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?
@Contimaloris That's literally what I figuratively said. In my metaphor, "everyone" is every worker.
I dunno if you're reading my comment literally, and saying bakers/food service workers don't receive advocacy. Or are attributing 'cookie makers' some nebulous, metaphorical association that's gone well above my head. But, in either instance, my stance is that OT shouldn't be expected of any laborer, regardless of their job. It might occasionally be necessary in certain emergencies in certain industries, but it should never be the norm anywhere.
Crunch and company-wide OT is always bad. 40/hr work weeks are already arbitrary and excessive. Between working OT-mandatory jobs and working simultaneous jobs, I've spent much of the last decade working 45-55/hr a week. It f***ing sucks; I've had next to no time to develop new skills, had no energy to stay in shape, have had little time for anything besides work and sleep, and am generally more depressed than I was 10 years ago despite being in a better position in life. And, while this is more a economy problem than a work/life problem, I barely have any financial security to show for all my efforts.
I am absolutely f***ing astonished at the amount of distain questioning and/or condemning crunch inspires in some people. 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. You are the type of people that shrug off societal problems as "that's just the way things is" rather than consider how much human misery can be remedied by just changing how things is. We literally have ALL the power to forge our civilization. And we've failed countless in just the last century alone.
Still don't know why so many people think a placeholder texture was a fantastic, irreplaceable, effective use of AI that justified its holistic environmental impact and enabling of the encroaching shrinking worker bases.
The shocking thing about all this wasn't people jumping on beloved developers. It was the sheer amount of "moderates" that not only don't see any problems with AI, but ostensibly encourage it. At least when a company they like uses it.
@MrStark I mean, have you played it? While it immediately left the gamer zeitgeist, I've seen several publications bring it up for GotY season.
I haven't played it, so I can't say. But nothing in your comment implies you've played it either. And insisting it's only here because of an attempt to diversify the list is presumptuous.
@naruball Condemning this is sending a message that consumers don't want AI art. They won't buy AI art, will notice AI art, and don't accept it as a substitute for real art.
This isn't a small fight, this is the war. Condoning it enables it; if one of the biggest games of the year can directly sell free-to-produce nothing art to the masses, then anyone can. And being reductive and outright insulting to people who feel this way sure doesn't paint you as a nuanced moderate. It paints you as an AI apologist that'd rather let it slowly take over gaming then reconcile with its destructive nature.
@Stocksy Do you really think a sticker that an artist can put together in a day or two is significantly driving up the costs of game development? If you haven't noticed, this sticker is apart of a $10 cosmetics pack.
I've still only played the beta (MKWorld and Air Riders won out the arcade racing money this year), but am very surprised this game would deserve this amount of praise. Don't get me wrong, it was fun from what I played, but nothing particularly special. Actual racing was a bit stiff, the rival system was honestly embarrassing to listen to, tracks were fine, the customization options were extremely annoying, music was grating at times, the items felt like nothing Mario Kart clone items, "good" "good" "go-" "good, great." The game's still great — not trying to say it isn't. But it's just a fairly good kart racer to me; I wouldn't say it's as good as Transformed, CTR, Mario Kart 8, or even Mario Kart World (shocked gasp).
@naruball I don't really see how us sitting in front of screens for hours on end is a more worthwhile and respectable activity than being actually invested in the state and direction of global culture, industry, and art creation.
This is like talking down to someone for watching the news when they could be watching Mission Impossible instead.
Maybe these anti-AI, quick-to-rage, AI until proven innocent types are overdoing it. But at least that anger stems from a legitimate passion for artistry, worker rights, and/or environmental awareness.
@MrStark What did genAI have to do with that $10 million? All we know — even though we're hearing conflicting accounts — is that it was used for placeholder textures.
Presumably, AI didn't create its art direction, write its story, compose its music, design its gameplay, or manage the whole project. So what exactly do they have AI to thank for?
I dunno, AI defenders, I fail to see how using AI to create a bunch of subpar, tonally incongruous decals either makes development more efficient or improves the end experience. If this really was made by AI, it just seems like a fast, cheap way to throw nothing art into the game instead of paying someone to get creative.
Maybe find better examples of gen AI improving something before dismissing its amazing ability to pollute and shrink job markets.
When did people become so passionate about defending AI? I've never been outright against it, but it's hard to ignore its many negatives. Namely its egregious environmental drain.
Even besides that, corporations still think it's a suitable replacement for actual workers, many employees forced to use it find it less efficient than otherwise (mostly programmers, from what I can tell), CEOs very obviously invest in it to artificially plump stock value instead of for any actual vision, AI art still sucks, the lack of regulation surrounding it is incredibly concerning, that it steals and appropriates real work by humans without compensation is theft, the entire industry is a self-fallating bubble, and literally none of the tech bros pushing for its widespread implementation seem like reasonable people.
Even in this case, they used gen AI for placeholder textures. Is that even a worthwhile reason to pollute some water? Could the game not have been completed without those placeholder textures? This doesn't seem like an example of AI changing production for the better. Just seems like a small team that needlessly experimented with AI and promptly undid everything it did.
@ecurb7 Yes, about 10% of the franchise's specials are classics. Beyond the specials, there's a bunch of decent shows, a beautiful — if unremarkable — movie, a bunch of average-at-best games, and a long line of comic strips that blur the line between 'that's actually rather clever' and 'is...is there a joke I'm missing...?'
The IP has some good stuff. But it is not a seal of quality.
M'kay. Cool, I guess. I assume this will change next to nothing about how the IP is handled or its output. I mean, maybe more movies — at most.
Hopefully good movies... Although, it's not like Peanuts media has this incredibly high bar of quality to begin with. So I guess it doesn't really matter, anyway. It's kinda like how the Internet had a stroke about Velma and acted like it was this huge offense to the Scooby-Doo brand. Despite the majority of Scooby-Doo media being mediocre at best in the first place (I say that as a big Scooby fan).
@themightyant Eh, possibly. This November wasn't short on big-sellers, though. What with Battlefield 6 (I'd assume the combined sales of BF6 and BO7 at the very least match the sales of BO6), Mario Kart World, Pokemon Z-A, the regular sports releases, Yotei showing some staying power, and several Nintendo games rounding out the new releases. So I would be surprised to learn the drop was really all CoD's fault. But it's possible.
Although I'm only doubtfully acknowledging that for the US. Over in the UK, no article I posted has anything to do with BO7. So we can assume that, if there's any cause/effect relationship, it's that poor physical sales are impacting BO7's sales and retail price rather than BO7's poor sales are notably weighting down the entire physical games market.
Comments 1,630
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.
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 literally what I figuratively said. In my metaphor, "everyone" is every worker.
I dunno if you're reading my comment literally, and saying bakers/food service workers don't receive advocacy. Or are attributing 'cookie makers' some nebulous, metaphorical association that's gone well above my head. But, in either instance, my stance is that OT shouldn't be expected of any laborer, regardless of their job. It might occasionally be necessary in certain emergencies in certain industries, but it should never be the norm anywhere.
Re: 'No Need to Be Embarrassed About It': Zenless Zone Zero Staff Say 'It's Painfully Obvious' They're Working Tons of Overtime
@Contimaloris "Because I didn't get cookies, no one should get cookies!"
Hey, maybe everyone should get cookies. Just a thought
Re: 'No Need to Be Embarrassed About It': Zenless Zone Zero Staff Say 'It's Painfully Obvious' They're Working Tons of Overtime
Crunch and company-wide OT is always bad. 40/hr work weeks are already arbitrary and excessive. Between working OT-mandatory jobs and working simultaneous jobs, I've spent much of the last decade working 45-55/hr a week. It f***ing sucks; I've had next to no time to develop new skills, had no energy to stay in shape, have had little time for anything besides work and sleep, and am generally more depressed than I was 10 years ago despite being in a better position in life. And, while this is more a economy problem than a work/life problem, I barely have any financial security to show for all my efforts.
I am absolutely f***ing astonished at the amount of distain questioning and/or condemning crunch inspires in some people. 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. You are the type of people that shrug off societal problems as "that's just the way things is" rather than consider how much human misery can be remedied by just changing how things is. We literally have ALL the power to forge our civilization. And we've failed countless in just the last century alone.
Re: 'Everything Will Be Made by Humans': Expedition 33 Dev Says No More AI After Post-Awards Heat
Still don't know why so many people think a placeholder texture was a fantastic, irreplaceable, effective use of AI that justified its holistic environmental impact and enabling of the encroaching shrinking worker bases.
The shocking thing about all this wasn't people jumping on beloved developers. It was the sheer amount of "moderates" that not only don't see any problems with AI, but ostensibly encourage it. At least when a company they like uses it.
Re: Game of the Year: #9 - The Alters
@MrStark I mean, have you played it? While it immediately left the gamer zeitgeist, I've seen several publications bring it up for GotY season.
I haven't played it, so I can't say. But nothing in your comment implies you've played it either. And insisting it's only here because of an attempt to diversify the list is presumptuous.
Re: Now It's Battlefield 6's Turn to Face Accusations of Generative AI Usage
@Stocksy Or maybe the $10 should only amplify frustrations over AI.
Re: Now It's Battlefield 6's Turn to Face Accusations of Generative AI Usage
@naruball Condemning this is sending a message that consumers don't want AI art. They won't buy AI art, will notice AI art, and don't accept it as a substitute for real art.
This isn't a small fight, this is the war. Condoning it enables it; if one of the biggest games of the year can directly sell free-to-produce nothing art to the masses, then anyone can. And being reductive and outright insulting to people who feel this way sure doesn't paint you as a nuanced moderate. It paints you as an AI apologist that'd rather let it slowly take over gaming then reconcile with its destructive nature.
Re: Now It's Battlefield 6's Turn to Face Accusations of Generative AI Usage
@Stocksy Do you really think a sticker that an artist can put together in a day or two is significantly driving up the costs of game development? If you haven't noticed, this sticker is apart of a $10 cosmetics pack.
Re: NiGHTS Comes to Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds for Free on Christmas Eve
And this time, they're not a horrific, dehumanized car.
Re: Game of the Year: #10 - Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
I've still only played the beta (MKWorld and Air Riders won out the arcade racing money this year), but am very surprised this game would deserve this amount of praise. Don't get me wrong, it was fun from what I played, but nothing particularly special. Actual racing was a bit stiff, the rival system was honestly embarrassing to listen to, tracks were fine, the customization options were extremely annoying, music was grating at times, the items felt like nothing Mario Kart clone items, "good" "good" "go-" "good, great." The game's still great — not trying to say it isn't. But it's just a fairly good kart racer to me; I wouldn't say it's as good as Transformed, CTR, Mario Kart 8, or even Mario Kart World (shocked gasp).
Re: Now It's Battlefield 6's Turn to Face Accusations of Generative AI Usage
@naruball I don't really see how us sitting in front of screens for hours on end is a more worthwhile and respectable activity than being actually invested in the state and direction of global culture, industry, and art creation.
This is like talking down to someone for watching the news when they could be watching Mission Impossible instead.
Maybe these anti-AI, quick-to-rage, AI until proven innocent types are overdoing it. But at least that anger stems from a legitimate passion for artistry, worker rights, and/or environmental awareness.
Re: Now It's Battlefield 6's Turn to Face Accusations of Generative AI Usage
@MrStark What did genAI have to do with that $10 million? All we know — even though we're hearing conflicting accounts — is that it was used for placeholder textures.
Presumably, AI didn't create its art direction, write its story, compose its music, design its gameplay, or manage the whole project. So what exactly do they have AI to thank for?
Re: Now It's Battlefield 6's Turn to Face Accusations of Generative AI Usage
I dunno, AI defenders, I fail to see how using AI to create a bunch of subpar, tonally incongruous decals either makes development more efficient or improves the end experience. If this really was made by AI, it just seems like a fast, cheap way to throw nothing art into the game instead of paying someone to get creative.
Maybe find better examples of gen AI improving something before dismissing its amazing ability to pollute and shrink job markets.
Re: PS5 Fave Expedition 33 Stripped of Indie Game Awards, But Not for the Reasons You May Think
When did people become so passionate about defending AI? I've never been outright against it, but it's hard to ignore its many negatives. Namely its egregious environmental drain.
Even besides that, corporations still think it's a suitable replacement for actual workers, many employees forced to use it find it less efficient than otherwise (mostly programmers, from what I can tell), CEOs very obviously invest in it to artificially plump stock value instead of for any actual vision, AI art still sucks, the lack of regulation surrounding it is incredibly concerning, that it steals and appropriates real work by humans without compensation is theft, the entire industry is a self-fallating bubble, and literally none of the tech bros pushing for its widespread implementation seem like reasonable people.
Even in this case, they used gen AI for placeholder textures. Is that even a worthwhile reason to pollute some water? Could the game not have been completed without those placeholder textures? This doesn't seem like an example of AI changing production for the better. Just seems like a small team that needlessly experimented with AI and promptly undid everything it did.
Re: Sony Is Buying Snoopy for $457 Million in Surprise Acquisition
@ecurb7 Yes, about 10% of the franchise's specials are classics. Beyond the specials, there's a bunch of decent shows, a beautiful — if unremarkable — movie, a bunch of average-at-best games, and a long line of comic strips that blur the line between 'that's actually rather clever' and 'is...is there a joke I'm missing...?'
The IP has some good stuff. But it is not a seal of quality.
Re: Don't Forget to Unwrap Your Winterfest Free Gifts in Fortnite Every Day
I don't think I can be bothered to care, honestly.
I already have more cosmetics than I really cared to earn (got 'em free), so I've little reason to redeem more cosmetics I'll never use.
Why am I here, you ask? Uhh... Good question...
Re: Sony Is Buying Snoopy for $457 Million in Surprise Acquisition
M'kay. Cool, I guess. I assume this will change next to nothing about how the IP is handled or its output. I mean, maybe more movies — at most.
Hopefully good movies... Although, it's not like Peanuts media has this incredibly high bar of quality to begin with. So I guess it doesn't really matter, anyway. It's kinda like how the Internet had a stroke about Velma and acted like it was this huge offense to the Scooby-Doo brand. Despite the majority of Scooby-Doo media being mediocre at best in the first place (I say that as a big Scooby fan).
Re: Western Sales Have Saved the Trails Series, Falcom Boss Suggests
@Wentos https://www.blog.udonis.co/mobile-marketing/mobile-games/japanese-gaming-market
Re: Ghost of Yotei Wins Big in PS Blog's Game of the Year Awards
@Dogbreath I'm curious how many people will read this and not understand what you mean by "more realistic."
I think gamers are generally bad at differentiating high-fidelity graphics from realistic art direction.
Re: Nov 2025 USA Sales: Black Ops 7 Is the Month's Bestseller, But Struggles to Meet Call of Duty Standards
@themightyant Eh, possibly. This November wasn't short on big-sellers, though. What with Battlefield 6 (I'd assume the combined sales of BF6 and BO7 at the very least match the sales of BO6), Mario Kart World, Pokemon Z-A, the regular sports releases, Yotei showing some staying power, and several Nintendo games rounding out the new releases. So I would be surprised to learn the drop was really all CoD's fault. But it's possible.
Although I'm only doubtfully acknowledging that for the US. Over in the UK, no article I posted has anything to do with BO7. So we can assume that, if there's any cause/effect relationship, it's that poor physical sales are impacting BO7's sales and retail price rather than BO7's poor sales are notably weighting down the entire physical games market.
Re: Ghost of Yotei Wins Big in PS Blog's Game of the Year Awards
"Studio of the Year - Kojima Productions"
List of Death Stranding 2's awards: ...