Comments 1,524

Re: Mini Review: Cricket 24 (PS5) - A Below Par Score on a Flat Batting Pitch

Robocod

@anon_pel222 Yep,good times on the original Brian Lara,(Shane Warne down under),on ps1 back in the day,esp. with certain cheats turned on!
Likewise some of the EA Cricket entries on ps2.

Sadly without the sort of AAA budgets & production values they had for their time,these modern adaptations will always feel like a budget effort at a full price!

Re: DriveClub at 60FPS on PS5 Has Us Mourning the Loss of Evolution Studios All Over Again

Robocod

For the slightly off topic part of the discussion regarding the Motorstorm series, would happily play Pacific Rift & Apocalypse again either as a port or remake which could allow them to sink their live services into,(so long as their single player & co-op waa still retained).

Back onto Driveclub,if only it'd been given a bit more time in the development oven. Likewise though,imagine a team of modders,/engineers like Illusion handling backwards compatibility modes & boosts across the ps1/ps2/ps4 games .

Unfortunately,not a priority for current management.

Re: First-Party Firesprite's Dark PS5 Horror Could Be Due in 2025

Robocod

Would want to be better than the grindfest Illfonic Friday the 13th type games...though I own the likes of The Quarry & some of the Dark Pictures Anthology wish for another Until Dawn like game with the same sort of production polish it had (even if something not directly related to the original)..

Re: Who Is PlayStation's New CEO, Hiroki Totoki?

Robocod

What we won't know by these announcements is if there's anyone Jim Ryan would be pushing to take his place or if its something the Sony board will pursue independently by inferring this pro temporary appointment

Traditionally they have promoted from within, but does this infer possibly expanding to looking externally?
Obviously Shuhei Yoshida has a lot of sentimental support & engages with the PS Community. But his current role was (according to him),a result of a Jim Ryan initiative to overhaul & improve & encourage Indie support back to Playstation.
Would Shu want the CEO role given its demands? He seems quite happy engaging with devs in his current role.

One would hope a Shawn Layden/Shu Yoshida type figure could be found who hopefully can engage & communicate with the community, but obviously a lot of senior management currently there like Hermen Hulst & co.,would have been Jim Ryan appointments,so time will tell.

Re: Indie Firm Devolver Digital Rejected PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Deals Over 'Undervalued' Games

Robocod

In Sony's case,as has been seen previously, they tend to target older releases rather than day one releases,though there are exceptions ala Fall Guys which they clearly saw mutual benefit with its live services monster it became,much like Rocket League.

Gamepass is quite happy to splash the cash on day one/& or single player content like they did with games like Death's Door or Carrion, (timed exclusives),or Octopath Traveller (which is still to see PS4/5 port despite the sequel being belatedly announced for XB),as its likely to get more "user engagement" vs sales. But just looking at Phil Spencer's AAA publisher shopping list, they clearly have bigger fish to fry buying publishers outright. So smaller indies bit less of a priority at present.

Re: Sony Has Allegedly Suffered a Huge Hack by Ransomware Group

Robocod

Whilst its fair for longtime PS owners to be apprehensive after the PS3 era hack,& on the alert,let's await further information.

Not to belittle what would be a user nightmare true,but in my neck of the woods have seen a major Telci provider & also a private health insurer both subjected to massive data breaches & lax practices protecting sensitive customer data.

Likewise,remember Sony is a multi division company,so have they targeted PSN, or SIE, or indeed another division ala the time Sony Films got targeted?
Must admit have usually gone the psn wallet top ups myself,but not sure i can buy any ps plus top ups digitally unless one has a card payment attached for subscription renewal being turned on by default as a result?

Re: Battlefield Takes Priority at Need for Speed Developer Criterion Games

Robocod

@Titntin 😑 Yep,too many! PS2 gen era stuff like NFS Underground series,SSX etc.,was about the last I played...& even in house 16bit stuff (& C64 before it among other formats),ala Desert Strike etc. Wing Commander & more...
Thanks for your part from that classic era,great talents were Bullfrog & happily remembered from an era of "is it fun?" also factored in as much as :will it sell?"

Re: Battlefield Takes Priority at Need for Speed Developer Criterion Games

Robocod

@Titntin Mike Diskett was tweeting the other day on "John R.",stalking him like some sort of boogeyman/nemesis from Bullfrog to Pandemic to now being a wrecking ball with his studio using Unity! 👻

The likes of Bullfrog & Westwood still hurt my soul from the Amiga era (& beyond). Heck, can recall DICE's origins with their Pinball games, Benefactor,(i think?🤔),& "Hardcore"/Ultracore!

Wasn't a big strategy fan,but Populous II, Flood, Theme Park,(& picked up it & Hospital via GOG), Syndicate & Syndicate Wars all got a decent to heavy bashing BITD!
How inept EA upper management were to suck the very soul of their elite studios is something I'll never quite fathom!😑

Re: Apple Insinuates iPhone 15 Pro Will Be a Better Games Console Than PS5, PS4

Robocod

@DrVenture69 Got family members who are Apple fans...within reason...been Android myself, but after seeing how my old Galaxy fared dutifully updating it & even after replacing the battery(when that was still an option!), I've become more cautious!

Managed to get by 3+years touch wood & keep apps updated,but quelle surprise seem to have ecked out a longer battery life thus far not falling for the phone manufacturer update racket! 😋

Seen way to many indie devs talk about the pain of publishing on Apple/Android vs the big boys with their Candy Crush Roblox freemium warez!

Re: Apple Insinuates iPhone 15 Pro Will Be a Better Games Console Than PS5, PS4

Robocod

"It'll be the best games console!"...until the IPhone 16 comes out...& then when you have to update your OS you'll find everything runs more slowly, & the battery drains faster!😋
Then by the IPhone 17 & next major OS update your paid for game apps unless updated will probably no longer run on your "most powerful console" Iphone 15 anymore!🙄

Re: Xbox Almost Flashed Its Cash At Warner Bros, Sees Nintendo As the Holy Grail

Robocod

It was already something dismissed by their lawyers as a "joke" during the FTC Trial,but wherein in email exchanges about "spending Sony out of the market",was subsequently shown to be no idle threat with the ABK takeover being a mere part of a wider shopping list.

Unfortunately the lack of not breaking up Microsoft during the 90's browser wars, (wherein they propped up an ailing Apple from bankruptcy & paved the way for Steve Jobs return),led to the megacorps of it,Apple,Amazon,Facebook etc. of today.

Microsoft has demonstrated its influence with US Congress & the likes of the EU regulators & its online PR Campaigns during the trials portraying it as the "little" multi trillion dollar indie when the reality is it has major fingers in the Azure Market & cloud services & is increasingly pushing for the same Microsoft account across gaming & Windows,Office,& other services.

The acolytes will keep cheering "gamer" Phil, but the reality is Megacorps buying up all the third party AAA studios are not your friends.

Just breaking online is apparently their next-gen console plans & cloud integration is very much in their pipeline.

Re: One of the Worst Games of All Time Is Coming to PS5, PS4, And You Won't Believe the Merch

Robocod

Would be about on form for LRG if this dteadful excuse of a title actually gets released on all the PSN Store regions... meantime indies like Deathwish Enforcers or even the infamous Night Trap Anniversary edition remain locked to the U.S. PSN Store only.

Plumbers Don't Wear Ties made for a great Angry Video Gamer Nerd episode but the gameplay would make Dragon's Lair look like an in-depth game in comparison!

Re: Unity Promises Changes to Controversial New Policy After Causing 'Confusion and Angst'

Robocod

Feels like a nothing insert South Park BP "We're sorry",statement. Wouldn't a sensible exec team have "talked to our staff,partners & community" etc ,before deciding on this train wreck?🙄

Saw a tweet over the weekend that suggested looking beyond just the CEO. Seemingly the adware tech company they bought,(& use in Unity especially mobile),exec is now part of the board alongside,financial/board members associated with a certain space rocket chap who's heavily monetised "his" social platform.
Though it is the internet & rabbit hole theorising it makes more sense than the utterances thus far!

As always its the staff still there that haven't been purged in recent months & devs mid project or relying on older titles to supplement the next that have been thrown onto the train tracks by this nonsense.😕

Re: Developers Rally Together as Unity Attempts to Clarify Controversial Install Fee Policy

Robocod

Haven't caught up with all the latest policy changes by socials,but seemingly another "coincidence",prior to the Unity train wreck was several execs quietly selling off their company shares prior to all this!🙄

Not sure how serious or not they are but Massive Monsters/Cult of Lamb seemingly tweeted potentially needing to buy it before things changeover with a possible digital deletion if things continue on their current course.

Going to take more than a roll back to regain trust in the Unity brand after this.

Re: Iconic PS2 Platformer Beyond Good & Evil Appears to Be Coming to PS5

Robocod

Ubisoft could've had a sequel done & dusted by now if they'd hadn't gone off on a MMO live service online only thing riding on the name only with edgy swearing gorillas!

An actual sequel single player game continuing Jade's quest from the first game would be far better.
Insofar as a remaster of the original,it'd be welcome as found myself engaged far more than I expected getting the PS3 HD version via PS Plus years ago. The combat/shoulder camera could do with a revamp though as got way too frustrated/ lost in the maze like sections battling aliens & laser beam gates!

Re: PS5, PS4 Owners Are Understandably Irate with PS Plus Price Hike

Robocod

About the main way users could send a possible message is to login to their preferences & switch off auto-renewal on their subscriptions.

Pretty likely there'll be enough data tracking in place to notice if users are turning it off. In my neck of the woods $96 for Essential whilst going up to $195 for Deluxe! 😱 Hate to think what Premium would be if they ever added streaming Down Under...as it stands,the paper thin PSP,PS1 offerings have been lacklustre with occasional exception & non existent PS2 & third party classics.

Re: Is Sony Working on a New PS2 Emulator for PS5, PS4?

Robocod

It's been a disappointment to date that vs home-brew alternatives elsewhere there hasn't been a similar effort in-house on ps2 emulation & indeed even the number of ps1 titles added have been few in number.

Even if they wanted to make it a ps5 only feature for future releases & improve compatibility, it should've been a feature from launch of Deluxe/ Premium.

With previously third party IP's being removed from future PS platforms,trying to at least shore up a decent catalogue of the classic gens, alongside indies etc.,need to be alternatives for those players not wishing to jump on the live service games train.

Re: Broken Sword: Parzival's Stone Announced Alongside Remaster of the First Game

Robocod

@Mikey856 Must admit although both Broken Sword 1&2 directors cut are sitting in my GOG library pile of shame I haven't played them yet.
Didn't realise the Nico additions did that!😳
Did play the DS Directors cut a few years ago & was okay,but not exactly blown away with the new puzzles at the time.

Guess time will tell how they approach this. Did see some screen grabs on twitter from their news letter & Reforged looking the part in still shots at least.

The only concern I had was revolution's answer with the trailer appearing on an Xbox presentation to a tweet asking if it'd be a multiformat release or exclusive & they stated to sign up to the newsletter!🤔

Would hate to see these tied up in timed exclusives or worse!

Re: Broken Sword: Parzival's Stone Announced Alongside Remaster of the First Game

Robocod

Not sure about the 2d/3d bit yet...backgrounds look on point,but miss the classical look on the characters...let's hope there's no crates to push!!🙏😂 As for BS1,many happy memories playing it on ps1 before eventually picking it up on PC CD Rom,even rang the Sony tips line to get past that dreaded goat!😱😅
Hope the redo of the visuals doesn't impact on their classical style..though screen resolutions might’ve updated dramatically, the original two entries had superb artwork for their time.🤞

Re: PS2 Games Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 Will Be Just 720p on PS5, PS4

Robocod

The bigger shame is not having a part of a tooled up Bluepoint actually engaged in doing the PS versions in house & probably have come up with a better port!

Unfortunately,there has been zero efforts put into ps2 emulation ever since the limited defunct PS2 Classics on ps4 catalogue & most of those don't seem to be compatible on PS5...you'd think with PS Deluxe/Premium they'd revisit this with a new better software emulation to add value to the service,but sadly doesn't seem to be on the cards judging by the mostly psp & trickle of ps1 releases to date.😕

Re: Hands On: Red Dead Redemption PS4 Port Seems Solid, But Should Be So Much More

Robocod

Says a lot regarding the sad state of Take-two's treatment of classic Rockstar titles is merely a feeling of relief mixed with disappointment.

Will be interesting if the likes of Mr Illusion gets challenged to try a 60fps unofficial mod. Clearly could've had extra bells & whitles on s PS5 specific version,but this is about as much as one can expect out of current day Take-two.

Was never a fan of RDR 2's extra mechanics which seemed geared towards the mtx driven defunct RDR Online. That said,at $70 my neck of the woods will wait for a decent sale physical or digital down the line.

Re: Bloodborne Just the Beginning; The Order: 1886 Gets Unofficial 60fps Patch on PS5

Robocod

In a ideal world,it'd be wonderful if more modders like these were hired into the engineering teams that'd handle ps1/ps2 & the ps4's baked in compatibility mode on ps5 to help enhance them beyond the functional modes they have.

Unfortunately,,their efforts tend to get ignored with silence or like the GTA Classic games get scrubbed entirely with cheap & nasty official efforts!

Re: Mid-Generation Upgrades Like PS5 Pro 'Aren't All That Meaningful', Says Take-Two CEO

Robocod

"Not that meaningful"...well when you release technical messes like GTA Trilogy remastered "definitive edition",or planning to only release RDR 1/Undead Nightmare via backwards compatibility mode to any ps5 owners,yeah you're on the money Strauss!🙄😋😂
Sad to see the once mighty Rockstar, masters of the open world single player reduced to being an online mtx black hole with their legacy titles treated with outsourced contempt by its Take-two overlords!😔

Re: GTA 6 Release Window Seemingly Narrowed Down to Fiscal Year 2024

Robocod

With the likes of Leslie Benzies, Dan Houser, Lazlow etc.,gone from Rockstar,(for better for worse given most helped create the GTA Online monster),I rather suspect Dan's departure in particular may have been a pivot to making GTA VI like Diablo IV...ie: no single player offline campaign & be online only with a heavy push towards forced co-op situations if you want to afford anything!😕
The days of Vice City & San Andreas & hitting up taxi mission,or paramedics etc for quick cash or collecting idols & having a ready made stash of ammo to top up feel like a lifetime ago!

Re: $50 for Red Dead Redemption PS4 Port 'Commercially Accurate', Says Publisher Take-Two

Robocod

Yes well by the time you add the "Switch release" tax & possibly need to factor in the Rockstar intern contractors needing to do the post release patches like for GTA Trilogy remastered "definitive edition",the price rip-off makes perfect sense!🤔😂
After all this is the same Strauss Zelnik that insisted the GTA Trilogy had a minor hiccup at launch but was perfectly fine after the initial patch update on that disaster & Rockstar claiming to have no idea that it was in such a state & had been "below expectations for such a beloved franchise"....,so beloved Take-two farmed it off to Grove Street Games!🙄

Re: Poll: Will You Be Buying Red Dead Redemption on PS4?

Robocod

Whilst I like to think that long suffering veteran Rockstar fans would wait for reviews &actual in-game gameplay footage after GTA Trilogy remastered,I can imagine there's going to be a big enough PS & Switch user base desperate enough at finally seeing it available they'll buy it no matter what!😕
Given the U.S. $50 will likely translate somewhere closer to $80-$90 in my neck of the woods yeah I'll wait for reviews,patches & a decent sale wherein Take-two will still be raking a profit!

The sad thing is,being a ps4 port, assuming we see an eventual PS6,that PS users won't be back where they started if it only had PS5 compatibility!

Its a shame how back in the ps2 era you had various Rockstar studios that could separately do projects like GTA LCS/VCS,Bully,The Warriors etc., but nowadays to feed the mtx live service beast that'll be GTA VI/GTA Online 2.0 (which I suspect will be like Diablo IV & be online for all play modes),all their studios seem to handle one game at a time now.

Re: Red Dead Redemption PS4 Announcement Gets Slaughtered by Fans

Robocod

Although I only ever played the ps3 port, I seem to recall hearing the 360 was considered the better version visually back in the day in terms of textures/draw distance etc. Given the ps4 & Switch gpu's would be an upgrade over those in the 360/ps3,wonder if these ports will be based off that version or the ps3's?🤔

The bigger concern is the port has once again been offloaded to a third party Double Eleven whose credits apparently included Crackdown 3, & most concerning Fallout 76! 😕
The other factor is the state of the old source code & how much time they've had given the GTA "definitive edition remaster" was seemingly pushed out by Take-two despite their knowing it was a mess & tried to spin to the contrary!

Re: Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Larian Studios Has No Interest in Being Acquired

Robocod

@deathaxe Came as quite the shock getting my first pc built in 10yrs (& adding to it since),, the dreadful state of the GPU market!

Had little alternative in both availability & prices to get a rtx 3060 12gb card,being near $600 dolkary roos my neck of the woods...& yet this year the "value" mid range options have either been the older clearance AMD cards or the rip-off rtx 4070 , get a PC they say,its soo cheap!🤯😂

Nevermind Microsoft wanting to strongarm you into making an account just to boot up the PC!😑
So is Baldur's Gate 3 still turn based like the Divinity Original Sin series?🤔

Re: Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Larian Studios Has No Interest in Being Acquired

Robocod

Let's hope they stay true to their word about "independence",if they were on Microsoft's shopping list,as can remember Ninja Theory saying similar things after Hellblsde!🙄

Given Diablo has likely seen its last PS release, & the hoarding of Western rpg publishers & devs exclusively onto XB/PC, there's definitely fewer options for playstation players!

Re: Don't Worry, Activision Totally Has the Source Code for Those Awesome PS3 Transformers Games

Robocod

@MaikonCSGarcia Yes,they originally were on PS3/360,but Fall of Cybertron (sadly don't think War for Cybertron got one),did get a basic,no frills port onto PS4.
So it would be possible in theory with a licence to release...but given Microsoft's looming takeover,any possibilities of re-release or even releasing the old gen versions onto those territories that have PS Premium streaming (only Deluxe in my neck of the woods),would be unlikely given Phil Spencer's recent track record.

Re: Don't Worry, Activision Totally Has the Source Code for Those Awesome PS3 Transformers Games

Robocod

Given the fountain of misinformation Ms Lulu has been as Bobby Kotick's mouthpiece throughout the antitrust proceedings I'd check for storms if she said the weather was sunny outside!😂
Still,all this has been rather moot in its only suddenly gained attention as a push for gamepass fodder rather than restoring it as the multiformat release that it actually was!🙄

Recall it did get a perfunctory port on ps4 but as was typical Activision given a high price point & never saw a deep discount before being delisted in the first place!

Re: PS5, PS4's Sizzling Summer Sale Adds Over 2,000 Discounts

Robocod

Picked up a couple of games in the first half of the sale...did see Dark Pictures Anthology Devil in Me was 50% off,but when I looked back at PS Prices on the previous entries noted they'd been a bit more budget friendly so might reluctantly hold off. 🤔
Bit like Wonderboy Anniversary Collection is definitely on my wishlist but at full price $70AU will need a deeper discount that 30%.... Cotton Fantasy looks wallet friendly enough though.

Re: Dreams Live Service Ending as Media Molecule Couldn't Find a 'Sustainable Path'

Robocod

@Rob_230 Feel like the biggest issue with Dreams is it might’ve had vastly expanded creative tools over the likes of the Little Big Planet games,but lost the "fun" factor of LBP 1 & 2,which had a great,fun single or co-op campaign alongside its add-ons both in paid dlc content & the free community content created levels & mini games!
A lost opportunity not to bring them & even LBP karting & add the mod nation style track creator & there was guaranteed engagement!

Re: Mini Review: Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons (PS5) - A Roguelite Answer to Repetitive Beat-'Em-Ups

Robocod

Hmm,even with a positive review still a bit undecided on this one!🤔 The rogue lite elements don't hurt,albeit also featured in the past in the likes of Scott Pilgrim & River City Girls which arguably had better art styles to them!

Its better than was it Double Dragon IV(?), which from memory never even saw an EU/Down Under PSN release,but weirdly went for a NES art style!🤔 This reminds me of that flash/mobile Wonder Boy Returns which looked horrid when lined up against Wonder Boy Dragon's Trap & Monster Boy Cursed Kingdom!

Possibly a wishlist & wait vs a wishlist & pounce on an opportune discount for the likes of TMNT Shredders Revenge or the Cowabunga Collection much like Wonderboy Anniversary Collection! When I've got the likes of Scott Pilgrim remaster, Castle Crashers Remastered, Streets of Rage 4 & Final Vendetta & River City Girls, just to name a few on my digital pile of shame this isn't quite a instabuy as much as I'd like it to be!

Re: PS Plus Essential Games for August 2023 Announced

Robocod

Dreams will be a great pick up for those prepared to put the time into it...still makes me wish there'd been a port of LBP 1 or 2,as there'd been some lovely user made content for them or LBP Karting!

Had Death's Door as a wishlisted item,so nice to see a single player indie title show up,much like Rogue's Legacy or Broforce were!

I'd like to indulge a try of 2k golf,though like most modern sports titles they seem so full of live service mtx bloatware that i don't fancy the download size or space needed!🤯😅