of days ago falsely tweeted "Sony must've money hatted Black Myth: Wukong exclusivity",only to delete it & refuse to acknowledge his biased opinion rather than it being "optimisation issues" (reads Series S)....nor did he press Phil Spencer on how devs are having issues trying to achieve parity between Series S/X ...
But then again,this is the same Ryan McCaffrey who cheerled the buyouts of Zenimax Bethesda & Activision Blizzard,buyouts but let him give the nice guy Phil double Dutch P.R. answer on mass layoffs? Hardly an interview!
As for the "they were planning multiplatform years ago!",yeah there was a lot more releases planned to be multiplatform...until Phil Spencer cancelled them despite his public promises & "case by case" claims...until seemingly being dragged by his heels by the Microsoft board into reversing course in more recent times!🙄
I don't disagree that we'll see that much change with Hermen Hulst as far as public engagement goes...he's no Shawn Layden!
Re: PS5, PS4's Brand New PS2 Emulator Features Up-Rendering, Rewind, Quick Saves, More
Sounds promising. Though as mentioned by others,licensing (sadly),&/or a lack of will hasn't seen much third party support.🤔😑
Instead of the mobile ported GTA Trilogy remastered series,imagine the OG PS2 versions with full soundtracks,& LCS/VCS games. Or the Maximo series,(but given the lack of RE2/3,or Dino Crisis 1 & 2). Likewise when EA had games like the SSX series,or NFS Underground 1&2, Wing Commander 3 & 4,Desert/Jungle Strike,Ubisoft's Splinter Cell series to name a few!
But an improved emulation effort will hopefully see wider spread engagement/purchases to test the theory backwards compatibility is "unpopular". Easier to claim when you put a low grade effort & don't chase actual classic titles.
Put the effort in,& chase the less obscure titles, & I'd hope the support would be there.🤞🙏
Re: AI Helps Push Forward 'Boundaries of Storytelling', Says Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann
The other part of the interview doing the rounds but not discussed here was his pushing "motion capture is the way forward",& seemingly implying hand drawn animation is old hat etc.
Goes in hand with previous interviews where he mentioned they considered a Jak sequel a few years ago but he believes they've moved on as a serious/narrative style now....
Don't get me wrong,I loved the Drake series, & TLOU 1,but remember games like the Jak series much like Insomniac's Ratchet could have their humorous moments or I dunno,be "fun" too?
Maybe just old & cynical, but not everything needs a dreary TLOU 2 narrative!
Re: 13 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games Are Available to Download Now
Still disappointing how the vast majority of PSP & PS1 "Classics" have tended to be mostly not,!😕
There either is a severe lack of will on the part of 3rd party publishers ot the budget devoted to acquiring such content means they're unwilling.
RE 2 & 3,Dino Crisis 1 & 2, Ultimate Ghosts'n'Goblins, Gran Turismo 1 & 2, Colony Wars series,Alundra, Blood Omen Legacy of Kain, Adventures of Lomax,Rayman, GTA 1 & 2,just to name a few! Can't say I'm holding my breath on the innumerable PS2 "classics" based on their current efforts!
Re: GTA Publisher Claims It 'Didn't Shutter' Roll7, Intercept Games
Strauss Zelnik & Take-two: "We haven't shuttered those studios!",(frantically waves hand), dammit,it always worked for Obi-wan in Star Wars!🙄😂
Sure Strauss,& the GTA Trilogy remastered "definitive edition",only had a "minor" problem at launch & didn't need months of patches which still didn't cover up the missing soundtracks & terrible underbaked port by a mobile dev!😂
Re: Hermen Hulst, Hideaki Nishino Replace Jim Ryan As PlayStation CEOs
A couple of curiosities to note out of this:
1) Totoki besides retaining his overall Sony Group role, (& was acting in a "interim" capacity with Playstation),seems to be keeping a closer watch on the books,with the dual CEO's.
2) Insofar as Hulst having an expanded role, time will tell. 🤔 As the public "face" of Playstation Studios,it's been hard to get a read on him. When he did give rare interviews,it was pushing the Ryan era initiatives of live service games,(several which been shuttered),& remasters of several PS4 hits to PS5 alongside PC & Mobile studio acquisitions.
He would touch on PS Studios legacy titles, but apart from the limited PSN streaming regions, most older titles remain unavailable on modern platforms,eg: Ratchet & Clank classics, GOW 1 & 2, Sly Raccoon,LBP 1 & 2,infamous 1 & 2, Resistance just to name a few.
Whether much changes under his watch time will tell. 🤔
3) As for Hideaki Nanshino, presumably that still leaves Playstation alumni like Mark Cerny (& his dev company),still carrying on as he does now we hope into PS5 Pro or PS6 in the future,& presumably Shuhei Yoshida in his current Indies role given he was reporting to Jim Ryan before hand.🤞🙏
Guessing we won't be seeing any "big" acquisitions by Playstation anytime soon, the only hope is the arms race will slow a bit in light of the maas layoffs across the AAA landscape.
Re: Founders, Long-Time Employees Reportedly Say Xbox Now Effectively Microsoft Gaming
More deflection & excuses from one of the bigger Microsoft cheerleading "reporter" in Ryan McCaffrey.
Xbox has ALWAYS been a Microsoft entity,since day one,they're literally the parent company & just why "Gamer" Phil Spencer pushed & convinced them to fork out near $88 billion to buy their way back in dominance & cut Sony out not only from potential timed exclusive deals but shut them out period from some of the biggest 3rd party IP's out there like COD.
But between the deals needed to get the sales over the line,(& legals,& associated costs,& losses of third party games going exclusive & subscription based),little surprise the upper management are suddenly asking where their investment has gone not seeing a Windows like market domination of either Xbox or Gamepass.
The silly thing is there was always going to be a price paid for buying two of the biggest third party AAA Publishers,(& their slew of IP's & studios), & releasing solely onto a subscription service day one release with optional purchase.
Its surprising they were prepared to gamble the obvious costs of so many studios short term vs hits to software sales & didn't consider Phil's sales pitch optimistic!🙄
If Bungie's purchase & cancellation of several Sony live service titles are attributed to Jim Ryan, then its laughable the currently in hiding Phil Spencer isn't responsible for Xbox Studios failings.
Re: Vengeful Fallout 76 Players Keep Nuking Xbox Boss Phil Spencer's Camp
Guess we won't be seeing any Starcraft Ghost/ Kerrigan soldier skin mods anytime soon then!😂
Re: Tipsy Microsoft Exec Once Attempted to Steal LittleBigPlanet from Sony
Given Herman Hulst's love of remasters,(though mostly PS4 to PS5),it's sad he doesn't have the same love for a LBP 1& 2 remaster/remake. It's got plenty of mtx opportunities,& they literally have a creation tool in Dreams that potentially could be reworked for LBP!
As for Microsoft....well they've always had a sense of humour,they gave the normally staid Nintendo board the giggles when they suggested a takeover buyout!!😋😂
Re: More Xbox Layoffs Reportedly Inbound as Company Attempts to Cut Costs
Imagine a bizzarro world where a multi trillion software monopoly spends $88 BILLION to acquire two of the biggest AAA Third party publishers,multiple IP's & dev studios,(nevermind the P.R. spend,legal fees vs the FTC & EU & UK regulators,then the undoubted "donations" to various Congress people to put the political blowtorch on the very body designed to protect consumers from big company monopolies!),& then cry poor "we're spread too thinly,we can't afford all these studios!!🙄🤣 Oh wait...🤔
Saw an unattributed quote that supposedly was spoken by Shawn Layden but sounds like him. "Buying studios is easy,managing them is a whole other problem"....whilst he probably has little interest aspiring to returning to Playstation towers it would be well worth the price to find a role back there for him.
Re: This Year's Call of Duty May Not Be Included in Xbox Game Pass After All
"Gamer" Phil Spencer's legacy at this rate will be succeeding in an entire couple of Xbox console generations of players no longer wanting to buy AAA or AA/Indies because they'll only play them on Gamepass!🙄
The only reason Bobby Kotick backflipped on all things Gamepass & Microsoft was that multi million/billion golden parachute after spending all those millions in no fault legal settlements.
Before that he was deadset against it as far as Day One release on subscription services. Even the pricey third party marketing/dlc timed exclusives would only see older COD games on something like PS Plus long after the hard core fans had bought it.
With less $1 Live Gold deals than there used to be let's see how popular it is.
Re: Arkane Lyon Director Calls Out Xbox Studio Closures: 'It's a F*cking Gut Stab'
Unlike the staid,corporate Matt Booty email that thanks them for their time,how sad too bad,& no doubt "Gamer Phil" is undoubtedly practising for his constipated pained face & "it's been a tough day" P.R. damage control tweet/interview video, this shows genuine emotion of a studio boss wearing the consequences of decisions made above his pay grade.😕
Maybe he might be giving zero fudges & waiting for a similar fate/consequences,but if not,then the same "angry gamers",that were blowing up over account linking a few days ago,(despite doing so on multiple other games),will vote with their wallets supporting a monopolistic trillion dollar company buying up all the major AAA publishers perhaps isn't such a "win for gamers",after all?🤔🙄
Re: Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, More Closed in Brutal Bethesda Restructure
How many times did we hear Microsoft P.R.,& their media & social influencer bots throughout the proceedings in the U.S.,EU,& U.K. how both Zenimax Bethesda & Activision Blizzard buyouts were "good for gamers",& give back "creative freedom".
About the laughable claims of "Gamer" Phil Spencer insist TIMED 3rd party exclusives were the root of all evil versus using the Corporate credit card to remove the likes of Starfield off a PS5 release altogether was also a "win for gamers"?🙄
I don't pretend Playstation is flawless...
With Helldivers 2 surprising even their best hopes & a new acting CEO & Sony Group 2IC wanting to cut costs saw savage cutbacks to the Jim Ryan & Herman Hulst era live service investments.
But given this is the second time Microsoft have slashed jobs & closing previously successful studios,(Prey,Evil Within etc),exposes the hypocrisy of Phil Spencer & the Microsoft P.R. machine.
Will be curious after all the vitriol put towards Playstation by certain PC players if they'll be as savage towards Saint Phil when he'll do another "this has been a real tough day for us" tweets.🙄
One would hope we'll see those affected pop up in smaller AA studios or Indies,but invariably we tend to see the cycle repeat when bought out by the bigger publishers time & again these days.😕
Re: Helldivers 2 PC Is Getting Review Bombed Over PSN Requirement
As many others have said, it's pretty hard NOT to avoid any AAA published game &/or storefront or both having multiple accounts!
That Sony is joining a very long list of other AAA publishers hardly feels like a capital offence its being made out by certain PC owners...
Not to make light of data/privacy concerns,but as others have said,be more worried about Google, Facebook,heck even Microsoft's recent Windows 11 update has disabled most of the previously used work arounds to create a local account versus strong arming a Microsoft account during setup!🙄😕 (Not to mention adverts in the start menu)
But a linked PSN account is apparently far worse?! Strange hill to fight to the end on!
Re: OlliOlli, Kerbal Space Program Teams Shut Down by GTA Publisher
Strauss Zelnick will undoubtedly still enjoy his regular bonus pay cheque much like Bobby Kotick on his annual Activision Blizzard purges.🙄
So much for Private Division being the "Indie Arm" of the Take-two business...make a successful game,get bought out allegedly on the pretence of stability & guaranteed finance,next thing find your IP rights gone & lights turned off & locks changed at the office!
But one only has to look at how veterans of Rockstar got churned or burned out,& the older games get contracted out to the likes of Grove Street Games for substandard "remasters" & single player dlc cancelled to see Take-two's priorities these days!😑