@SMJ @Max_the_German Thank god I wasn't the only one thinking this. For a minute, I wondered if I'm just an a**.
It's just a weird deflection when we all know the Xbox doesn't sell in Japan, and the Series, in particular, doesn't sell anywhere. To the point where Microsoft obviously doesn't try to make it appealing anymore.
When the article is specifically about the PS5's numbers relative the Switch's, and cites the recent cheaper, region-blocked release, you'd think the comments would be about that.
@Oram77 I feel like this stance is fairly consistent with the condemning of overzealous Blops7 hate I've been preaching ad nauseam.
It's fine if someone doesn't like Blops7. It's fine if someone hopes Blops7's lukewarm reception leads to bigger and better things for the franchise (which, ya know...it will. Any annual franchise survives by being receptive of precursing reception, and CoD's already done this dance on several occasions).
I just think calling Blops7 a failure is foolhardy. And I think Kotick's words in response to a lawsuit alleging he undervalued the company to save himself from company-wide sexual assault scandals is not a great source to prove anything.
@Oram77 As stated in the article, we don't really know where Kotick is getting that figure from. As stated in my comment, he has reason to find the least generous interpretation possible of Blops7's sales. Even the wording, "off over 60%," "perform over 60% below," to me doesn't explicitly say 'it sold 60% less copies than Blops6.' It can mean a few different things, and I generally don't accept the claims of a ghoul in court at face value.
@Oram77 'Fail' remains a strong word. And Kotick has a coveted interest in this case to deemphasize any notable success Blops7 experienced — not exactly the most objective perspective to reference.
I still remember when the site's userbase was up in arms over the Microsoft acquisition destroying competition and the industry as a whole. Now Kotick mocking the FTC's insistence of exactly that, coming again from an acute point of bias, isn't even addressed so we can focus on the internet's new talking point: CoD suck and fail.
@BennyTheCat I think you're overestimating how many of GTA's audience cares about 60 fps. Indeed, I think you're overestimating how many of them would drop $700 to play the first game they've bought in 2 years with slightly better performance.
Heck, I think you — and a lot of others — are underestimating R*'s ability to get a stable 60 on base PS5. That's certainly the platform they're targeting. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised to see 60 fps across PS5, 5pro, and Series X (probably not Series S), with the 5pro difference being mostly picture quality and pop-in/draw distance.
@PuppetMaster "Why not just do it yourself? Go make 10 AA games and see how many of them can sold the same as Helldivers 2."
Wow. Fantastic comeback. Literally ridiculing me for wanting more games I might consider interesting from a game developer. You sure have your priorities straight.
"Last time i check, there's no recipe that can guaranteed 9 from 10 AA games can be successful. Heck, there's no recipe that can guaranteed a game can sold well even after they check all the list."
Exactly. There's no guarantee that any game will be successful. Not every Sony AAA is a guaranteed success, and not every Sony AA should be expected to be an uber-success. So, ya know, why not make both?
I don't think they have to fail. That's more an issue with Sony's marketing and/or budgeting than anything. And, more importantly, I just think it would be nice if they made more original games that aren't drowning in AAA polish, made-by-committee design, and risk-adverse decision making.
I'm not talking about how likely it might be. Nor am I really saying it would be a good business decision (even though I think it would be, but it's certainly not necessary for business). I'm just saying it's a thing I want, that I know plenty of other people want, that should be modestly profitable and yield more quality games at worst.
@PuppetMaster Jesus, guys, what part of, "Why would I care how their AA efforts from the past went?" do you not understand? Again, this is literally an article about how AA games like Split/Fiction and Expedition 33 might be an inflection point for the industry. AA games can be successful — many are. So why can't Sony put out more successful AA games? Precedent doesn't mean future success is impossible, and HD2 is proof of that. And yes, Astro Bot as well. Which was fantastic and, as far as we know, more than exceeded Sony's expectations given its budget. Notice how Sony didn't go out of business for putting out a relatively cheap game that just sold decently.
I don't count Cadence of Hyrule as Nintendo's AA output. I explicitly told you what I meant by 'embrace AA,' so you trying to redefine that phrase is irrelevant. I also wouldn't count your indie examples as AA in the first place, but that's likewise irrelevant to what I'm saying. I want Sony's internal teams to make riskier games with 1-2 year development cycles. Lost Soul Aside is decidedly NOT that.
If every single developer at Sucker Punch, for instance, really was singularly focused on developing Ghosts of Tsushima and Yotei, then good for them. More than likely, there are more ideas being passed around in the studio that either don't get approved by SP higher ups or get vetoed by Sony. I'm just saying, maybe approve some of those ideas every once and a while. Get a fraction of the team together, give them a modest budget, and see what they can do. I think that would be really cool, and would easily remedy some of my pet peeves with Sony's contemporary output. Is there really anything wrong with that?
@ButterySmooth30FPS It's not like my desire for Sony to develop cheaper, more original games at a higher release cadence than their current strategy allows is some insane, impossible ask. Nor am I alone in asking for it.
This is like a Nintendo fan being shot down by a Nintendo fanboy for suggesting it would be nice if Nintendo made new IP more often.
@ButterySmooth30FPS Cool. Thanks for pointing that out.
@PuppetMaster I'm glad you considered HD2 the AA game it is. Which kinda kills this whole "people don't buy AA" narrative, don't ya think? Half of those games really don't count as Sony embracing AA, just them supporting small developers. Which is nice, but not what I'm talking about. I want Sony and their affiliate teams to develop AA. Astro Bot is a fantastic example of the kinds of games we could be getting from them; don't you want more stuff like Astro Bot?
And, for what it's worth, I bought Astro, LEGO Horizon, and Sword of the Sea at launch. I own Sifu, and plan on buying Kena and Helldivers 2 at some point. I'm also interested in their Hero Project initiative, but none of the actual games have looked particularly interesting to me — not because of AA-ness, they just seem boring. If we're counting Stellar Blade as a AA Hero, then I can confirm my intent to buy that one too.
Which is to say, I will buy AA games if they put them out and they're good. Sony getting other gamers to buy them is not my problem.
@ButterySmooth30FPS Yes. Why would I care how their AA efforts from the past went? I want AA games from Sony. Sony can still figure out how to sell AA games. As referenced in this very article, there are successful AA games; Sony can also make successful AA games. So they should do that.
Your weird justification of current circumstances doesn't prove anything. What, would you rather we only get 3 games from PlayStation a year that are mostly derivative of established IP or gameplay formulas?
"I was in the midst of replying to the rest, but that's all gone now."
Never said I didn't read your comment. I didn't read ALL of it, but I was reading it and responding to it. So no clue where the, "you apparently didn’t read it because it was removed," accusation is coming from.
So, immediately, you're approaching this from some overly paranoid, self-victimizing position. "You conspired against me and are lying about it!" Not what happened, dude. I didn't flag your comment, and — guess what — I've also had comments deleted on PushSquare before. I didn't throw a fit about it; it's their platform, they can delete what they want. Pertinent to your claims at their expense, I can confirm they don't exclusively delete comments of a certain ilk.
Between what was said before, this new paranoia, and supposedly 'Ignoring' me because we had a disagreement on a gaming website, I repeat: You kinda suck.
@TheBloodyNine You know, "virtue signaling" implies feigning virtue for some selfish gain or status. It is not the same as just being virtuous, and it's a weird way to insult anyone for expressing an opinion that you are asserting has objective virtue.
There's no gaslighting here. I'm not trying to recontextualize any of the conversation to obfuscate what actually happened. I referenced misogyny, you said that's not a thing in modern gaming. You quoted my "problematic" comment as though it proved something bad about me,etc. These are all things that actually happened.
Strawman. Gosh, did you learn your entire vocabulary from pseudo-intellectuals arguing on the internet? I'm not misrepresenting your claims to beat down easier ones. You said misogyny isn't a problem, I argued that. You said people have a preference, I argued that. I did start ranting more about the topic in a general sense. But I still very clearly targeted specific things you said. Honestly, had a bit of a hard time consistently rebutting your comment when you seemed to contradict your intent by deemphasizing the necessity of sex appeal (so why even respond to my first comment to begin with?). But that's not me strawmaning — that's not what strawmaning is — this isn't what any of these words mean!
Sexist media isn't harmful to me; I'm not a woman. But I understand how it can be harmful to women. Because I'm not in an echo chamber (I'm not the one with the Reddit-alumni vernacular). I understand there are many different perspectives in this world, and try to value any I don't see harm in.
I never said boobs and butts are offensive — they aren't. Something, something, strawman (now I don't have to engage with your claim! Isn't it fun using pointless, weightless words to dismiss arguments without actually having to refute them!).
And, to finish: Literally everything is a societal dilemma. Just because something isn't problematic for you, doesn't mean it isn't problematic for someone else. And, funny thing, society is meant for everybody, not just you.
@TheBloodyNine I'm imploring empathy. You're denying misogyny exists, consider the position that overt sexiness can be problematic problematic per se, are having a tantrum over a removed comment, and completely ignored my hope that you might try enlightening yourself to different perspectives.
You kinda suck not because I disagree with you, but because you kinda suck.
@TheBloodyNine Are you saying misogyny doesn't exist apropos gaming anymore? That's comforting to know; I'll be sure to let any women recently offended by games or gamers know that.
Oop! Comment removed. I was in the midst of replying to the rest, but that's all gone now. I think this opener sufficiently and elegantly said just about everything I needed to say, anyway.
To clear the air a bit, though: Try to understand, I'm saying sex doesn't guarantee success. If you agree with that statement, which you have on several occasions, I don't really understand what the point of arguing with me is. It seems to me that you legitimately don't understand why normalizing sexy woman might be problematic. I implore you, go find someone smarter than me who's an actual authority on womanhood both in and out of fiction. Actually absorb their ideas. You don't have to agree with them, but try to understand and sympathize with a different perspective from your own. Believe me, gaming as you know and love it will remain unchanged from just hearing out differing opinions.
@SMJ Damn, I dunno why this became such a 'PlayStation vs. Xbox' battle. You say the PlayStation, as a proprietary PC, will be obsolete eventually, and suddenly everyone's offended.
For what it's worth, I half agree. I do think traditional game consoles will go out of style before our era of gamers start dying off. And I also think, at some point, all contemporary console manufacturers will offer Steam-like clients on open hardware. However, people here are right to point out how profitable PlayStations — and, through association, the Switch — remains. It's hard to see this specific market dying off any time soon; I'd imagine the PS6 will do fine, and it won't be until the PS7 that we see it wane.
What I believe will happen is, as average PCs become more powerful, games become less demanding, streaming catches the eye of casual gamers, phones become a perfectly competent way to game, and new-form PCs (portable PCs, headsets,etc.) become the norm, the traditional gaming console will become a hobbyist's luxury. There will still be PlayStations and Nintendo consoles, but they will take a similar place in the industry as stuff like the Commodore 64 Ultimate and Atari 2600+ do today. A very specific device tailored for a very specific audience. Traditional consoles will lose their mass appeal, and Sony and Nintendo will be forced reevaluate how they release software.
I predict nothing notable will happen for PlayStation in 2026. No new console announcement. No new PS5 hardware (at least, in any form that concerns the consumer). No new 1st-party games. PS5pro will continue to be occasionally bad, occasionally good. PS3 emulation won't come to PS4/PS5. No big shake ups behind-the-scenes. No surprise hits to distract from the impending GTAVI. No more price increases. Definitely no price drops.
PS5 is still selling well, 2026 is a bad time to make big moves hardware-wise, everyone and their mums 're staying mum until R* drops GTA, and only a vocal minority of gamers are asking Sony to do anything more than they're already doing. So they will coast through the year. Unless S2 starts utterly dominating the market, they will coast through the rest of the PS5's life. They don't need to do anything besides coast.
I'm not being obtuse about people's intent when platforming sex as the main selling point of a game, you're being ignorant to the droves that literally think this way. Saying no one actually believes that is being incredibly generous and naive.
So fundamentally, you're just wrong here. You can argue that I'm the one ignorant to their assertions, but I'm fairly certain I'll have a much easier time showcasing my proposition than you would moderating the worst takes one can find online. There are, after all, legitimate misogynists in this world.
So, to clarify: YOU mean that making attractive characters that people like to look at is a bonus that most people prefer. Which is a much more modest claim, but still one I reject. I don't give a s*** how attractive my avatar is, and I think the majority from the vast gamer population would agree rather than disagree. Which is admittedly a harder thing to prove, but I would posit that most of the best-selling, well-renowned, iconic games and game characters are not sexy.
As for people having a preference for attractive female characters over "masculine" types, again, no one gives a f***. Ignoring how this is an inherently sexist thing to say ("women can only be attractive if they absolutely adhere to contemporary standards of feminine beauty"), if a game's good, it can star anyone. I don't think most would humor the thought-experiment of Hellblade, but sexified to 11. It's irrelevant to the game, and hence isn't a general preference. Some people would prefer that, I'm sure. People that think an unconventionally attractive woman has no reason to exist, or instance. But for most people, most characters — female or otherwise — do not necessitate sex appeal. It's not a "bonus" if they're sexy, either. I don't play Bayonetta and think about how t&a makes the game better. I play it 'cause it's a good f***ing game. The t&a is fine, but it isn't where the game derives value.
Again, saying "people like looking at sexy things" is myopic. This is how a terrible, passé-for-the-'50s ad man thinks: "just put some boobs next to your vitamins and it'll sell like crazy." When used effectively, sex can be an effective selling point. It isn't effective by default, however. Otherwise, Carl's Jr. would be the #1 fast-food restaurant in the USA (if you're too young or grew up in another country, just look up their old commercials on Youtube and you'll immediately see what I mean).
And that's for something as cynical and artificial as an advertisement. We're talking about video games, here — we're talking about art. Your opinion is to say, "Sure, the Mona Lisa doesn't need cleavage, but I think a lot of people would prefer it if it had cleavage."
@TheBloodyNine Blah, blah, blah — same trite stuff as always.
The point was that things don't sell exclusively on sex alone. They never have. Games don't need sex to be successful, and sexy games aren't successful by default. Ergo, "sex sells" is an inaccurate, flawed outlook with which to perceive mass appeal.
@The_ghostmen ...No it isn't. Why did you detail their developer/publisher relationship twice in an ostensible rebuttal to their established developer/publisher relationship?
@DestructionAllstars That's an extremely cynical and ignorant way to view the outcry over AI. You can't just say AI is a nothing problem if you can't reckon with its environmental impact, potential job annihilation, unregulated abuse of privacy and intellectual property, and even that it simply is a s***ty means of creative expression.
The only reckoning Larian has offered is that it was an efficient way to explore concept art. Anyone who applies any amount of scrutiny to that methodology really fails to see how that was either a justified use of the tech in light of aforementioned problems or a necessary practice given the reasonable expectation that professional concept artists already have countless references and knowledge that should sufficiently inform said exploration. This is like if a music director used AI to figure a good song to augment a scene — being an authority on that is LITERALLY the job.
This new supposed use actually sounds efficient. But, then again, it's so vague that it couldn't really be questioned as anything else. And still, until all those problems I mentioned are addressed by the AI industry at large, any use of their tech needs to justify itself to forego mass condemnation. If it can't do that much — or even notably improve the end result of the project it's used for — I think any outrage is entirely valid. And definitely wouldn't dismiss it as performative; I don't know what an individual would even gain from feigning disapproval of AI.
Nintendo did this in a cave...with a box of scraps.
Anyone curious how it's implementation might work, just look up Super Guide. Basically, if you're capable of beating the game yourself, you'll never use it and forget it exists.
I don't think I've seen anyone put this into perspective as well as Bosman did in this video's after-credits.
"Hades II still doesn't have a release date for Playstation or Xbox. That's a GotY contender console exclusive. [...] Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata, those are going to be Switch games. [...] It seems to me Nintendo IS competing, and nobody takes them that seriously for it."
@somnambulance I also liked the last episode of Stranger Things. You're not alone.
I think most of the internet's nitpicks are inconsequential, and the finale provided a satisfying conclusion to a well-rounded, if seldom phenomenal, show.
@MrPeanutbutterz I can appreciate the difference therein. But people did more than defend Lar/Sand; other articles had plenty outright saying AI was the future. I see no such sentiment here.
Huh, much more negative response in the comments than the last few articles about AI. That's good, but a little weird all it took was targeting Microsoft over Larian and Sandfall.
@MrStark I've never been a big Kojima fan, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the narratives of all his games I've gotten around to playing.
Given what he accomplished with Snatcher and Metal Gear Solid, I absolutely think his pedigree in video game storytelling is earned, even if most of his stories eventually devolve into nonsense (it's still charming nonsense, at the very least). I kinda agree he's been overrated ever since Konami f***ed him over; he's really been positioned as the gaming industry's biggest sweetheart since then. But he still makes solid games. And consistently contributes to the evolution of interactive storytelling, even if from an overly cinematic angle.
Which is all to say: pretty good developer. It's entirely understandable why so many gamers love his stuff. And I always thought saying he should 'just make movies' is extremely reductive of his talents as a developer, as well as his contributions to the medium.
@SeaDaVie Really depends what you mean by "Golden Age." I read that as, 'PlayStation's greatest run of all time.' Which I don't think is true at any metric (PS2 was more successful, PS2 and PS3 had better 1st-party support, PSone was more influential and innovative).
I think a lot of people misunderstand when fans criticize this generation. I like the PS5. There's plenty to play on it, and it's pretty decent hardware. But Sony has made undeniable missteps. They can do a lot better than they are, and I really wish they were.
@Fluberuper I haven't finished A Way Out, so maybe I didn't give it a fair chance. But I'd say it's easily the most boring of the three. I can see the argument that it's the best narratively — and I'm certainly most inclined to finished it to see its story through to the end. But just about everything else is worse than its successors, in my eyes.
Really surprised with the amount of acclaim Hazelight has garnered. I love their games, and love what they're doing, but none of them have been particularly fantastic to me. Sure, Split/Fiction has a lot of variety, but at its core — the primary gameplay loop — its really just an average platformer. Everything around it elevates that average platformer into something remarkable, but not what I'd consider the greatest of the industry.
Plus, while I wasn't nearly as negative on its plot and writing as others were, I still wouldn't say it was even good narratively. Serviceable, maybe. And Split/Fiction still felt like the lesser sibling to It Takes Two, which itself still adheres to the same criticisms. It was just a better platformer, with more interesting level design, a better plot, a more novel concept, and more varied level gimmicks.
Don't worry, guys. It's all worth it so AI can weasel its way into every industry and irreversibly make all of our lives better at the expense of our lives.
@Contimaloris That's a very sad answer to your own question.
I'd much rather work a reasonable amount of hours per week until I'm 80 than miss out on the best years of my life and my son's/hypothetical future children's childhood just so I can spend my last few decades dying of boredom.
And, hey, look at that: assuming that early retirement is your ideal employment outcome, it looks like we both believe in a fairly equal amount of individual net labor. We just disagree about its distribution. Still, that would imply that both our setups would support the same civilization, as they would both have near equal amounts of labor to utilize. Unless you'd rather some people get that early retirement, while the rest can just overwork themselves until they die.
@Contimaloris "You think a Rockstar emplyee is looking at a 6 figure bonus check and regretting all the OT he worked?"
If they have nothing to show for those hours besides money, probably. I'm struggling to give my son as much attention as I want to, and I've only been working the aforementioned "45-55/hrs" weeks this year. I can't imagine how sad I'd be if I barely got a few hours to interact with him a week. Let alone all the rest of life one might miss out on.
EDIT: Also, that you think me calling for people not having to spend 50% or more of their waking life working utopian is incredibly sad
@Haruki_NLI How many of the industry's most profitable games this year utilized any of those events to capture attention? To me, it seems more like TGA,etc. is dependent on big games they can feature to get views, not the other way around. And non-gaming ads are just there cause it's a big event.
@Contimaloris The only thing anyone proved is that you did, indeed, read my metaphor literally.
I don't think food workers should work overtime. I don't think mailing/delivery drivers should work overtime. I don't think plumbers and electricians should work overtime (I've worked OT in similar fields, and can confidently say the only reason anyone in these fields works OT is to save a company the costs of hiring another person and/or appointing a qualified employee to a part-time/on-call position). With truck drivers, it's kinda the job and can't much be helped. But they should ideally be compensated with loads of off weeks. I don't really see why police officers would have to do OT, unless some s***'s going down ("Yes, there are industries where crunch is just gonna happen sometimes. But it shouldn't be a regular occurrence or expectation, and it sure as f*** shouldn't be encouraged"). Unless you're lumping holiday hours with OT.
As for your "convenience" point, I'm personally more than happy to have less immediacy in services if it means less people are worked to death. In many cases, it's not even a question of limited manpower, but rather an inability or unwillingness to pay for enough labor to keep individual contributions fair and reasonable. I generally think people should work less, and, for what it's worth (not much, I know), I never get 1-day shipping, never rush workers, keep my imposing consumerism during the holiday season to a minimum, and complain any opportunity I have if I or someone else is working unreasonable times or days.
Maybe you turn a blind eye, but I don't — or try not to, at least. What's more aligned with the assumed naïvity of a 5-year-old: that overworking people is a necessary trait of a functional society, or that any human suffering is a result of poor social design and can be fixed if we reevaluate how our predecessors did things?
Comments 1,301
Re: Japanese PS5 Sales Continue to Improve Following Launch of Cheaper Model
@SMJ @Max_the_German Thank god I wasn't the only one thinking this. For a minute, I wondered if I'm just an a**.
It's just a weird deflection when we all know the Xbox doesn't sell in Japan, and the Series, in particular, doesn't sell anywhere. To the point where Microsoft obviously doesn't try to make it appealing anymore.
When the article is specifically about the PS5's numbers relative the Switch's, and cites the recent cheaper, region-blocked release, you'd think the comments would be about that.
Re: 'Call of Duty on Track to Perform Over 60% Below Last Year': Ex-Activision Boss Bobby Kotick Sticks Knife in Flagging FPS Franchise
@Oram77 I think the CoD franchise has been creatively bankrupt since Modern Warfare 3 (2011).
And I think that throws a fun curveball into interpreting my incessant defending of Blops7's success.
Re: 'Call of Duty on Track to Perform Over 60% Below Last Year': Ex-Activision Boss Bobby Kotick Sticks Knife in Flagging FPS Franchise
@MFTWrecks It is the time and place to favorably interpret less definitive information and see what you can get away with making up, though.
Whether or not the plaintiff or defendant's claims are deemed more worthwhile is up for the court to decide.
Re: 'Call of Duty on Track to Perform Over 60% Below Last Year': Ex-Activision Boss Bobby Kotick Sticks Knife in Flagging FPS Franchise
@Oram77 I feel like this stance is fairly consistent with the condemning of overzealous Blops7 hate I've been preaching ad nauseam.
It's fine if someone doesn't like Blops7. It's fine if someone hopes Blops7's lukewarm reception leads to bigger and better things for the franchise (which, ya know...it will. Any annual franchise survives by being receptive of precursing reception, and CoD's already done this dance on several occasions).
I just think calling Blops7 a failure is foolhardy. And I think Kotick's words in response to a lawsuit alleging he undervalued the company to save himself from company-wide sexual assault scandals is not a great source to prove anything.
Re: 'Call of Duty on Track to Perform Over 60% Below Last Year': Ex-Activision Boss Bobby Kotick Sticks Knife in Flagging FPS Franchise
@Oram77 As stated in the article, we don't really know where Kotick is getting that figure from. As stated in my comment, he has reason to find the least generous interpretation possible of Blops7's sales. Even the wording, "off over 60%," "perform over 60% below," to me doesn't explicitly say 'it sold 60% less copies than Blops6.' It can mean a few different things, and I generally don't accept the claims of a ghoul in court at face value.
And, regardless, "fail" is a strong word.
Re: 'Call of Duty on Track to Perform Over 60% Below Last Year': Ex-Activision Boss Bobby Kotick Sticks Knife in Flagging FPS Franchise
@Oram77 'Fail' remains a strong word. And Kotick has a coveted interest in this case to deemphasize any notable success Blops7 experienced — not exactly the most objective perspective to reference.
I still remember when the site's userbase was up in arms over the Microsoft acquisition destroying competition and the industry as a whole. Now Kotick mocking the FTC's insistence of exactly that, coming again from an acute point of bias, isn't even addressed so we can focus on the internet's new talking point: CoD suck and fail.
Re: Rumour: PS5 Pro's Big PSSR Update Releasing by March, Improves Graphics and Performance
@BennyTheCat I think you're overestimating how many of GTA's audience cares about 60 fps. Indeed, I think you're overestimating how many of them would drop $700 to play the first game they've bought in 2 years with slightly better performance.
Heck, I think you — and a lot of others — are underestimating R*'s ability to get a stable 60 on base PS5. That's certainly the platform they're targeting. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised to see 60 fps across PS5, 5pro, and Series X (probably not Series S), with the 5pro difference being mostly picture quality and pop-in/draw distance.
Re: 'You Can't Do GTA for $10 Million': Split Fiction's Josef Fares Champions Diversity in Games and Budgets
@PuppetMaster "Why not just do it yourself? Go make 10 AA games and see how many of them can sold the same as Helldivers 2."
Wow. Fantastic comeback. Literally ridiculing me for wanting more games I might consider interesting from a game developer. You sure have your priorities straight.
"Last time i check, there's no recipe that can guaranteed 9 from 10 AA games can be successful. Heck, there's no recipe that can guaranteed a game can sold well even after they check all the list."
Exactly. There's no guarantee that any game will be successful. Not every Sony AAA is a guaranteed success, and not every Sony AA should be expected to be an uber-success. So, ya know, why not make both?
Re: 'You Can't Do GTA for $10 Million': Split Fiction's Josef Fares Champions Diversity in Games and Budgets
@ButterySmooth30FPS Shrugs
I don't think they have to fail. That's more an issue with Sony's marketing and/or budgeting than anything. And, more importantly, I just think it would be nice if they made more original games that aren't drowning in AAA polish, made-by-committee design, and risk-adverse decision making.
I'm not talking about how likely it might be. Nor am I really saying it would be a good business decision (even though I think it would be, but it's certainly not necessary for business). I'm just saying it's a thing I want, that I know plenty of other people want, that should be modestly profitable and yield more quality games at worst.
Re: 'You Can't Do GTA for $10 Million': Split Fiction's Josef Fares Champions Diversity in Games and Budgets
@PuppetMaster Jesus, guys, what part of, "Why would I care how their AA efforts from the past went?" do you not understand? Again, this is literally an article about how AA games like Split/Fiction and Expedition 33 might be an inflection point for the industry. AA games can be successful — many are. So why can't Sony put out more successful AA games? Precedent doesn't mean future success is impossible, and HD2 is proof of that. And yes, Astro Bot as well. Which was fantastic and, as far as we know, more than exceeded Sony's expectations given its budget. Notice how Sony didn't go out of business for putting out a relatively cheap game that just sold decently.
I don't count Cadence of Hyrule as Nintendo's AA output. I explicitly told you what I meant by 'embrace AA,' so you trying to redefine that phrase is irrelevant. I also wouldn't count your indie examples as AA in the first place, but that's likewise irrelevant to what I'm saying. I want Sony's internal teams to make riskier games with 1-2 year development cycles. Lost Soul Aside is decidedly NOT that.
If every single developer at Sucker Punch, for instance, really was singularly focused on developing Ghosts of Tsushima and Yotei, then good for them. More than likely, there are more ideas being passed around in the studio that either don't get approved by SP higher ups or get vetoed by Sony. I'm just saying, maybe approve some of those ideas every once and a while. Get a fraction of the team together, give them a modest budget, and see what they can do. I think that would be really cool, and would easily remedy some of my pet peeves with Sony's contemporary output. Is there really anything wrong with that?
Re: 'You Can't Do GTA for $10 Million': Split Fiction's Josef Fares Champions Diversity in Games and Budgets
@ButterySmooth30FPS It's not like my desire for Sony to develop cheaper, more original games at a higher release cadence than their current strategy allows is some insane, impossible ask. Nor am I alone in asking for it.
This is like a Nintendo fan being shot down by a Nintendo fanboy for suggesting it would be nice if Nintendo made new IP more often.
Re: 'You Can't Do GTA for $10 Million': Split Fiction's Josef Fares Champions Diversity in Games and Budgets
@ButterySmooth30FPS Cool. Thanks for pointing that out.
@PuppetMaster I'm glad you considered HD2 the AA game it is. Which kinda kills this whole "people don't buy AA" narrative, don't ya think? Half of those games really don't count as Sony embracing AA, just them supporting small developers. Which is nice, but not what I'm talking about. I want Sony and their affiliate teams to develop AA. Astro Bot is a fantastic example of the kinds of games we could be getting from them; don't you want more stuff like Astro Bot?
And, for what it's worth, I bought Astro, LEGO Horizon, and Sword of the Sea at launch. I own Sifu, and plan on buying Kena and Helldivers 2 at some point. I'm also interested in their Hero Project initiative, but none of the actual games have looked particularly interesting to me — not because of AA-ness, they just seem boring. If we're counting Stellar Blade as a AA Hero, then I can confirm my intent to buy that one too.
Which is to say, I will buy AA games if they put them out and they're good. Sony getting other gamers to buy them is not my problem.
Re: 'You Can't Do GTA for $10 Million': Split Fiction's Josef Fares Champions Diversity in Games and Budgets
@ButterySmooth30FPS Yes. Why would I care how their AA efforts from the past went? I want AA games from Sony. Sony can still figure out how to sell AA games. As referenced in this very article, there are successful AA games; Sony can also make successful AA games. So they should do that.
Your weird justification of current circumstances doesn't prove anything. What, would you rather we only get 3 games from PlayStation a year that are mostly derivative of established IP or gameplay formulas?
Re: 'You Can't Do GTA for $10 Million': Split Fiction's Josef Fares Champions Diversity in Games and Budgets
If only PlayStation could embrace AA again.
Re: Code Violet (PS5) - Gooner Shooter Can't Get It Up
"I was in the midst of replying to the rest, but that's all gone now."
Never said I didn't read your comment. I didn't read ALL of it, but I was reading it and responding to it. So no clue where the, "you apparently didn’t read it because it was removed," accusation is coming from.
So, immediately, you're approaching this from some overly paranoid, self-victimizing position. "You conspired against me and are lying about it!" Not what happened, dude. I didn't flag your comment, and — guess what — I've also had comments deleted on PushSquare before. I didn't throw a fit about it; it's their platform, they can delete what they want. Pertinent to your claims at their expense, I can confirm they don't exclusively delete comments of a certain ilk.
Between what was said before, this new paranoia, and supposedly 'Ignoring' me because we had a disagreement on a gaming website, I repeat: You kinda suck.
Re: Code Violet (PS5) - Gooner Shooter Can't Get It Up
@TheBloodyNine You know, "virtue signaling" implies feigning virtue for some selfish gain or status. It is not the same as just being virtuous, and it's a weird way to insult anyone for expressing an opinion that you are asserting has objective virtue.
There's no gaslighting here. I'm not trying to recontextualize any of the conversation to obfuscate what actually happened. I referenced misogyny, you said that's not a thing in modern gaming. You quoted my "problematic" comment as though it proved something bad about me,etc. These are all things that actually happened.
Strawman. Gosh, did you learn your entire vocabulary from pseudo-intellectuals arguing on the internet? I'm not misrepresenting your claims to beat down easier ones. You said misogyny isn't a problem, I argued that. You said people have a preference, I argued that. I did start ranting more about the topic in a general sense. But I still very clearly targeted specific things you said. Honestly, had a bit of a hard time consistently rebutting your comment when you seemed to contradict your intent by deemphasizing the necessity of sex appeal (so why even respond to my first comment to begin with?). But that's not me strawmaning — that's not what strawmaning is — this isn't what any of these words mean!
Sexist media isn't harmful to me; I'm not a woman. But I understand how it can be harmful to women. Because I'm not in an echo chamber (I'm not the one with the Reddit-alumni vernacular). I understand there are many different perspectives in this world, and try to value any I don't see harm in.
I never said boobs and butts are offensive — they aren't. Something, something, strawman (now I don't have to engage with your claim! Isn't it fun using pointless, weightless words to dismiss arguments without actually having to refute them!).
And, to finish: Literally everything is a societal dilemma. Just because something isn't problematic for you, doesn't mean it isn't problematic for someone else. And, funny thing, society is meant for everybody, not just you.
Re: Code Violet (PS5) - Gooner Shooter Can't Get It Up
@TheBloodyNine I'm imploring empathy. You're denying misogyny exists, consider the position that overt sexiness can be problematic problematic per se, are having a tantrum over a removed comment, and completely ignored my hope that you might try enlightening yourself to different perspectives.
You kinda suck not because I disagree with you, but because you kinda suck.
Re: Code Violet (PS5) - Gooner Shooter Can't Get It Up
Removed
Re: Talking Point: Did ANTHEM Deserve the Hate?
Never played it, but I can confidently say no. Very few games, movies,etc. deserve the hate of the internet.
Re: Code Violet (PS5) - Gooner Shooter Can't Get It Up
@TheBloodyNine Are you saying misogyny doesn't exist apropos gaming anymore? That's comforting to know; I'll be sure to let any women recently offended by games or gamers know that.
Oop! Comment removed. I was in the midst of replying to the rest, but that's all gone now. I think this opener sufficiently and elegantly said just about everything I needed to say, anyway.
To clear the air a bit, though: Try to understand, I'm saying sex doesn't guarantee success. If you agree with that statement, which you have on several occasions, I don't really understand what the point of arguing with me is. It seems to me that you legitimately don't understand why normalizing sexy woman might be problematic. I implore you, go find someone smarter than me who's an actual authority on womanhood both in and out of fiction. Actually absorb their ideas. You don't have to agree with them, but try to understand and sympathize with a different perspective from your own. Believe me, gaming as you know and love it will remain unchanged from just hearing out differing opinions.
Re: PS5 Reportedly Hands Forza Horizon 5 an Additional 5 Million Sales
@SMJ Damn, I dunno why this became such a 'PlayStation vs. Xbox' battle. You say the PlayStation, as a proprietary PC, will be obsolete eventually, and suddenly everyone's offended.
For what it's worth, I half agree. I do think traditional game consoles will go out of style before our era of gamers start dying off. And I also think, at some point, all contemporary console manufacturers will offer Steam-like clients on open hardware. However, people here are right to point out how profitable PlayStations — and, through association, the Switch — remains. It's hard to see this specific market dying off any time soon; I'd imagine the PS6 will do fine, and it won't be until the PS7 that we see it wane.
What I believe will happen is, as average PCs become more powerful, games become less demanding, streaming catches the eye of casual gamers, phones become a perfectly competent way to game, and new-form PCs (portable PCs, headsets,etc.) become the norm, the traditional gaming console will become a hobbyist's luxury. There will still be PlayStations and Nintendo consoles, but they will take a similar place in the industry as stuff like the Commodore 64 Ultimate and Atari 2600+ do today. A very specific device tailored for a very specific audience. Traditional consoles will lose their mass appeal, and Sony and Nintendo will be forced reevaluate how they release software.
Re: Feature: 15 PS5 Predictions for 2026
I predict nothing notable will happen for PlayStation in 2026. No new console announcement. No new PS5 hardware (at least, in any form that concerns the consumer). No new 1st-party games. PS5pro will continue to be occasionally bad, occasionally good. PS3 emulation won't come to PS4/PS5. No big shake ups behind-the-scenes. No surprise hits to distract from the impending GTAVI. No more price increases. Definitely no price drops.
PS5 is still selling well, 2026 is a bad time to make big moves hardware-wise, everyone and their mums 're staying mum until R* drops GTA, and only a vocal minority of gamers are asking Sony to do anything more than they're already doing. So they will coast through the year. Unless S2 starts utterly dominating the market, they will coast through the rest of the PS5's life. They don't need to do anything besides coast.
Re: Code Violet (PS5) - Gooner Shooter Can't Get It Up
@TheBloodyNine Sigh
I'm not being obtuse about people's intent when platforming sex as the main selling point of a game, you're being ignorant to the droves that literally think this way. Saying no one actually believes that is being incredibly generous and naive.
So fundamentally, you're just wrong here. You can argue that I'm the one ignorant to their assertions, but I'm fairly certain I'll have a much easier time showcasing my proposition than you would moderating the worst takes one can find online. There are, after all, legitimate misogynists in this world.
So, to clarify: YOU mean that making attractive characters that people like to look at is a bonus that most people prefer. Which is a much more modest claim, but still one I reject. I don't give a s*** how attractive my avatar is, and I think the majority from the vast gamer population would agree rather than disagree. Which is admittedly a harder thing to prove, but I would posit that most of the best-selling, well-renowned, iconic games and game characters are not sexy.
As for people having a preference for attractive female characters over "masculine" types, again, no one gives a f***. Ignoring how this is an inherently sexist thing to say ("women can only be attractive if they absolutely adhere to contemporary standards of feminine beauty"), if a game's good, it can star anyone. I don't think most would humor the thought-experiment of Hellblade, but sexified to 11. It's irrelevant to the game, and hence isn't a general preference. Some people would prefer that, I'm sure. People that think an unconventionally attractive woman has no reason to exist, or instance. But for most people, most characters — female or otherwise — do not necessitate sex appeal. It's not a "bonus" if they're sexy, either. I don't play Bayonetta and think about how t&a makes the game better. I play it 'cause it's a good f***ing game. The t&a is fine, but it isn't where the game derives value.
Again, saying "people like looking at sexy things" is myopic. This is how a terrible, passé-for-the-'50s ad man thinks: "just put some boobs next to your vitamins and it'll sell like crazy." When used effectively, sex can be an effective selling point. It isn't effective by default, however. Otherwise, Carl's Jr. would be the #1 fast-food restaurant in the USA (if you're too young or grew up in another country, just look up their old commercials on Youtube and you'll immediately see what I mean).
And that's for something as cynical and artificial as an advertisement. We're talking about video games, here — we're talking about art. Your opinion is to say, "Sure, the Mona Lisa doesn't need cleavage, but I think a lot of people would prefer it if it had cleavage."
Re: Code Violet (PS5) - Gooner Shooter Can't Get It Up
@TheBloodyNine Blah, blah, blah — same trite stuff as always.
The point was that things don't sell exclusively on sex alone. They never have. Games don't need sex to be successful, and sexy games aren't successful by default. Ergo, "sex sells" is an inaccurate, flawed outlook with which to perceive mass appeal.
Re: Former PS4 Exclusive Detroit: Become Human Has Now Sold 15 Million Copies
@scottXedgar Oh, no! "Social narratives." The humanity!!!
If you're tired of seeing them, the best solution is to stop looking for them.
Re: Former PS4 Exclusive Detroit: Become Human Has Now Sold 15 Million Copies
@The_ghostmen ...No it isn't. Why did you detail their developer/publisher relationship twice in an ostensible rebuttal to their established developer/publisher relationship?
Re: Divinity Dev's Boss Backpedals on Generative AI, But Not All the Way
@DestructionAllstars That's an extremely cynical and ignorant way to view the outcry over AI. You can't just say AI is a nothing problem if you can't reckon with its environmental impact, potential job annihilation, unregulated abuse of privacy and intellectual property, and even that it simply is a s***ty means of creative expression.
The only reckoning Larian has offered is that it was an efficient way to explore concept art. Anyone who applies any amount of scrutiny to that methodology really fails to see how that was either a justified use of the tech in light of aforementioned problems or a necessary practice given the reasonable expectation that professional concept artists already have countless references and knowledge that should sufficiently inform said exploration. This is like if a music director used AI to figure a good song to augment a scene — being an authority on that is LITERALLY the job.
This new supposed use actually sounds efficient. But, then again, it's so vague that it couldn't really be questioned as anything else. And still, until all those problems I mentioned are addressed by the AI industry at large, any use of their tech needs to justify itself to forego mass condemnation. If it can't do that much — or even notably improve the end result of the project it's used for — I think any outrage is entirely valid. And definitely wouldn't dismiss it as performative; I don't know what an individual would even gain from feigning disapproval of AI.
Re: Code Violet (PS5) - Gooner Shooter Can't Get It Up
@ATaco Well yeah. Makes you think that quality tends to sell better than sex.
Re: Code Violet (PS5) - Gooner Shooter Can't Get It Up
Where will the "sex sells" crowd be when this doesn't even blip on charts or the gamer zeitgeist?
Re: Sony Patents AI Assistant That Can Help You Beat Games, or Just Beat Them For You
Nintendo did this in a cave...with a box of scraps.
Anyone curious how it's implementation might work, just look up Super Guide. Basically, if you're capable of beating the game yourself, you'll never use it and forget it exists.
Re: Xbox Sales Hit New Low in UK, Barely Competes with PS5 at This Point
@MasterChiefWiggum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6M9J1YgadA
I don't think I've seen anyone put this into perspective as well as Bosman did in this video's after-credits.
"Hades II still doesn't have a release date for Playstation or Xbox. That's a GotY contender console exclusive. [...] Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata, those are going to be Switch games. [...] It seems to me Nintendo IS competing, and nobody takes them that seriously for it."
Re: 'We Need to Trust Our Instincts': Expedition 33 Dev's Next Game Won't Bow to Fan Pressure
@somnambulance I also liked the last episode of Stranger Things. You're not alone.
I think most of the internet's nitpicks are inconsequential, and the finale provided a satisfying conclusion to a well-rounded, if seldom phenomenal, show.
Re: Microsoft CEO Really Wants You to Stop Calling Generative AI 'Slop'
@MrPeanutbutterz I can appreciate the difference therein. But people did more than defend Lar/Sand; other articles had plenty outright saying AI was the future. I see no such sentiment here.
Re: Microsoft CEO Really Wants You to Stop Calling Generative AI 'Slop'
Huh, much more negative response in the comments than the last few articles about AI. That's good, but a little weird all it took was targeting Microsoft over Larian and Sandfall.
Re: Going Platinum #6: Everything
I love Everything, Alan Watts lectures, and Everything, Everywhere All at Once. So I approve of this article completely.
Re: Game of the Year: #2 - Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
@MrStark I've never been a big Kojima fan, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the narratives of all his games I've gotten around to playing.
Given what he accomplished with Snatcher and Metal Gear Solid, I absolutely think his pedigree in video game storytelling is earned, even if most of his stories eventually devolve into nonsense (it's still charming nonsense, at the very least). I kinda agree he's been overrated ever since Konami f***ed him over; he's really been positioned as the gaming industry's biggest sweetheart since then. But he still makes solid games. And consistently contributes to the evolution of interactive storytelling, even if from an overly cinematic angle.
Which is all to say: pretty good developer. It's entirely understandable why so many gamers love his stuff. And I always thought saying he should 'just make movies' is extremely reductive of his talents as a developer, as well as his contributions to the medium.
Re: Our PS5 Predictions for 2025 - Results Revealed
@SeaDaVie Really depends what you mean by "Golden Age." I read that as, 'PlayStation's greatest run of all time.' Which I don't think is true at any metric (PS2 was more successful, PS2 and PS3 had better 1st-party support, PSone was more influential and innovative).
I think a lot of people misunderstand when fans criticize this generation. I like the PS5. There's plenty to play on it, and it's pretty decent hardware. But Sony has made undeniable missteps. They can do a lot better than they are, and I really wish they were.
Re: Game of the Year: #3 - Split Fiction
@Fritz167 Oh, so you're less criticizing the list and more criticizing the year in gaming. That's more interesting.
Anything that stood out this year, for you?
Re: Game of the Year: #3 - Split Fiction
@Fluberuper I haven't finished A Way Out, so maybe I didn't give it a fair chance. But I'd say it's easily the most boring of the three. I can see the argument that it's the best narratively — and I'm certainly most inclined to finished it to see its story through to the end. But just about everything else is worse than its successors, in my eyes.
Re: Game of the Year: #3 - Split Fiction
@voltum3l @Fritz167 If you disagree with the list, I'd implore to make your own rather than criticizing another.
That's a much more interesting form of discourse than complaining.
Re: Game of the Year: #3 - Split Fiction
Really surprised with the amount of acclaim Hazelight has garnered. I love their games, and love what they're doing, but none of them have been particularly fantastic to me. Sure, Split/Fiction has a lot of variety, but at its core — the primary gameplay loop — its really just an average platformer. Everything around it elevates that average platformer into something remarkable, but not what I'd consider the greatest of the industry.
Plus, while I wasn't nearly as negative on its plot and writing as others were, I still wouldn't say it was even good narratively. Serviceable, maybe. And Split/Fiction still felt like the lesser sibling to It Takes Two, which itself still adheres to the same criticisms. It was just a better platformer, with more interesting level design, a better plot, a more novel concept, and more varied level gimmicks.
Re: PS6 Could Be Delayed Due to RAM Price Chaos
Don't worry, guys. It's all worth it so AI can weasel its way into every industry and irreversibly make all of our lives better at the expense of our lives.
Re: Ex-PlayStation Boss Believes Exclusives Make Consoles 'Sing'
@DestructionAllstars "Nintendo hasn't made an original game in 20 years."
It would be hilarious if you elaborated upon this statement.
Also, I wonder if your Xbox dismissal is due to their ongoing disinterest in exclusives, or a general, asinine bias against Xbox Game Studios.
Re: 'No Need to Be Embarrassed About It': Zenless Zone Zero Staff Say 'It's Painfully Obvious' They're Working Tons of Overtime
@Contimaloris That's a very sad answer to your own question.
I'd much rather work a reasonable amount of hours per week until I'm 80 than miss out on the best years of my life and my son's/hypothetical future children's childhood just so I can spend my last few decades dying of boredom.
And, hey, look at that: assuming that early retirement is your ideal employment outcome, it looks like we both believe in a fairly equal amount of individual net labor. We just disagree about its distribution. Still, that would imply that both our setups would support the same civilization, as they would both have near equal amounts of labor to utilize. Unless you'd rather some people get that early retirement, while the rest can just overwork themselves until they die.
Re: 'No Need to Be Embarrassed About It': Zenless Zone Zero Staff Say 'It's Painfully Obvious' They're Working Tons of Overtime
@Deljo Can you elaborate what's so impossible about keeping OT to a minimum at the maximum amount of jobs?
I'm sure during the American industrial era, people said the same thing to those advocating for 40/hr work weeks.
Re: 'No Need to Be Embarrassed About It': Zenless Zone Zero Staff Say 'It's Painfully Obvious' They're Working Tons of Overtime
@Contimaloris "You think a Rockstar emplyee is looking at a 6 figure bonus check and regretting all the OT he worked?"
If they have nothing to show for those hours besides money, probably. I'm struggling to give my son as much attention as I want to, and I've only been working the aforementioned "45-55/hrs" weeks this year. I can't imagine how sad I'd be if I barely got a few hours to interact with him a week. Let alone all the rest of life one might miss out on.
EDIT: Also, that you think me calling for people not having to spend 50% or more of their waking life working utopian is incredibly sad
Re: Episodic Sensation Dispatch Will Be Eligible for The Game Awards 2026
@Haruki_NLI How many of the industry's most profitable games this year utilized any of those events to capture attention? To me, it seems more like TGA,etc. is dependent on big games they can feature to get views, not the other way around. And non-gaming ads are just there cause it's a big event.
Re: 'No Need to Be Embarrassed About It': Zenless Zone Zero Staff Say 'It's Painfully Obvious' They're Working Tons of Overtime
@Deljo You're wrong, cynical, and presumptuous.
Re: 'No Need to Be Embarrassed About It': Zenless Zone Zero Staff Say 'It's Painfully Obvious' They're Working Tons of Overtime
@Contimaloris The only thing anyone proved is that you did, indeed, read my metaphor literally.
I don't think food workers should work overtime. I don't think mailing/delivery drivers should work overtime. I don't think plumbers and electricians should work overtime (I've worked OT in similar fields, and can confidently say the only reason anyone in these fields works OT is to save a company the costs of hiring another person and/or appointing a qualified employee to a part-time/on-call position). With truck drivers, it's kinda the job and can't much be helped. But they should ideally be compensated with loads of off weeks. I don't really see why police officers would have to do OT, unless some s***'s going down ("Yes, there are industries where crunch is just gonna happen sometimes. But it shouldn't be a regular occurrence or expectation, and it sure as f*** shouldn't be encouraged"). Unless you're lumping holiday hours with OT.
As for your "convenience" point, I'm personally more than happy to have less immediacy in services if it means less people are worked to death. In many cases, it's not even a question of limited manpower, but rather an inability or unwillingness to pay for enough labor to keep individual contributions fair and reasonable. I generally think people should work less, and, for what it's worth (not much, I know), I never get 1-day shipping, never rush workers, keep my imposing consumerism during the holiday season to a minimum, and complain any opportunity I have if I or someone else is working unreasonable times or days.
Maybe you turn a blind eye, but I don't — or try not to, at least. What's more aligned with the assumed naïvity of a 5-year-old: that overworking people is a necessary trait of a functional society, or that any human suffering is a result of poor social design and can be fixed if we reevaluate how our predecessors did things?
Re: Episodic Sensation Dispatch Will Be Eligible for The Game Awards 2026
@Haruki_NLI I wouldn't really say the industry is centralized around TGA, nor that TGA is centralized around one guy.