@graymamba Yeah, the third person option has me considering this one now. I probably won’t end up getting it because of my large backlog, but it does tempt me. And kudos to Ubisoft for giving the third person for free, as opposed to what I think RE Village did with locking it behind the paid DLC.
@Haggis555 Lol, Well hold onto your hat because the answer is actually NO, it does not!
The concept of Sound is created in the inner ear through a series of vibrations of the ear drum and tiny bones leading to signals interpreted by the brain. So if there is no one there to hear it, the tree truly makes no sound! The tree creates changes in the air around it when it falls (maybe what we’d call “sound waves”) but not actual “sound”. There is no sound without a hearer. 😄
It’s why I love that riddle! You can now tell your friends how wrong they are! 😜
Non-lethal take downs in games are rather funny when you think about it. It’s one thing to tranquillize someone like Snake in MGS, but to “virtuously” do non-lethal incapacitation of enemies like Batman or Spider-Man does isn’t exactly humane in how they are leaving behind a trail of people maimed and brain damaged from being violently beaten down into submission. I guess Bond will leave behind a bunch of criminals permanently disabled with one foot. 😅
I didn’t know the Dreams servers were still active, much less that users were still creating content on it. Reminds me of the riddle: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear, does it make a sound?
This might be enough to lure me back into this game. I thoroughly enjoyed it when I played it back at launch, but I’ve lost since moved on. I’m fairly certain my driving skills are quite rusty, so I don’t know if I will go back to it or not.
I’m not sure the strategy here by Sony though. I appreciate it as a consumer, but not sure why they would release a large free update alongside paid DLC on the same day. Seems that most players will just play with the new free content rather that buy anything additional. Why not spread these two packages out and get two separate bumps in attention to your game?
That’s too bad. Sounds a little underwhelming. Although as a PS+ subscriber I suppose I can’t complain about an upgrade that’s free (with subscription) for me. But of course some people will complain about the hole in the doughnut.
@graymamba Welcome to team Pro! For some reason I thought you already had one. I hope you end up enjoying the extra oomph that the Pro brings. Did you opt for getting a disc drive also?
Edit: Ah, I just now checked and saw your post on the Pro thread in the forums. I am behind on the forums so hadn’t seen it yet.
But as far as the subject at hand, I do think the first party output from the marquee studios are quite safe. I think TLoU2 took some chances and probably was the last one to really subvert expectations and people lost their minds. The complaints of course were narrative ones, but still. The vocal fandom doesn’t like their safe IP to be messed with too much. A similar thing could be said about FFXVI. People freaked out because it strayed too far from the core FF formula.
New IP are risky. For every Stellar Blade there’s a Concord. For every Cyberpunk there’s a Forspoken. And for every Claire Obscur there’s a Minds Eye.
I do think some of the issue is on the management side, where so many games seem to have been created in a board room, void of any artistic input.
Not much for me here but I was curious about Neon White as it garnered some GOTY attention. I’ve never heard of Synduality so maybe that’s worth a look.
By the way, just a minor correction there where the article says “You have got until 6th January 2026 to redeem the three games…” — there’s five games this month and I assume all five are redeemable until the 6th.
Reportedly, Japan’s gaming audience is mobile dominant. I don’t know exactly why since I’ve never visited, but culturally it’s always going to be an uphill battle to engage with the PS5 which has it’s primary focus on visual fidelity and performance that benefit from sitting in front of a large 4K screen.
For good or bad, here in the U.S. nearly every home has a large TV. I’ve been to very humble dwellings and there’s consistently at least a 40 inch television, and often much larger, even when there’s limited furniture or other amenities. Not sure how that compares to Japan.
Maybe a bigger factor though is reliance on public transportation and the general mobility of society that I suspect is present in Japan, as opposed to over here where we jump into our cars to get from point A to point B and don’t really have downtime between destinations. (Although larger Western cities do have a lot who commute through public transit).
Population density also means better cellular coverage, as opposed to the gaps seen in a less populated area. Maybe that more consistent access encourages more mobile gaming as well.
Regardless of the reasons, I find it interesting how a Japanese company doesn’t fare well on its own turf.
Nice! I’m really looking forward to seeing more about Tides of Annihilation. Also First Light, but I feel like we know what we’re getting there. ToA is a lesser known game and one that looked really good in the opening reveal.
@wildcat_kickz @Oram77 Yeah, that’s basically the gist of my long-winded comment on the other article. There’s such a broad range of what is technically “AI” so to either look down on it or praise and boast about are both short-sighted, depending on what is meant by “AI”
@SeaDaVie Yeah, I made a comment over on the other article and mentioned, among other things, that there does seem to be a cultural difference in Asia regarding the term AI and its usage. It seems actually to carry a positive connotation as these statements from the developers are almost boasting about their adoption of AI. I’m not making a judgment call, just an observation.
As a preface, I’m not at all educated in software development, nor am I an artist or a creative.
But in my understanding the term “AI” is really too general to convey what’s really going on. I would think any kind of machine learning could be and has been called “AI.” In which case, hasn’t it been used for many, many years? I think there’s a reflexive bias against the buzzword “AI” now.
From search engines like Google to automated recommendation from things like Netflix or Spotify (“oh, you like x, y, and z so you should check out a, b, and c”). All social media platforms, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc all have AI based algorithms to feed content. Virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa. Autonomous vehicles (safer than humans apparently), automated farming, robotic vacuum cleaners or lawn mowers… I mean, it pervades almost every aspect of our lives at this point and has taken away countless human jobs in the last few decades. But we as a society can’t live without these conveniences at this point. Who would give up Google, YouTube, or even at this point ChatGPT?
When something becomes useful and common enough we just stop labeling it as AI, especially now because the term has such a negative connotation. It’s like many aspects of our behavior where we choose buzzwords and then attach negativity to it when the real discussion should be more nuanced. Generalizing these types of things often makes people draw unfair conclusions.
I’m not advocating for whatever’s going on here at NCSoft; I simply don’t know or understand enough about the processes. But it seems clear that there may be something lost in translation, as well as the fact that culturally the usage of “AI” (both the term and the application of generating art procedurally) is not perceived with as much negativity in Korea/E Asia. In the above quote it almost sounds like the developer is bragging about how much AI they use, so perhaps it carries a positive meaning in Asia as being cutting edge, progressive, or cool in some way.
I guess all I’m saying is that we probably need to be a little less hypocritical, generally speaking, and also develop alternate ways to communicate what we really mean by “AI.”
I might consider replaying this, actually. Not that I need more games to play, especially ones that I’ve already played. But RDR was a really life changing game for me way back on PS3 when I first played it.
The idea of a game set in the Horizon universe with a custom character is a really great one. Too bad I’ll never play it. 😂
Don’t have a gaming PC and I’m really not into mobile phone gaming. I can’t imagine how janky the controls for a kinetic action game like this will be on a phone touchscreen.
@lindos This is true. Now, also to be fair, the £150 is not solely a fee to stream your library. It also grants access to 400+ PS Plus games and retro games, cloud saves, discounts, online multiplayer, etc.
But you’re right in the sense I don’t like that the cloud streaming is tethered to the PS+ Premium level. I would love to have the option to just pay a la carte like… $50 (? that seems fair) a year for streaming and not have it tied to the retro library and online multiplayer stuff, which I don’t use. I do like the Extra catalogue and usually play 7-8 games from it a year, so I was going to have that anyway, so in essence I’m paying an extra $25 a year to have access to cloud streaming, and by upgrading I’m getting all that other fluff along with it (retro library, game trials, Sony pictures movie access) that I won’t use… but the $25 a year for cloud streaming access is well worth it for me.
But I get your meaning. I guess the difference for me is when I spent hundreds of dollars over the years and bought the dozens of games in my PS digital library it was not for the purpose of playing them on a handheld, and so now being able to do so is an absolute bonus. My PlayStation game library already existed, but for those who have a large pre-existing Steam library, a SteamDeck makes more sense.
@Darude84 You don’t need to have your console on now. That’s really the whole point of this and the other articles about this latest update. Cloud streaming = no console necessary. You don’t even have to own a PS5 to play PS5 games on it via the cloud. But yes, the Portal also does remote play connected to your PS5 too, if you wanted to do it that way. For me, I prefer the cloud streaming.
And so then to your point, yes it does need to be connected online to work. But most airplanes have WiFi now. All hotels have WiFi. On the bus you can connect through your mobile hotspot — I’ve not played it on a bus but I’ve cloud streamed through my phone’s hotspot while out and about and it works remarkably well if there’s reasonable cell service. You could conceivably play PS5 games at the city park, out camping, at the coffee shop, in the library, at the break room at work, on a long bus ride… etc. Not sure what the cell tower coverage is in Europe, but over here I spend 90% of my existence where there is a strong cell signal.
Granted the form factor is made for comfort and quality so it’s a bit unwieldy and cumbersome to pull out on a bus or somewhere public, but I think the same would apply to a SteamDeck or even a Switch. These are just a bit too large to handle in some crowded public spaces or slip into a smaller bag. But I could see playing it on an airplane easily, and I’ve played it at hotels and extended family’s homes while visiting.
But it’s not for everyone, and the idea of having a purely offline handheld is enticing to some. When I was looking at getting a SteamDeck I was looking at spending twice the money for it, then having to build a game library from scratch to play on it, where I have hundreds on PlayStation games in my backlog I’d rather be spending time on and that I already own.
@slabula Yeah, that’s a really good point also — I was considering getting a SteamDeck instead of a Portal but I would have to start a whole new library and invest a lot of money buying games, whereas I have a gigantic backlog in the PlayStation ecosystem, hundreds of games. I know SteamDeck has remote play capability through some third party app (chiaki or something like that) but I’ve heard it’s a bit fidgety. On Portal, I log in to my PSN account and instant access remote play and now cloud streaming. For a third the price.
I’ve been proselyting the Portal for the last year and it keeps getting better and better. The form factor is a big plus, as opposed to the Vita, the SteamDeck, or the Switch. The backbone is close, I guess, but having a true DualSense in your hands is a large part of the experience.
Whether it be gaming while watching football, or while laying in bed before turning in, or while traveling away from home, I’ve found plenty of uses for it.
I’ll admit it’s not for everyone and if you’re ok with running the remote play app on your phone and juggling the controller issue or getting a cheaper backbone, then more power to you. For me it’s an inferior experience.
I will say that some games are simply meant to be played on the big screen, so not every ps5 game is appropriate for the Portal. But they wouldn’t be appropriate for any kind of other portable either.
I was excited and went to update my Portal, only to find out the update isn’t quite out yet. It goes live in about 12 hours or so. 🫤 No problem, I’ve waited this long, another half day won’t matter
Seeing people talk about building and running their PC’s is akin to hearing people talk about any number of hobbies or activities that I’m unfamiliar with — overclock, drivers, GPU, CPU, RAM, RTX, ATX… all the other alphabet soup, and random numbers like Rain Man talking… 3050, 5070, 4060, … my eyes just glaze over. 😂
For PC gamers let me explain some console gamers mindset with a story —
At the urging of a friend, I recently went fishing with him. I have never fished and didn’t feel all that interested in it but lots of people like fishing so, I gave in and went with him. Immediately he started talking about tackle and bait and different types of knots, hooks, line, lures, reels, weights and then terms and techniques of casting, leading, sinking, and snagging… and in 15 minutes I was confused and wondering why anyone would go though all this mess and inconvenience (and cost) when you can go to the store and simply buy a fish that’s been cleaned, prepped, and ready to cook and eat.
I know some people get enjoyment from the hunt and catching the perfect fish, just like I know people enjoy scouring for PC parts, building a rig and then tinkering and manipulating the technology. But to deny there’s a barrier to entry for the uninitiated is being entirely too naive. Perhaps I will adopt PC gaming one day, but I will definitely need to do some research and probably get a mentor to walk me through it (hopefully a friend better at teaching than my fishing buddy 😂)
@Fatewalker As someone who doesn’t game on PC, I need clarification (pardon my ignorance), are mods available on day 1? Is the modding community getting early access to games to have mods ready that quickly? I know mods can address issues and add features sooner than the developer but I didn’t know they were ready at the game’s launch.
They’ll probably never do this, but my vote would be for having a menu of a la carte services that we can select from to add to our PS+ menu and have each service have a separate charge. So (for example) $5/mon for each, online access, cloud saves, monthly games, share play, etc.
I subscribe to Premium, but I have no interest or use for the online multiplayer service. I would be happy to give it up. But I want my cloud saves, cloud streaming, monthly games and the Extra library. I have no use for the game trials, the classic collection, or the Sony pictures movie library.
An alternate idea as opposed to a la carte is keep the levels of essential, extra, and premium, but then let us pick and choose which services we want. So for example with an essential sub I could choose 3 from the list, so I could do: Cloud saves, monthly games, and cloud streaming. And someone else may choose: online multiplayer, classics catalogue, and game trials. And yet we both pay the same essential sub price and still get what we want rather than a bunch of stuff we don’t use.
Or another thought: have an option to do one swapped service for your sub. So I subscribe to essential but I swap the online access for cloud streaming. Something like that would be great.
Stray is great, although I’ve played it. I’m glad others who missed it have a chance to try it. And it’s nice to have a WRC game in the library, even though it probably will never get played. And the TABS game I’ve never heard of. 🤷🏻♂️
“Gaming’s competition is short-form video” Ugh, I hate that it’s true, but it probably is. So many countless hours spent watching 30 second videos, only taking a break to read 280 character posts… this is the world we live in.
@LogicStrikesAgain Yes, all games you can play on your PS5 you can also play on your Portal if your remote play them directly from the console. But being able to also cloud stream your digital library adds a definite advantage. Currently we can only cloud stream without a PS5 from the PS+ library (which, granted is 400+ games, but still limits your options).
I find remote play from the PS5 to work well overall, but there’s always a chance you drop your signal for some reason, maybe there’s a power cut at your house that makes your PS5 shut off, etc. Bypassing the need to connect to your console and just going directly from the cloud to your Portal is a very liberating option, especially when traveling. I often find the cloud streaming to be even more stable than remote play, although my issue is mainly due to not having my PS5 hardwired to my router, which makes the remote play connection less stable. When connected via Ethernet the remote play experience is quite solid.
———
For me, I’m thrilled at this possibility of cloud streaming my library to my Portal. It’s something I’ve wanted from the beginning of the beta and if this is indeed implemented it will sway me from buying some titles physically if I can Portal cloud stream a digital purchase.
@Ravix How very apropos. The price is definitely right for this one, but being locked into wired connection is a downside.
Johnny’s already made his choice with the Arctis so we’ll await his review.
I definitely would like a top 5 list of PS5 gaming headsets though. Especially comparing and contrasting PS Link and the various USB dongle wireless tech and various Bluetooth options, with regard to sound quality, compatibility and ease of use, durability, and performance as far as any lag or balance issues.
@rjejr Your comment made me curious, so I looked back and I’d say there’s an average of 1 PS5 game (which is only on PS5 and not PS4) every two months on PS+ essential. If my source is correct we got 7 in 2024 and have received 5 so far in 2025. Some highlights from that group — Alan Wake 2, Dragon Age: Veilguard, Dead Space Remake, Jusant, Immortals of Aveum, Suicide Squad, A Plague Tale: Requiem.
Some of the best PS+ Essential games have been the cross gen ones though — Lies of P, It Takes Two, Diablo IV, etc. but these games have native PS5 versions, so we shouldn’t forget that.
It’s hard to compare to prior generations since there wasn’t backwards compatibility like this before. Also, the PS+ Extra tier definitely changed the whole climate of what games would go on Essential vs on Extra. We didn’t have Extra last gen.
@Oram77 Lol, yeah I have avoided getting into one of these live service games. I guess the closest I’ve come is GT7, but despite constant updates I have jumped off of it after I completed the main solo campaign tournaments. Destiny did come to mind though when I read this article, as it’s a game that did seem to go for that long. And ironically, I had some interest to try to get into Destiny sometime in the mid-cycle but it was fairly impenetrable to newcomers. I think successful live service games need to have a low barrier to entry for new players in order to keep the game relevant. Destiny was able to survive based on its dedicated fanbase, but it launched at a time when live service was in its infancy and the competition for players time and attention was much less.
By all accounts Arc Raiders looks good and there’s an excitement for it. But I think it has to bring something new to have a ten year lifespan. It will be interesting to see if there’s enough bandwidth for both Arc Raiders and Marathon to survive.
Ugh, I don’t like the sound of that. Ten years? Empires rise and fall in that timeframe. 😅
In the year 2035 if I’m still playing the same game on PS7 then something has gone wrong in my life. By then I’ll be getting into my flying car and plugging my brain into the network to download memories directly into the cybernetic chip in my head.
Personally, if we’re talking Sci-Fi FPS, I’d be more interested in a Resistance remake. Killzone never interested me, nor Halo. I know I’m in the minority though.
It’s probably the right choice to avoid spending a bunch right now. With the economy and the industry the way it is, layoffs and closures; not a time to bring on more studios. I have to admit the possibilities seem very tempting to have all the DC, MK, HP, and Mordor IP. Also Game of Thrones, Mad Max, and I forget what else.
Which actually it seems that the Pro is running the game at 60, but leaves open the possibility that the base PS5 can maybe get to that before launch. 🤷🏻♂️
And re-reading that article, it does make me wonder if perhaps the PSSR update that has been talked about is maybe already being piloted with Rockstar on GTA6, so that it will be fully optimized at its launch. And who knows, there’s a chance other games are getting early access to the upscaler also.
@Elfuggingjefe I have to admit, this is what came to my mind also. It’s not just this industry, it’s all different consumer as well as government entities. This focus on efficiency and margins has really spun out of control. I’m not anticapitalist, but I question a lot of executive decision making lately, in many, many industries which has driven this unhealthy obsession with efficiency at the cost of quality products, job security, economic growth, etc.
@Hurblyburbly I’m of a similar mindset. Fairly new to the Pro family and I’m happy overall. And that’s with me mostly just playing BG3 since I’ve had it. 😅 Blasted game goes on forever.
But unlike you, I have kept my base PS5 (for now) and hooked it up to an alternate TV (still a 4K but not 120 Hz like my main) and have hopped back and forth. I’m not a very tech savvy person, but I do feel like it’s an inferior experience whenever I play on my base PS5. And the fan is louder than my Pro (but good grief, people — they are both very quiet. Leagues quieter than the PS4)
So even without playing HFW and Yotei and DS2 and the many other well implemented Pro enhanced games (Cyberpunk, KCD2, Spidey, Rebirth, GT7, etc, etc) there’s a noticeable improvement in overall quality and performance, even causally.
That said, I’m a little put-off by some of these games that have done a poor job of Pro Enhancement. I have the option to go into my alternate gaming set up and play them on the base PS5, but I’d rather not have to.
And I do wonder if the much anticipated Pro PSSR update that was teased for 2026 is going to fix or assist some of these issues that games like OW2 and SHf have had. I suspect it will help quite a bit and we’ll really start to see the power of the Pro after that comes out. Also, GTA6. There’s a good chance that will sell a lot of Pro’s once base users have to settle for 30 fps. We shall see…
I mean, yeah the statement is mostly true if you add the qualifier of ‘live service’ games and ‘online multiplayer’ games. Otherwise for single player and offline experiences, exclusives serve a significant role. It’s true throughout all manner of consumer goods and services.
@rockodoodle Indeed. I did buy an extra long Ethernet cable and I can hardwire it when I really want to, but it does nothing for the aesthetic of my home. 😂. And it’s a trip hazard. But yes, the performance is pretty flawless when streaming from the PS5 when it’s hard-wired.
Comments 4,135
Re: Preview: Avatar PS5 Is Transformed in Third-Person, Expanded in From the Ashes DLC
@graymamba Yeah, the third person option has me considering this one now. I probably won’t end up getting it because of my large backlog, but it does tempt me. And kudos to Ubisoft for giving the third person for free, as opposed to what I think RE Village did with locking it behind the paid DLC.
Re: Someone Made Banjo-Kazooie in Dreams on PS5, PS4, and You've Got to See It
@Haggis555 Lol, Well hold onto your hat because the answer is actually NO, it does not!
The concept of Sound is created in the inner ear through a series of vibrations of the ear drum and tiny bones leading to signals interpreted by the brain. So if there is no one there to hear it, the tree truly makes no sound! The tree creates changes in the air around it when it falls (maybe what we’d call “sound waves”) but not actual “sound”. There is no sound without a hearer. 😄
It’s why I love that riddle! You can now tell your friends how wrong they are! 😜
Re: You May Have a License to Kill, But You Can Finish 007 First Light on PS5 without Murdering Anyone
Non-lethal take downs in games are rather funny when you think about it. It’s one thing to tranquillize someone like Snake in MGS, but to “virtuously” do non-lethal incapacitation of enemies like Batman or Spider-Man does isn’t exactly humane in how they are leaving behind a trail of people maimed and brain damaged from being violently beaten down into submission. I guess Bond will leave behind a bunch of criminals permanently disabled with one foot. 😅
Re: Someone Made Banjo-Kazooie in Dreams on PS5, PS4, and You've Got to See It
I didn’t know the Dreams servers were still active, much less that users were still creating content on it.
Reminds me of the riddle: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear, does it make a sound?
Re: Gran Turismo 7's Biggest Update Yet Available to Pre-Load on PS5, PS4 Now
This might be enough to lure me back into this game. I thoroughly enjoyed it when I played it back at launch, but I’ve lost since moved on. I’m fairly certain my driving skills are quite rusty, so I don’t know if I will go back to it or not.
I’m not sure the strategy here by Sony though. I appreciate it as a consumer, but not sure why they would release a large free update alongside paid DLC on the same day. Seems that most players will just play with the new free content rather that buy anything additional. Why not spread these two packages out and get two separate bumps in attention to your game?
Re: Red Dead Redemption PS5 Another Subpar Re-Release from Rockstar
That’s too bad. Sounds a little underwhelming. Although as a PS+ subscriber I suppose I can’t complain about an upgrade that’s free (with subscription) for me. But of course some people will complain about the hole in the doughnut.
Re: Going Platinum #1: Rocket League
You never forget your first… For me it was PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Ah, the memories.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 609
@graymamba Welcome to team Pro! For some reason I thought you already had one. I hope you end up enjoying the extra oomph that the Pro brings. Did you opt for getting a disc drive also?
Edit: Ah, I just now checked and saw your post on the Pro thread in the forums. I am behind on the forums so hadn’t seen it yet.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 609
More adventures with Tav & Co. At this rate I’ll still be playing BG3 at WAYP issue #700. The game is so long but it’s oh, so good.
Re: Talking Point: Does PS5 Have a Sequel Problem?
Is Astro Bot a sequel… 🤔
But as far as the subject at hand, I do think the first party output from the marquee studios are quite safe. I think TLoU2 took some chances and probably was the last one to really subvert expectations and people lost their minds. The complaints of course were narrative ones, but still. The vocal fandom doesn’t like their safe IP to be messed with too much. A similar thing could be said about FFXVI. People freaked out because it strayed too far from the core FF formula.
New IP are risky. For every Stellar Blade there’s a Concord. For every Cyberpunk there’s a Forspoken. And for every Claire Obscur there’s a Minds Eye.
I do think some of the issue is on the management side, where so many games seem to have been created in a board room, void of any artistic input.
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for December 2025 Announced
Not much for me here but I was curious about Neon White as it garnered some GOTY attention. I’ve never heard of Synduality so maybe that’s worth a look.
By the way, just a minor correction there where the article says “You have got until 6th January 2026 to redeem the three games…” — there’s five games this month and I assume all five are redeemable until the 6th.
@LiamCroft
Re: Best Action Games on PS Plus
A few of these are leaving the service in a couple weeks. I know Forspoken and the Star Wars game are.
Re: PS5 Sales Collapse in Japan as Sony Readies Overdue Rescue Plan
Reportedly, Japan’s gaming audience is mobile dominant. I don’t know exactly why since I’ve never visited, but culturally it’s always going to be an uphill battle to engage with the PS5 which has it’s primary focus on visual fidelity and performance that benefit from sitting in front of a large 4K screen.
For good or bad, here in the U.S. nearly every home has a large TV. I’ve been to very humble dwellings and there’s consistently at least a 40 inch television, and often much larger, even when there’s limited furniture or other amenities. Not sure how that compares to Japan.
Maybe a bigger factor though is reliance on public transportation and the general mobility of society that I suspect is present in Japan, as opposed to over here where we jump into our cars to get from point A to point B and don’t really have downtime between destinations. (Although larger Western cities do have a lot who commute through public transit).
Population density also means better cellular coverage, as opposed to the gaps seen in a less populated area. Maybe that more consistent access encourages more mobile gaming as well.
Regardless of the reasons, I find it interesting how a Japanese company doesn’t fare well on its own turf.
Re: PS5 Welcome Hub Update Adds New Stat Tracking, Backgrounds
I’m not sure I need a visual reminder to shame me for the number of hours I’ve spent in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Re: Gran Turismo 7's New Bonus Credits Offer Feels Cruel for Current Players
@Darude84 Yeah, seems as I recall that the higher level races can net you a couple million credits in a pretty short amount of time.
I’ve not booted up this game for a while, despite keeping it saved on my console. I should give some of the new content a spin. Great game.
Re: Xbox Partner Preview Officially Confirmed for 20th November, Includes 'Brand New Reveals'
Nice! I’m really looking forward to seeing more about Tides of Annihilation. Also First Light, but I feel like we know what we’re getting there. ToA is a lesser known game and one that looked really good in the opening reveal.
Re: Hi-Fi Rush Now Officially in the Hands of 'AI-First' Publisher Krafton
@wildcat_kickz @Oram77
Yeah, that’s basically the gist of my long-winded comment on the other article. There’s such a broad range of what is technically “AI” so to either look down on it or praise and boast about are both short-sighted, depending on what is meant by “AI”
Re: Hi-Fi Rush Now Officially in the Hands of 'AI-First' Publisher Krafton
@SeaDaVie Yeah, I made a comment over on the other article and mentioned, among other things, that there does seem to be a cultural difference in Asia regarding the term AI and its usage. It seems actually to carry a positive connotation as these statements from the developers are almost boasting about their adoption of AI. I’m not making a judgment call, just an observation.
Re: Horizon MMO Uses AI 'Extensively' in Development, Says NCSOFT
As a preface, I’m not at all educated in software development, nor am I an artist or a creative.
But in my understanding the term “AI” is really too general to convey what’s really going on. I would think any kind of machine learning could be and has been called “AI.” In which case, hasn’t it been used for many, many years? I think there’s a reflexive bias against the buzzword “AI” now.
From search engines like Google to automated recommendation from things like Netflix or Spotify (“oh, you like x, y, and z so you should check out a, b, and c”). All social media platforms, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc all have AI based algorithms to feed content. Virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa. Autonomous vehicles (safer than humans apparently), automated farming, robotic vacuum cleaners or lawn mowers… I mean, it pervades almost every aspect of our lives at this point and has taken away countless human jobs in the last few decades. But we as a society can’t live without these conveniences at this point. Who would give up Google, YouTube, or even at this point ChatGPT?
When something becomes useful and common enough we just stop labeling it as AI, especially now because the term has such a negative connotation. It’s like many aspects of our behavior where we choose buzzwords and then attach negativity to it when the real discussion should be more nuanced. Generalizing these types of things often makes people draw unfair conclusions.
I’m not advocating for whatever’s going on here at NCSoft; I simply don’t know or understand enough about the processes. But it seems clear that there may be something lost in translation, as well as the fact that culturally the usage of “AI” (both the term and the application of generating art procedurally) is not perceived with as much negativity in Korea/E Asia. In the above quote it almost sounds like the developer is bragging about how much AI they use, so perhaps it carries a positive meaning in Asia as being cutting edge, progressive, or cool in some way.
I guess all I’m saying is that we probably need to be a little less hypocritical, generally speaking, and also develop alternate ways to communicate what we really mean by “AI.”
Re: Sony Flexes Its Almighty Marketing Muscle with PS5 Promos Around the World
“PlayStation is a place you go to experience things you can’t in real-life.”
At the end of the day, this is why I play video games.
Re: Another Horizon Online PS5 Game Is Coming Before Horizon 3, It's Claimed
But will it be as good as Light of Motiram? We can only have so many robot dinosaur games, after all.
Re: First PS Plus Extra Game for December 2025 Announced
I might consider replaying this, actually. Not that I need more games to play, especially ones that I’ve already played. But RDR was a really life changing game for me way back on PS3 when I first played it.
Re: Horizon Dev Guerrilla Won't Abandon PS5, Has 'More' Games Coming
The idea of a game set in the Horizon universe with a custom character is a really great one. Too bad I’ll never play it. 😂
Don’t have a gaming PC and I’m really not into mobile phone gaming. I can’t imagine how janky the controls for a kinetic action game like this will be on a phone touchscreen.
Re: Hands On: PS Portal Is a Whole New Device with Cloud Streaming Update
@lindos This is true. Now, also to be fair, the £150 is not solely a fee to stream your library. It also grants access to 400+ PS Plus games and retro games, cloud saves, discounts, online multiplayer, etc.
But you’re right in the sense I don’t like that the cloud streaming is tethered to the PS+ Premium level. I would love to have the option to just pay a la carte like… $50 (? that seems fair) a year for streaming and not have it tied to the retro library and online multiplayer stuff, which I don’t use. I do like the Extra catalogue and usually play 7-8 games from it a year, so I was going to have that anyway, so in essence I’m paying an extra $25 a year to have access to cloud streaming, and by upgrading I’m getting all that other fluff along with it (retro library, game trials, Sony pictures movie access) that I won’t use… but the $25 a year for cloud streaming access is well worth it for me.
But I get your meaning. I guess the difference for me is when I spent hundreds of dollars over the years and bought the dozens of games in my PS digital library it was not for the purpose of playing them on a handheld, and so now being able to do so is an absolute bonus. My PlayStation game library already existed, but for those who have a large pre-existing Steam library, a SteamDeck makes more sense.
Re: Hands On: PS Portal Is a Whole New Device with Cloud Streaming Update
@Darude84 You don’t need to have your console on now. That’s really the whole point of this and the other articles about this latest update. Cloud streaming = no console necessary. You don’t even have to own a PS5 to play PS5 games on it via the cloud. But yes, the Portal also does remote play connected to your PS5 too, if you wanted to do it that way. For me, I prefer the cloud streaming.
And so then to your point, yes it does need to be connected online to work. But most airplanes have WiFi now. All hotels have WiFi. On the bus you can connect through your mobile hotspot — I’ve not played it on a bus but I’ve cloud streamed through my phone’s hotspot while out and about and it works remarkably well if there’s reasonable cell service. You could conceivably play PS5 games at the city park, out camping, at the coffee shop, in the library, at the break room at work, on a long bus ride… etc. Not sure what the cell tower coverage is in Europe, but over here I spend 90% of my existence where there is a strong cell signal.
Granted the form factor is made for comfort and quality so it’s a bit unwieldy and cumbersome to pull out on a bus or somewhere public, but I think the same would apply to a SteamDeck or even a Switch. These are just a bit too large to handle in some crowded public spaces or slip into a smaller bag. But I could see playing it on an airplane easily, and I’ve played it at hotels and extended family’s homes while visiting.
But it’s not for everyone, and the idea of having a purely offline handheld is enticing to some. When I was looking at getting a SteamDeck I was looking at spending twice the money for it, then having to build a game library from scratch to play on it, where I have hundreds on PlayStation games in my backlog I’d rather be spending time on and that I already own.
Re: Poll: Is PS Portal the Biggest Surprise Hit of the PS5 Generation?
@slabula Yeah, that’s a really good point also — I was considering getting a SteamDeck instead of a Portal but I would have to start a whole new library and invest a lot of money buying games, whereas I have a gigantic backlog in the PlayStation ecosystem, hundreds of games. I know SteamDeck has remote play capability through some third party app (chiaki or something like that) but I’ve heard it’s a bit fidgety. On Portal, I log in to my PSN account and instant access remote play and now cloud streaming. For a third the price.
Re: PS Portal Gets So Much Better Today in Huge UI, Cloud Streaming Update
@Ravix Absolutely and you know I will!
Re: Poll: Is PS Portal the Biggest Surprise Hit of the PS5 Generation?
I’ve been proselyting the Portal for the last year and it keeps getting better and better. The form factor is a big plus, as opposed to the Vita, the SteamDeck, or the Switch. The backbone is close, I guess, but having a true DualSense in your hands is a large part of the experience.
Whether it be gaming while watching football, or while laying in bed before turning in, or while traveling away from home, I’ve found plenty of uses for it.
I’ll admit it’s not for everyone and if you’re ok with running the remote play app on your phone and juggling the controller issue or getting a cheaper backbone, then more power to you. For me it’s an inferior experience.
I will say that some games are simply meant to be played on the big screen, so not every ps5 game is appropriate for the Portal. But they wouldn’t be appropriate for any kind of other portable either.
Re: PS Portal Gets So Much Better Today in Huge UI, Cloud Streaming Update
I was excited and went to update my Portal, only to find out the update isn’t quite out yet. It goes live in about 12 hours or so. 🫤
No problem, I’ve waited this long, another half day won’t matter
Re: PS Portal Gets So Much Better Today in Huge UI, Cloud Streaming Update
Yes! This is fantastic. Really pumped to have access to additional games and features.
Re: Leaked Cross-Buy Icon on PS5 Hints at Mysterious Pro-Consumer Move from Sony
Seeing people talk about building and running their PC’s is akin to hearing people talk about any number of hobbies or activities that I’m unfamiliar with — overclock, drivers, GPU, CPU, RAM, RTX, ATX… all the other alphabet soup, and random numbers like Rain Man talking… 3050, 5070, 4060, … my eyes just glaze over. 😂
For PC gamers let me explain some console gamers mindset with a story —
At the urging of a friend, I recently went fishing with him. I have never fished and didn’t feel all that interested in it but lots of people like fishing so, I gave in and went with him. Immediately he started talking about tackle and bait and different types of knots, hooks, line, lures, reels, weights and then terms and techniques of casting, leading, sinking, and snagging… and in 15 minutes I was confused and wondering why anyone would go though all this mess and inconvenience (and cost) when you can go to the store and simply buy a fish that’s been cleaned, prepped, and ready to cook and eat.
I know some people get enjoyment from the hunt and catching the perfect fish, just like I know people enjoy scouring for PC parts, building a rig and then tinkering and manipulating the technology. But to deny there’s a barrier to entry for the uninitiated is being entirely too naive. Perhaps I will adopt PC gaming one day, but I will definitely need to do some research and probably get a mentor to walk me through it (hopefully a friend better at teaching than my fishing buddy 😂)
Re: Leaked Cross-Buy Icon on PS5 Hints at Mysterious Pro-Consumer Move from Sony
@Fatewalker As someone who doesn’t game on PC, I need clarification (pardon my ignorance), are mods available on day 1? Is the modding community getting early access to games to have mods ready that quickly? I know mods can address issues and add features sooner than the developer but I didn’t know they were ready at the game’s launch.
Re: Talking Point: If Xbox Drops the Cost, Would You Be Happy Still Paying for PS6 Multiplayer?
They’ll probably never do this, but my vote would be for having a menu of a la carte services that we can select from to add to our PS+ menu and have each service have a separate charge. So (for example) $5/mon for each, online access, cloud saves, monthly games, share play, etc.
I subscribe to Premium, but I have no interest or use for the online multiplayer service. I would be happy to give it up. But I want my cloud saves, cloud streaming, monthly games and the Extra library. I have no use for the game trials, the classic collection, or the Sony pictures movie library.
An alternate idea as opposed to a la carte is keep the levels of essential, extra, and premium, but then let us pick and choose which services we want. So for example with an essential sub I could choose 3 from the list, so I could do: Cloud saves, monthly games, and cloud streaming. And someone else may choose: online multiplayer, classics catalogue, and game trials. And yet we both pay the same essential sub price and still get what we want rather than a bunch of stuff we don’t use.
Or another thought: have an option to do one swapped service for your sub. So I subscribe to essential but I swap the online access for cloud streaming. Something like that would be great.
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for November 2025 Announced
Stray is great, although I’ve played it. I’m glad others who missed it have a chance to try it. And it’s nice to have a WRC game in the library, even though it probably will never get played. And the TABS game I’ve never heard of. 🤷🏻♂️
Re: 'We Want to Be Everywhere, on Every Platform': Microsoft CEO Once Again Commits to PS5
“Gaming’s competition is short-form video”
Ugh, I hate that it’s true, but it probably is. So many countless hours spent watching 30 second videos, only taking a break to read 280 character posts… this is the world we live in.
Re: Rumour: PS Portal Could Be About to Get Even More Compelling
@LogicStrikesAgain Yes, all games you can play on your PS5 you can also play on your Portal if your remote play them directly from the console. But being able to also cloud stream your digital library adds a definite advantage. Currently we can only cloud stream without a PS5 from the PS+ library (which, granted is 400+ games, but still limits your options).
I find remote play from the PS5 to work well overall, but there’s always a chance you drop your signal for some reason, maybe there’s a power cut at your house that makes your PS5 shut off, etc. Bypassing the need to connect to your console and just going directly from the cloud to your Portal is a very liberating option, especially when traveling. I often find the cloud streaming to be even more stable than remote play, although my issue is mainly due to not having my PS5 hardwired to my router, which makes the remote play connection less stable. When connected via Ethernet the remote play experience is quite solid.
———
For me, I’m thrilled at this possibility of cloud streaming my library to my Portal. It’s something I’ve wanted from the beginning of the beta and if this is indeed implemented it will sway me from buying some titles physically if I can Portal cloud stream a digital purchase.
Re: For $1000, Maybe Get Married to Your Favourite Yakuza Character
Stellar Blade’s producers are wondering why they didn’t think of this first.
Re: Hardware Review: RIG R5 Spear Pro HS - Entry Level PS5 Headset Has Surprisingly Great Audio
@Ravix How very apropos. The price is definitely right for this one, but being locked into wired connection is a downside.
Johnny’s already made his choice with the Arctis so we’ll await his review.
I definitely would like a top 5 list of PS5 gaming headsets though. Especially comparing and contrasting PS Link and the various USB dongle wireless tech and various Bluetooth options, with regard to sound quality, compatibility and ease of use, durability, and performance as far as any lag or balance issues.
Re: First PS Plus Essential Game for November 2025 Leaked
@rjejr Your comment made me curious, so I looked back and I’d say there’s an average of 1 PS5 game (which is only on PS5 and not PS4) every two months on PS+ essential. If my source is correct we got 7 in 2024 and have received 5 so far in 2025.
Some highlights from that group — Alan Wake 2, Dragon Age: Veilguard, Dead Space Remake, Jusant, Immortals of Aveum, Suicide Squad, A Plague Tale: Requiem.
Some of the best PS+ Essential games have been the cross gen ones though — Lies of P, It Takes Two, Diablo IV, etc. but these games have native PS5 versions, so we shouldn’t forget that.
It’s hard to compare to prior generations since there wasn’t backwards compatibility like this before. Also, the PS+ Extra tier definitely changed the whole climate of what games would go on Essential vs on Extra. We didn’t have Extra last gen.
Re: Arc Raiders Wants You to Play into the PS6 Generation and Beyond
@Oram77 Lol, yeah I have avoided getting into one of these live service games. I guess the closest I’ve come is GT7, but despite constant updates I have jumped off of it after I completed the main solo campaign tournaments. Destiny did come to mind though when I read this article, as it’s a game that did seem to go for that long. And ironically, I had some interest to try to get into Destiny sometime in the mid-cycle but it was fairly impenetrable to newcomers. I think successful live service games need to have a low barrier to entry for new players in order to keep the game relevant. Destiny was able to survive based on its dedicated fanbase, but it launched at a time when live service was in its infancy and the competition for players time and attention was much less.
By all accounts Arc Raiders looks good and there’s an excitement for it. But I think it has to bring something new to have a ten year lifespan. It will be interesting to see if there’s enough bandwidth for both Arc Raiders and Marathon to survive.
Re: Arc Raiders Wants You to Play into the PS6 Generation and Beyond
Ugh, I don’t like the sound of that. Ten years? Empires rise and fall in that timeframe. 😅
In the year 2035 if I’m still playing the same game on PS7 then something has gone wrong in my life. By then I’ll be getting into my flying car and plugging my brain into the network to download memories directly into the cybernetic chip in my head.
Re: First PS Plus Essential Game for November 2025 Leaked
Really enjoyed the game. Just like many others I played the game through PS+ Extra already, but highly recommend it for those who haven’t.
Re: Random: Fans Can't Believe Halo Is Coming to PS5 Before Killzone
Personally, if we’re talking Sci-Fi FPS, I’d be more interested in a Resistance remake. Killzone never interested me, nor Halo. I know I’m in the minority though.
Re: 'Our Biggest Competition Isn't Another Console': Xbox Doubles Down on Multiformat After Halo PS5 Shock
The Tik-Tokification of humankind. We are truly degenerating as a species.
Re: Sony Rules Out Acquiring Batman, Mortal Kombat Maker Warner Bros
It’s probably the right choice to avoid spending a bunch right now. With the economy and the industry the way it is, layoffs and closures; not a time to bring on more studios. I have to admit the possibilities seem very tempting to have all the DC, MK, HP, and Mordor IP. Also Game of Thrones, Mad Max, and I forget what else.
Re: PS5 Pro Is Definitely Not the Best Place to Play The Outer Worlds 2 at Launch
@Neither_scene I don’t think there’s been confirmation, but I was going back to this article:
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/07/rumour-sony-engineers-allegedly-helping-rockstar-achieve-60fps-in-gta-6-on-ps5-pro
Which actually it seems that the Pro is running the game at 60, but leaves open the possibility that the base PS5 can maybe get to that before launch. 🤷🏻♂️
And re-reading that article, it does make me wonder if perhaps the PSSR update that has been talked about is maybe already being piloted with Rockstar on GTA6, so that it will be fully optimized at its launch. And who knows, there’s a chance other games are getting early access to the upscaler also.
Re: This Is Why Xbox Is Bringing All of Its Games to PS5 Now
@Elfuggingjefe I have to admit, this is what came to my mind also. It’s not just this industry, it’s all different consumer as well as government entities. This focus on efficiency and margins has really spun out of control. I’m not anticapitalist, but I question a lot of executive decision making lately, in many, many industries which has driven this unhealthy obsession with efficiency at the cost of quality products, job security, economic growth, etc.
Re: PS5 Pro Is Definitely Not the Best Place to Play The Outer Worlds 2 at Launch
@Hurblyburbly I’m of a similar mindset. Fairly new to the Pro family and I’m happy overall. And that’s with me mostly just playing BG3 since I’ve had it. 😅 Blasted game goes on forever.
But unlike you, I have kept my base PS5 (for now) and hooked it up to an alternate TV (still a 4K but not 120 Hz like my main) and have hopped back and forth. I’m not a very tech savvy person, but I do feel like it’s an inferior experience whenever I play on my base PS5. And the fan is louder than my Pro (but good grief, people — they are both very quiet. Leagues quieter than the PS4)
So even without playing HFW and Yotei and DS2 and the many other well implemented Pro enhanced games (Cyberpunk, KCD2, Spidey, Rebirth, GT7, etc, etc) there’s a noticeable improvement in overall quality and performance, even causally.
That said, I’m a little put-off by some of these games that have done a poor job of Pro Enhancement. I have the option to go into my alternate gaming set up and play them on the base PS5, but I’d rather not have to.
And I do wonder if the much anticipated Pro PSSR update that was teased for 2026 is going to fix or assist some of these issues that games like OW2 and SHf have had. I suspect it will help quite a bit and we’ll really start to see the power of the Pro after that comes out. Also, GTA6. There’s a good chance that will sell a lot of Pro’s once base users have to settle for 30 fps. We shall see…
Re: Xbox Boss Believes Sony's Strategy of Console Exclusives Is 'Antiquated'
I mean, yeah the statement is mostly true if you add the qualifier of ‘live service’ games and ‘online multiplayer’ games. Otherwise for single player and offline experiences, exclusives serve a significant role. It’s true throughout all manner of consumer goods and services.
Re: PS Portal Still a Huge Success as Sony Reportedly Preps PS6 Handheld
@rockodoodle Indeed. I did buy an extra long Ethernet cable and I can hardwire it when I really want to, but it does nothing for the aesthetic of my home. 😂. And it’s a trip hazard. But yes, the performance is pretty flawless when streaming from the PS5 when it’s hard-wired.