Comments 914

Re: Xbox and Arkane's Blade Game Sounds Like It's Still a Long, Long Way Off

StrickenBiged

Unless Xbox is contractually obliged to bring this to market (though even then, contracts can change by agreement...) I would not be surprised to see this cancelled too. Compared to what Xbox chose to cut and layoff, and where it seems to be focussing its efforts (low-risk, reliable properties), this seems more akin to the sort of project that got canned.

I dunno why they stopped making Ultimate Alliance games... those were awesome and would probably do better now following the MCU (the good bits anyway).

Re: PS5 Fans Divided Over Helldivers 2 on Xbox Pivot

StrickenBiged

I get people's concerns, but I truly don't understand why people are so bothered. Presumably the PlayStation beancounters have done the modelling and think this is the best thing for PlayStation's and Helldivers 2's business? If you love PlayStation so much - as I do too! - then surely they're owed a little trust? Sure, they don't always get it right (Concord), but who does? Hell, maybe if and when Helldivers 3 comes out, an XBot will think "hey, I could play that earlier if I bought a PlayStation" and become a Sony Pony?

Re: Ghost of Yotei's Pricey $250 PS5 Collector's Edition Is for the Hardcore Fans Only

StrickenBiged

I’m currently replaying GoT and just started the Iki Island content for the first time a couple of days ago. The new systems on display in the expansion have me even more excited for Yotei than I was before. I still love the feeling you get from the combat when you pull off a perfect parry and your enemy is opened up for a punishing counterattack, even all these hours in.

Re: 'I Feel Like a Total Fraud': Actor Charlie Cox Reflects on Expedition 33 Success

StrickenBiged

As Ben Starr and Jennifer English explain it, this was one of the easiest VO gigs they've ever had, because the creators knew what they wanted from the actors and the key decision makers were at the recording sessions. So as soon as the actor got the line correct, they knew they had the line recorded and they moved on. And the story was nailed down so there was no coming back for more sessions. See Skill Up's recent video on the making of the game.

Re: Poll: How Do You Feel About The Last of Us Part 2, 5 Years Later?

StrickenBiged

I had and still have my issues with the game's opening, which I feel involves too many characters acting out of character so that the instigating event of the plot can happen.
Once you get past that, then there's a tonne of convenient happenstances to allow the plot to keep progressing.
In the latter half, I thought that the stuff with Lev was poorly handled. Anyone with half a brain realised what Lev's situation was ages before they just came out and said it, leaving the impression that the writers thought we might be too stupid to get there ourselves.
But overall, I think it was an effective story. I emphasised with the characters during their respective journeys and felt the feelings the writers wanted me to feel at the right beats.
Not as good as TLoU, but a solid 7/10.

Re: Switch 2 Can't Achieve a Great Experience on Big Screens, PS5 Boss Implies

StrickenBiged

@PlaystationPortalFan You misunderstand me. The original concept for the Vita reportedly had an HDMI-out socket so that you could also play your games on the big screen, but that was taken out to save costs. Had they left it in the Vita then it would have basically been an early Switch, and then who knows, but the Vita line might not have become the abandoned handheld that it is today.

Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business

StrickenBiged

If Asus can make the official XBox handheld, then couldn't Dell, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo, heck, even Sony, make the next XBox that goes under your telly? (For those that want a dedicated device... I notice my TV now has a native XBox streaming app available.)

Hell, all of them could put XBox consoles onto the market at different price points and spec, just like the pre-built PC market.

Re: 'Good Luck with That' - The Outer Worlds 2 $80 Price Has Gone Down Horribly with PS5 Players

StrickenBiged

I can't blame them really, customers have sent the publishers and platform holders the message that they'll pay silly money for 'early access' periods and whatnot.

Gaming is really cheap for me these days. I've got such a big backlog that I've got games to play for years without having to buy anything new. Bar one or two releases a year - Helldivers 2 and Astrobot got me at launch last year, and Death Stranding 2 might this year - I can usually wait for a deep sale.

Re: Site News: Where's Our MindsEye PS5 Review?

StrickenBiged

No review codes going out is usually a massive red flag. I'm still interested in the game though so will wait for those before considering a purchase.

Going off the general vibe though, I'm feeling like this is a RoboCop: Vice City or Callisto Protocol kinda release - not great, but there's something going on in there though - and that it will be on PS+ Essential before very long.

Re: Random: Commemorative Launch Plaque of PS5 Catastrophe Concord Donated to Thrift Store

StrickenBiged

@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare "I think it was the complete apathy towards the game that was the real problem."

I think it was worse than that. There was apathy towards Helldivers 2, for instance, which I think worked in its favour because people didn't have many preconceived ideas about it when it launched and good word of mouth and social media allowed it to be a nice surprise.

The vibe I got was that people were not apathetic towards Concord. Concord was actively being hated on from it's first proper reveal in the State of Play around this time last year.

Re: The Last of Us Season 2's Strangest Scene Was Cut from the Game

StrickenBiged

I thought that scene was weird and, on reflection, was also completely pointless. I suppose they have put it in so that season 3 can call back to it at the same point in the timeline when we see events from Abby's perspective, but by then I doubt that any of the audience will remember a throwaway scene like this.

Re: The Most Addictive Game Ever Is Now Available on PS5, PS4

StrickenBiged

If you know you're into this sort of thing and want a cookie clicker with a bit more gameplay, I highly recommend Vostok Inc, which came out a few years ago now on the PS4. It combines a twin stick shooter with clicker mechanics and was an excellent dopamine rush.

I'll probably end up getting cookie clicker too... I'm an addict.

Re: PlayStation Stars Rewards Program Shutting Down, Sony Confirms

StrickenBiged

That's a shame, as I enjoyed occasionally finding I had enough points to get myself a little store credit for doing things that I was going to do anyway.
I think its a bit unfair of PlayStation to blame poor engagement with the system when they half-arsed the implementation. If it had been properly integrated into the consoles I'm sure it would have seen much higher up take by players.

Re: PlayStation, Hideo Kojima's Next-Gen Physint Game 'Five or Six' Years Away

StrickenBiged

"PHYSINT". It's not Kojima or the marketing department being cute, in this instance. The project's title makes reference to the suffix "INT", which in intelligence and defence circles is used to denote that the intelligence in question has come from a particular source.

For instance, HUMINT is intelligence from a human source, SIGINT is intelligence derived from intercepting signals, IMINT is intelligence derived from analysing images, etc. The point is it's always capitalised.

PHYSINT isn't a real-world category of intelligence, so my guess would be that Kojima intends that this would be a reference to intelligence derived from some sort of sci-fi source, maybe fundamental physics or somehow meta physical.

Re: Random: Hideo Kojima Gave His Studio a USB Stick with All His Ideas on It

StrickenBiged

Hey, PushSquare, I know you don't slavishly follow kooky game names (you call Fairgame$ "Fairgames", for instance), but PHYSINT should be capitalised. It isn't just Kojima or a marketing department trying to be weird.

The capitalisation of "PHYSINT" is a reference to shorthand used in the intelligence and security services for various sources of intelligence, e.g. "HUMINT" is short for human-intelligence, "SIGINT" is signals-intelligence, "IMINT" is images-intelligence, and so on. They are always capitalised.

PHYSINT isn't an official term, but given the game's themes of espionage, it's a fairly clear what Kojima is getting at with the use of the "INT" suffix.