RoomWithaMoose

@LogicStrikesAgain From a business perspective, I get it. It might make sense for PlayStation to go exclusive and Xbox to stay multiplat. I especially think the Acti-Blizz deal kinda forces Microsoft to globally launch a lot of its games.

But, from a fan perspective, there's no reason to praise one move while mocking another. Generally speaking, gamers should either be pro-exclusive or anti-exclusive, and the circumstance or companies implicated therein should not change that. I'll accept someone being self serving — i.e., "I like only having a PlayStation, but also like playing Xbox games. So I hope Xbox doesn't go exclusive." But that's the only counter sentiment I would allow much grace here.

And you're right about fanboys. But, honestly, if I didn't get worked up over fanboy's comments, I probably wouldn't be posting on gamer sites in the first place.

@8th_Observer Ya know, you can write about something without being a bias fan of it...

@LogicStrikesAgain My comment wasn't directed at PlayStation fans en masse. It was directed at this recurring sentiment I see constantly on this website, both from writers and other users.

I'm also a PlayStation fan — and an Xbox fan. I don't care what either of their exclusive strategies are. But I'm tired of people gobbling up any of Sony/their fans insistence towards exclusives, while acting like Xbox doing the same is stupid. I can appreciate the situations are different, but the outlook on exclusivity should remain the same.

PlayStation fans call for exclusivity:
"Best decision all generation."

Xbox fans call for exclusivity:
"Look at the stupid idiots who can't write!"

The most tedious thing here is the double standard.

@Frmknst Xbox arguably owes its entire success to an exclusive called Halo.

@Slayer25c It's wild when a consumer has been convinced anti-consumer practices are for their own good.

Some real, 'surveil me, big daddy' behavior.

@Deadlyblack Translation: 'We're going to milk these stupid cows for all they're worth. After all, WE'VE GOT TO HAVE MORE MOOONEYYY.'

Make online play free! That goes for Nintendo and Microsoft, too. Literally, all three of them have compelling services without locking half the function of their ecosystem behind a paywall, so let's just cut the c*** already.

Huh, it's almost like those tariffs were f***in' stupid and did absolutely nothing to enrich the American people. Nah, couldn't be.

I do feel like it should be the American government's responsibility to reimburse its people for its stupidity. But, certainly, it's not fair these companies get MORE money out of the whole thing. Even if they're basically victims all the same.

@RobN I mean, yeah. It's a pretty innocent comment.

I don't fault the man for saying it's cool — or awesome. It's just a case of someone being woefully out of their depth and/or not reading the room accordingly.

@Oram77 Thank you for calling it whimsical. No one's ever called me that before.

@Oram77 One could argue that all hate is manufactured. That doesn't mean it's an insightful thing to say.

@RobN Ehh, I'm a little torn there. I think the technology is much cooler than the output. I kinda feel nothing from modern AI art.

I liked it when it was dream-like and uncanny. Now it's just a s*** version of human art. Too proficient to be uniquely its own style, yet too well below an actual artist's standards to be impressive per se. Go watch King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard's "Iron Lung" to see what I think the peak of AI art is. Also Angel Engine, I guess — but that would've still probably been better with actual artists.

And still, we can say it's cool, but the costs of that minute coolness is hardly worth it.

@Boxmonkey That's a bad take. There are many provable reasons to dislike AI, especially in creative industries.

It's not a press conspiracy. And, even if it was, journalists being replaced by programmably bias AI IS inherently bad.

There's nothing manufactured about it, man. Don't think you're better than anyone else because you'd rather willingly bury your head in the sand...

How do I feel? Old man is old, young people don't give old man a break for being old, and AI suck.

I mean, there's no obvious harm in some fan"made" AI FF6remake concept video. It's not like Squeenix is doing it. But, ya know, all the institutional and environmental damage AI has wrought pretty much outweighs any neat-factor this might have.

@MrPeanutbutterz I think the games' redeeming qualities made up for their failings. I absolutely adore them, but they definitely weren't masterfully designed.

Still, though, they were received well enough. I think the lack of success can just be blamed on how weird they were. Which was great for me personally, but not for marketability.

My counterargument is Sony should've never expected phenomenal numbers out of the IP in the first place. I don't think people appreciate how Nintendo keeps trying with Metroid despite it never comparing to their best selling games commercially. Fire Emblem is a great example of how it's never too late for a seemingly obtuse IP to become popular.

While it's a free update and players ergo weren't entitled to anything, I don't think there's anything wrong with being disappointed here. Many were likely hoping it would match — or even surpass — the support of its predecessor, and now it's set that it won't.

Obviously, it being the Internet, there's going to be a lot of dramatic takes and bad faith actors. But I think it's a bit of a disservice to actual fans of the mode to dismiss any complaints as worthless, crybaby antics.

@get2sammyb I mean, all this shows is all the games we assume people play the most frequently and consistently on PlayStation are indeed that. It really doesn't singlehandedly invalidate selling full priced games upfront with maybe a DLC pack or season pass.

Any Sony GaaS critics with a modicum of awareness about the industry knew these were what the numbers would look like. That the numbers are predominantly taken up by near-decade old games is exactly what we were all on about when Sony started this initiative well after the iron was hot. It was like buying Bitcoin in the 2020s — ya missed your chance, kid.

And no, sexed-up Overwatch clone with one of the biggest IPs in the world backing it breaking through does not prove there's still a ton of space for newcomers in the market. Arc Raiders probably took Helldivers spot from a year ago, which tells you two things: Arc probably won't be here for longer than this year, and Helldivers was exactly what Sony hoped for yet it couldn't reach close to Fortnite levels.

EDIT: Also, I just want to be clear that I don't think many people's issue was Sony wanting to make a GaaS. It's that they wanted to make 12.

@Dalamar I reckon every GTA is predominantly populated with *****.

@Dalamar I'd say the characters of GTAV were pretty fantastic. The plot sucks, but the moment-to-moment writing was great.

Gameplay is strong in some areas (world design, driving, gameplay variety), but yeah, GTAV is definitely when I started to dislike R*'s approach to action and level design. But still, it wasn't all bad.

Not that it really matters, but probably not. Unless PlayStation or Nintendo are coming out with something generational to take advantage of the 1st-party up-scoring (Wolverine and Fire Emblem will be great, no doubt, but I bet both will get some 5s or 6s to bring down the score), there's really nothing much I see claiming a higher metascore.

Yes, there's GTA. But I think people are conflating popular consensus with critical reception. "Gamers" will love GTA6 no matter what. Journalists will be burnt out from all the hype before even playing the game, and be less impressed than ever with what I'm assuming will be the same R* gameplay that's felt archaic for almost a decade now.

@Oprahs_cellulite NES aside, I'd say there were higher highs through the pre-PS4 era of games than there are now. Also lower lows, but the highs are more relevant.

Contemporary gaming is still great, though. There's certainly a lot of nostalgia making people think something like Call of Duty is significantly worse now than it was 10 years ago.

@PneumaPilot I don't think many would name any of those games as a GOATer. Maybe Red Dead 2, but even that was somewhat divisive at launch...which was almost a decade ago.

I always appreciate when a game like Rivals moves away from t&a for a bit to do something novel. Obscure Marvel T-Rex that shoots beams is exactly the novelty I hope for in any roster.

Maybe I should give Rivals another try. I wasn't too impressed with it in "beta," but no doubt it's gotten better since.

@PneumaPilot I dunno, I think contemporary gaming seems increasingly disinterested in actual design, especially level design. A lot of games these days are more concerned with spectacle, marketable size, and other superficialities rather than fundamental quality. So you end up with games that are just content for the sake of content — essentially just big time wasters.

And that's nothing to say about the rarity of big ideas aligned with uncompromised budgets nowadays.

I'd certainly say there's more varied, high-quality games releasing these days than ever before. But I dunno that I'd say we're getting the best games ever made right now. I'd be more inclined to say the golden age of the industry, wherein we got the most consistent stream of innovative masterpieces, went from the launch of the SNES to around the launch of the Switch. Midway through the PS4/X1 era, I think we lost something. And it's hard for me to look at many games releasing today and say they're significantly better than the likes of Super Metroid, Doom, Ocarina of Time, Halo Combat Evolved, Resident Evil 4, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last of Us, or about 100 other masterpieces from that era.

@AverageGamer Without getting into every retort, I just want to question why it matters that the 1st-party games I referenced didn't start on PS4 when almost all the titles you referenced are legacy IP?

@AverageGamer Preeetty sure people associate God of War, Uncharted 4, The Last of Us 2, Until Dawn, and Ghosts of Tsushima with the PS4 infinitely more than any of the titles you mentioned.

So yeah, pretty much defined by its 1st-party titles. Not exclusively defined therein, mind you. But I wouldn't say Sony's marketing pushing any title singularly identifies that title as PLAYSTATION. CoD, Battlefield, and Destiny were probably hitting their peak of PC popularity at the time. Nier I'd likewise say was more popular on PC than anything. Same with Yakuza. Didn't Persona 5 get a PC port around that same time? FF7remake, sure. But it was an exclusive, so yeah, I'd assume as much.

@Pandalulz That's the one.

Thanks.

@nolifebr Eh. I really wouldn't say Sony wasn't putting out much stuff during those generations. I'd argue they were putting out a s***ton up until midlife PS4. A lot of it wasn't getting much attention, but it was there.

PSone had PaRappa, Ape Escape, Twisted Metal, Syphon Filter, Vibribbon, Boku no Nasuasume, bunny shooter platformer I don't feel like looking up the name of, IQ, Medieval, at least one JRPG series, that GTA precursor, pretty sure they still funded Crash and Spyro so I would count 'em. And that's just off the top of my head. PS2 had more even.

People mostly remember the 3rd-party exclusives, but Sony didn't slack on their 1st-party support.

EDIT: Just remembered they're called Jumping Flash and The Getaway. Still don't remember the JRPG/s, though. Also somehow forgot Gran Turismo and Wipeout. That lineup was packed.

@wildcat_kickz Nintendo's shareholders would likely be much more satisfied to hear they are adopting AI. If I remember correctly, this statement was literally in response to a shareholder asking what their plans were for AI.

For this specific instance, I don't think it's much to get worked up about. But your comment was more about the general sentiment by culture rather than this job posting. Hence my response trailered to holistic ethics.

I don't really think people spitting anti-AI vitriol devalues the argument. It's just mildly annoying.

@wildcat_kickz Cultural differences doesn't really fundamentally change the ethics of AI, though. If you despise Western companies don't it, you should feel the same about Eastern regardless of of they're getting local pressure.

And I imagine it's still a big talking point anywhere. I know Nintendo, while not coming out fervently against it or anything, has said they have no plans on using Gen AI because their think their inherent value as an entertainment company is dependent on the imagination and creativity of their employees. And, presumably, they're not the only Eastern company that feels that way.

@glennthefrog I wasn't really engaging with your entire argument. I was a little too lazy to do that, honestly.

But regardless, I don't think the genre thing is a reasonable argument. You saying it's a reason people dislike the game is reasonable, but them actively hating on the game from that basis is not.

That's really all I was trying to say.

@Zuljaras I see what you're saying, but I do not think a plea for personal responsibility excuses either our culture of rewarding excessive negativity nor the institutional failure of giving such negativity undeserved exposure.

It's like, individuals should recycle. But individuals being waste-conscious does not solve the waste enabling society that caused the problem in the first place.

I also don't think it's fair to say anyone bothered by online negativity should get thicker skin. There's some truth to that, sure, but there are many reasons one can be bothered by negativity besides it being at odds with their personal takes.

@glennthefrog A lot of people instantly dislike comedies. That does not mean comedies are inherently bad movies.

@KaijuCouture You sound like you've a sensible opinion.

I'm going to assume you're NOT a bigot or sexist. But holding a narrative ethically responsible for depicting underage intoxication and crime in a positive way that mirrors a lot of real life experience with both the actuality of doing such things as well as the possible toxic nostalgia propping up one's perception of such memories is hardly a real criticism...

The war between journalists and users is fabricated engagement bait perpetuated by people who never learned how to reconcile with subjectivity. I.e., not a serious opinion.

And you can call a game an interactive movie. But that designation really holds no inherent negative connotation. A game can be good. A movie can be good. And an interactive movie can be good.

@NonbinaryStarr Heh, equally perfect example.

A 'romance' story meant to challenge the viewers' morals, confuse their understanding of character motivations, and leave them on a dissatisfying, somewhat ambiguous note to let them ponder the events of the narrative and the point to any of it.

But, indeed, most gamers would say it's boring and generally unfun, and could only appreciate it if it had a good user score on Metacritic or achieved some other meaningless metric.

@NonbinaryStarr Beautiful take, honestly.

I'm not sure a lot of gamers understand that art can be intellectually and emotionally challenging.

And that that's, usually, a good thing.

@Zuljaras I think toxic positivity is pretty annoying.

But I'd definitely prefer it to overblown negativity.

We're also ignoring that the term "toxic positivity" is often unfairly assigned these days to dismiss and undercut ANY positivity that exists at the expense of negative narratives. I wouldn't ever call positivity toxic unless it's actively combative against any and all dissenting voices. Which does exist, yes, but you're more likely to see that sort of reduction on the negative side of the discourse. Often, at worse, the positive side just wants to enjoy something without having to defend why they enjoy it.

Video games can be and are more than a sequence of interactive challenges. This is some 2010s gamer brain s*** I hoped we were past.

Personally, I most prefer games that are challenging and have fail-states. But I've enjoyed plenty of games which forego that for narrative or audio/visual pursuits. The game industry is big enough to support all types of experiences. There is no wrong way to make a video game.

Honestly, I thought Dispatch entirely circumventing such discourse was a sign gamers were collectively maturing their concept of what a video game could be...

@nomither6 True.

But, also, sometimes new things deserve the hate.

@DanijoEX AI has good applications. AI has bad applications.

If we don't remain vocal about the bad, companies will implement in excess to the possible detriment of art and society.

@AdamNovice I never like this argument. Feels like it fundamentally misunderstands why people complain about dev times.

Sure, there are people that just wish GTA6 was already out. However, there are plenty of others that are specifically critiquing budgets, design bloat, lack of experimentation, and crunch. These are pointed criticisms that AI might only slightly help with in a roundabout way.

@Skinny-Pete I mean, certain countries also invested heavily in crypto. I've yet to see much reason to consider that move pragmatic or predictive; seems like just bandwagoning to inject some life into an economy.

Whether or not the same applies to AI is yet to be seen.

@somnambulance Better idea: Live-service Gnop.

@Sakai So many on this site continue to assert wasting billions on live-service is worth it just to make one Fortnite.

And they seem to ignore that Fortnite just laid off hundreds. Or that, despite actually striking GaaS gold with Helldivers 2, Sony still isn't making infinite money from the initiative.

@Amnesiac That's still really bad business. Put billions on the line to satisfy investors that don't know anything.

@Dalamar I love Astro Bot. But, to your point about PlayStation making 3D platformers unlike anyone else, it really just felt like a Nintendo game.

Not a knock at all against the game itself, but it really didn't feel like classic PlayStation.

@Balaam_ I can't tell ya how badly I hoped the Switch 2 would have a sensor bar built into the dock to replicate Wii pointer controls. Gyro works ok, but pointer is the only suitable substitute for actual light guns we've gotten so far.

I love the occasional roller coaster shooter, but Dualsense/Joy-Con motion controls just don't quite do it for me. I know Polymega was cooking up something. And there was that AI-assisted light gun from Kickstarter. I should really look into how those turned/are turning out.

That's everyone. About everything.

I didn't know how many followers there really were on this Earth until the 'influencer' title became literal.

@Athrum I think a silhouette at the end of the recent trailer. I honestly am not sure; I closed it before it got to the end.