TheUnrestCure

At that price there won't be enough users on PS6 to sell PS6 exclusive titles to, which means more games would need to play on both PS5 and PS6, which means fewer people will be need to buy PS6s, which means fewer PS6s will sell ... this is an interesting time to be a supply-side economist.

No multiplayer, no sale.

I think there is a world of difference between "case by case" and "winging it". The former would imply a critical canvassing of market and player expectations, while the other implies no plan or reason at all.

Dropping the price of Game Pass meant more to me than Xbox exclusives, as an Xbox player, but I can understand how differently I value that Game Pass sub when there are games on it I cannot play elsewhere.

Things that Mr. Henderson could have supplied to bolster his reporting from his "sources" that the game's feedback was overwhelmingly negative: number of Discord participants compared to number of negative feedback entries, supplying the number of "sources" he spoke with (was it 2? 4? 8? 250?), specific feedback claims that quote from the Discord feedback source, a listing of the exact times & dates the closed test occurred, etc. Any of this could have been done without sacrificing his sources' anonymity. I have no idea if Fairgame$ is a crap game or not, and have no horse in the race if it is or isn't successful (although it would be nice to own Sony stock and have a financial interest!), but it seems to me Insider Gaming's article is light on facts and substance and heavy on faith and secrecy. We should demand better if we want to be honestly informed.

Interestingly the source article for this one has zero comments at Insider Gaming. There are (now) 69 and counting here. Evidently bad news is good action.

While I don't want to disturb the denigration train that is going here: this is a bit of a pile-on, as anyone who played the playtest had to sign an NDA to not discuss it (as best has been reported, at least ... wink, wink), so it would be difficult for anyone who actually enjoyed Espresso to describe such. At least for those fearful of breaking their purported contract, of course. Whoever decided to report the Discord feedback channel did so in full anonymity, which ALSO means whatever they presented to Tom Henderson was possibly without context. Only Mr. Henderson can vouch for what was presented to him, but the incredible lack of specifics in his article makes me wonder what was generalized or misrepresented by the source(s). Clearly independent confirmation of what was told to him is his responsibility as an ethical journalist, but I don't see how he can do such with such a lack of reported specifics or acknowledgement of his sources. Maybe the game stinks. All we know is someone who willingly broke an NDA and then wanted to anonymize this action is the source. For me this is less reporting and more speculation. And does that really meet the criteria for fair and even commentary? We'll just have to figure out our individual tolerance for that on our own, I gather.

Hordes. Not hoards.

I'd love to see a new big-budget Uncharted game, full of explosions, thievery, and snark. But what I don't understand is Sony's reticence to use the Uncharted title in ways outside of that big-budget type game: there are a host of game types/modes that could bring us the characters and stories without the cost. An Uncharted Reigns game would be awesome (they just worked the Witcher into that style!), or even a Telltale-type chapter story (hell, even something like an Inkle game would be stupendously good with Nate, Elena, & company) would keep the name alive and draw new interest and new players. And while some kind of roguelike would be a shock, something replayably dramatic could be a smaller project that pays dividends (literally) - just see The Rogue Prince of Persia for a little inspiration. Or a reboot of the mobile puzzle Uncharted 4 playalong! Even a turn-based job like The Lamplighters' League but with Uncharted flavor and characters could hit a audience. Point being: not using the IP is WASTING the IP.

It looks very nice. If I had a game room where I could keep collectibles it would be a nice addition, which is probably the market they are mainly appealing to.

As someone who wasn't overly interested in Marathon before the last playtest ... I am very much looking forward to it now. Make of that what you will.

I've had a lot of fun with it. Surprisingly there are lots of Level 1 players to match with in Quick Match, so it is evidently bedding in new players still. I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but once you figure out the synergies and up the difficulty it really rewards team play.

It's a fun game when there is a full lobby with mics; granted that isn't as often as you'd like but it does happen. The game has a simple concept that is executed really well so I'm excited to see there are more plans in store for it. I think it could yet catch fire if just a few things fall into place for it.

I enjoyed Concord (while it lasted) so take my view with a grain of salt, but: unless Sony puts out some really interesting perks to encourage people to play Marathon - like winners getting discounts on games or PS+ or something incredibly unique and special - I don't think most people are even going to TRY Marathon, which would doom it quickly. It looked sterile and uninteresting in the latest beta, and I'm not sure how Bungie can "refine" their way out of that.

Nacon did a passable job with the WRC license for many years, but none of their titles ever really lit the racing world on fire. Yes, WRC racing is niche and incremental improvement is nice, but Codies was always gonna be the better dev for this title. Too bad they aren't now. Maybe at least we'll get a true rallycross expansion out of this?

Umbrage. Not umbridge, as much as JK Rowling would make you think it is.

Would I be interested? It may be the last game I'll ever need to buy if they allow mods.

Question for the author & editor: why is the word "actually" being used in the line "it's worth mentioning that our video producer Aaron has actually been playing Concord on PS5 over the last week or so"? Is that to suggest Aaron playing Concord is unexpected? That's interesting considering this is a gaming site: to play games is unexpected?

Outside of slaughtering The Prodigy and Keith (RIP) with whatever crap remix/remake that was ... with all the ridiculous movement already in CoD this new Omnimovement is going to make this super sweaty. I think I'm passing.

@Golem25 Thank you for providing proof of the absolute insanity of online discussion with people who have neither good intent nor good manners. For this kinda trouble I should just hang out on the Steam forum to look for high-quality #$%^posting like the "General Playercount Watch Thread"; this "ass" game sure does draw a lot of attention from people who don't like it ; )

@Golem25 That's a rather cynical and nasty view of the game. I purchased early access as the game looked to be interesting, well-developed, and fun. And it is. With PC crossplay on matching times usually took less than 10 seconds. The advantage of making the game a paid one is that players "bought" into the game, making for a more stable playerbase. I'm sure there will be a time to critically review the launch plans and indeed the quality of the game, but to assert the game is best not played takes a special kind of selfish myopia.

It must be very tough to be a game developer nowadays. They come up with a unique art style, develop characters that have different roles & abilities but can still function individually, try to develop interesting settings for the game's world, and offer a variety of game modes & experiences for players of all interest and skill to play in ... and then just get crapped on, just because. The game isn't even out yet but the cynics' judgements have arrived.

@Mikey856 Eurogamer's preview included this tidbit: "Personally, I'm hoping for an art gallery where you're tasked with preventing soup-throwing vandals and heists. "Stay tuned," Huskins hints." You may yet get your wish ...

I just pre-ordered mine on the US Playstation store. Yesterday it said sold out, but today it was available. Perhaps Sony is rolling out availability to restrict the "limited edition reselling fanciers" from performing their mercantilist ethos.

A 400 word review? This is a bit terse for a "review".

I don't play The Sims. I do play Xcom.

I'd rather an Xcom 3 than a Sims competitor. But good luck to Jake & company anyways!

Just wait until everyone realizes how farcical the live service system is with attracting & retaining players: publishers & developers don't need a QUANTITY of players, only a QUALITY of players. They don't need 10k players when only 200 of them are the whales driving the funding. They just need those 200 players. Thus long-term content isn't king like we would assume ... just long-term items that interest the whales.

I guess I'll have to sell a few consoles to afford it, but it's new, it's gaudy, it's my wife I have to convince to let me buy it ; )

As someone who has watched EA-developed games consistently replace player expectation (BF 2042, PvZGW Neighborville) and desire (SWBF2) with simple money-grabbing game design, and has let productive titles (Medal of Honor, pretty much anything single-player) wither in order to concentrate players into more streamlined $$$-making experiences ... I fully expect EA to just let Pro Clubs starve as justification to remove it from the experience. If the mode cannot be monetized to the max EA will work hard to reduce and remove it.

@PhhhCough That's a tough price point at this ... err, point. While I definitely think there are more than enough quality titles to play on PSVR to qualify the $250 purchase, being this close to redundancy - which PSVR2 will certainly bring - there won't be much "legs" to PSVR nowadays. On the upside? Sony (and used game stores) seems to offer fantastic sales on quality PSVR titles almost weekly. You can fill up your backcatalog very fast and quite cheaply.

Sneaky sneaky Smiths fans ...