@Northern_munkey Yeah, you made a good decision mate. YouTube videos and screen shots don't show the differences like you see and feel when your actually playing on one.

That being said, its clearly going to be the best console place to play new release games, and there would be something wrong if it wasn't. 😆

@Kriandis If you could care less, then you care!
The bastardisation of English phrases by Americans who then misquote it so it becomes meaningless, is abohrant.
If you wish to imply you do not care at all, the correct phrase is;
'I couldn't care less'
Every time you say it wrong you are stating the exact opposite of what you intend to say!

Sorry to bring this to your attention - I know you really couldn't care less, but maybe, just maybe, you want to say what you mean rather than the opposite! 👍😃

I definitely understand where the concern is coming from. It’s a bit jarring to see someone as legendary as Yuji Horii—who built the foundation of the JRPG genre by hand—praising tools that feel so contrary to traditional game artistry.

I didn't know what to think, so I asked AI who wrote the above sentence. 🤣

@Stevemalkpus You are completely correct mate. I bought Forza Horizon 4 digitally on Steam and downloaded it to a Steam machine 3 weeks back despite it being delisted about 18 months ago. Because I have the licence too..
People just like to throw shade when its not even there 🤷

Still playing Trails 2nd chapter remake. Really enjoying it.
I've started Galatic Racer which looks like its going to command some time!
Hoping to get to some Gears shortly...and a growing collection of steam games!

Whatever you and yours are playing this weekend, I hope you enjoy it

@Northern_munkey Dunno where I'll get the time, but I intend to play DD2 again as well. My to play list is getting silly now I think Galatic Racer can keep me entertained for a long time...

@Northern_munkey Pedictable isn't it? Some people are just not happy till they have had a preach and a moan. I suspect most are not interested in the games they comment on Have a good weekend bro!

@twitchtvpat I don't understand your comment? I fully intend to buy this game and thought I'd made it clear I will do. I've been all digital for many years now and very happy to be so, hence : No disc, no care.

@Markatron84 Yes mate - its one of the attractions of FH4 for sure! I've restarted FH4 at least 4 times now, PC, Series X and I'm currently playing it on Steam Machine.

@Mr-Cage I think that's unfair mate, I've been here for years and quite frankly he's more likely to tear into playstation than Xbox, but I guess we all see things differently. 😃

@get2sammyb Nah Sammy, if you bounced off FH5 prepare to bounce of FH6 even harder. It does absolutely nothing to exploit its setting, no nighttime Tokyo highway racing very little new of any consequence and a huge wasted opportunity.
I say this as a huge fan of the series with many hundreds of hours in each of the iterations, even FH5. I'm only 60 hours into FH6 and it been on pause since then. I'm playing FH4 on the steam machine instead ATM.
I do intend to come back, ultimately it still has great car handling and a huge map so I'll try again, but I suspect you will not find what you're looking for.

Looking forward to this game for a long time. Thanks for the preview, it would appear the wait was worth it.

No disc? No care!

@somnambulance "I think realistically, we’ve hit more of a “toxic fanbase finally decides that true toxicity is actually their basis than a desire for positive change.” The kids that were cussing in CoD lobbies grew up and became the future, you know?"

One of the best takes and thoughts I've read here for some time and absolutely agree 👏

@Northern_munkey Yes mate, I was hoping Galatic Racing would be the real deal and have been hanging on to £50 in my wallet waiting for reviews to confirm. So many good games ATM, but theres always time for a great racer

Still playing my way through Trails second chapter. I'm enjoying it far more than an old man should. Sometimes heartwarming stories of growing up have a universal appeal.
Just pre ordered the Star Wars Glatic Racing, which looks fantastic, and I'll check out Gears E-day on Game pass, as that looks like a well put together exciting game. I'll have to try and get my wife off the Xbox so I can get a few hours on Gears

Whatever you and yours are playing this weekend, I hope you have fun!

@themightyant Congrats mate. I hope you do find the time for Elden Ring - its my all timer despite not normally playing souls likes, and I know you will 'get' what makes it so special.

Always great to have new options and if you you like this singer I then you may well love this.
But form a pure aesthetic judgement the design is really pretty horrid in my eyes, I would not buy it if they were selling them cheap. It shows blue eyes while hers are brown and a fringe line she doesn't have judging from the picture above, so it doesn't even look like 'lisa'!
But options are always good, just don't make me listen to this

Still haven't picked this up, but the first decent discount and I will be very tempted!

Seems like a sensible decision to drop the game to me.
Kojima had the end of the recent MS showcase to tell us why we should be excited for his game, yet all he did was talk about actors and costumes. Not a dam thing about why we would want to play the GAME. Huge warning sign to anyone who is keen to seen inventive interesting gameplay.

I'm grateful to see any creatives survive the culling, I don't like seeing any studios shutting and I'm gutted for Ninja Theory.
I hope their next game is a big success, and I guess shipping on the platforms of their own choosing will give them a better chance to turn a profit.

This looks fantastic. The reviews I've read have mainly been extremely positive, and as its been mentioned its not too difficult, I might actually get somewhere!
As its on GP later today I'll try it there to download and try it, but if I like it I'll buy it to support the devs and probably buy it for PS5 (though I might show Steam machine some love).

Trails second chapter! Been waiting a long while for this and I'm very keen to get started this weekend...
Any rest time from the Trails and I might play a bit more RDR2 - I have it set up on Steam Machine @ 60hz and swore I'd replay it once it was 60hz.

Whatever you and yours are playing, I hope you have fun.

Glad this has turned out well and I hope it sells plenty - Remedy deserve it.
Like everyone else I'm struggling to play everything I want, but this Def high on the list!

Thanks for the review, excellent stuff.
Having finished the first remake I was really awaiting this ones release - I need closure on that! Weird how you couldn't pre purchase this title though.
Just got £100 PSN credit for £85 (SHOP TO) and I'm waiting for download now, though with my rubbish speeds I need to wait 70 minutes for the game!

I'm kinda waiting to play 'Trails in the Sky Chapter 2' later this week, so I was reluctant to start any big game.
Its kinda ironic then that I've started a new game of Red Dead Redemption 2. I've always waited for a decent 60 FPS patch on console but its never arrived. Now I have a Steam Machine I'm running the game with full ultra PC settings and 60 FPS and the game kinda sucked me in again...
There are so many titles worthy of my attention I'm almost giddy with the choice. Nice situation to be in
Whatever you are playing this weekend, I hope you and yours are blessed with fun and laughter!

Shame it seems like its not quite up to insomniacs blockbuster history, despite such a good IP.
But that being said, I do think its a game I will enjoy and I do intend to pick it up. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but many of my favourite things sit in that category, and that's OK.
I do hope Insomniac get a chance to design a game that's not confined to the Marvel universe - they are too talented to be confined to such a genre..

Shame to hear about the tech issues. With so many of the team no longer available to fix any of it, I suspect it will remain in this state, which would mean I wont be buying this one.
I'll keep my open for updates though as I'd like to play this if it gets fixed.

I thought this was novel game concept and I look forward to finding out more.
I don't think this will be a full price title, but if its priced right I'll be there

If its cheap enough, I'll buy this to support Double Fine despite having access via Game Pass.
Both myself and my wife want to play this again...

If you buy your PSN credit cheap (as everyone should), then this is about £11 for ps plus members. Great and downloading now.

The bigger issue is finding it on the store. Search Keeper and its not listed and not shown in any of the collections or new out tabs. If you look at all 'new out' games and filter by 'just released' you can find it, but its discoverability for a title they just pushed on a SOP is awful.

Lots of games I'm very interested in playing. I enjoyed the first show and then really enjoyed the Jap show with loads of Extra titles I was very interested in.
I didn't come to push as I knew exactly the attitude that would be here and I was correct.

Hideous. I'll stop using Nvidia cards and ensure I don't use this tech. There are decent upscalers which don't use AI to change design and lighting, and I'll be sure to remain with those options for the future.
The side by side Spiderman video shows the hideous flickering this tech is creating - its almost lit by a strobe light. Horrible.

Edit: for the record I controlled art pipelines for AAA games for 20 years. Anyone can have an opinion, but I definitely know what I'm looking at.

Trying not to commit to anything after Black Flag as there are so many games just about to release that I will want to start quickly.

I've played a couple of cutesy Steam games now I have a Steam Machine and can couch game them, and installed Forza Horizon 4 (bought on steam before it was delisted.) Its a joy with ultra settings at 4K and well over 60hz, and I've been sucked back into the game again as its my fave by far.

On Series X I've still not been able to play as my wife has hogged that machine now theres a controller she likes!

On PS5 I've started another game of Dragons Crown Pro as its good silly fun and easy to put down for the new titles when they arrive.

Whatever you are playing this weekend, I hope you have a great time

I'm a big fan of Forza Horizon and play all the games from the original up pretty regularly. Hundreds of hours in 4 and 5.

But I just cant get on with FH6. It looks lovely and it drives like it should, but its getting really stale. They have made so few changes and introduced so little of any consequence. The whole 'festival' thing is old stale and boring and there would have been so many other ways of getting a meaningful story set in Japan. I have only put in about 40 hours, which for me and these games is almost nothing, but this is certainly less appealing to me than no 5 and definitely no 4 which is the pinnacle of this series in my opinion.
So I wouldn't want them to rush this release on PS5. Maybe they will introduce some DLC or mechanic that makes it exciting again.
If you've only played no 5 on PS, then you can probably forget my opinion, I'm sure you'll have a good time regardless. But those of us who've played this series since the begining can and should ask for more improvements and changes before they release almost the exact same formula.
I know I'm probably in the minority, but I'd like to hear from anyone else who is a bit disappointed in how 'cut and paste' this game is from the previous ones. I cant be the only one

I'm not the biggest GTA fan , so I wasn't going to bother immediately. But this game is extraordinary and has details way beyond what other games will be able to offer. As someone who made titles for a living, I want to see what they've achieved in detail. Even if I never complete the game, its important to me to play it. Day one.

This is still my current GOTY and I may have seen credits roll after 200+ hours, but I still feel the pull to jump back in. They have worked hard adding to the base game and I'm keen on seeing what they have added, and to be honest, just existing in the world is a delight.

This looked great to me - but maybe its by association as I think Bullfrogs 'Magic Carpet's is an overlooked classic! Not much of multiplayer player, but I can hope for some single player experience here too

Thought someone had spiked my drink with LSD when the musical number was playing - wtf was that?

For me there was plenty that I wanted to play, but they often suffered from being very similar to each other - every game had a dragon and some magic and a heroes battling with a sword...
From this showing it looks like imagination is in short supply.

However, any gameshow with a new Guitar Hero and a free remaster of Witcher 3 gets a thumbs up from me 👍

I'd like to see them do chapter 3 and complete that trilogy before moving on with the current series. I'm looking forward to chapter 2 - not long now!

This excites me! Definitely down for a bit more pixel junk and Monsters is the best IP

@Rich33 That was nearly a CATastrophe. I'll show myself out..

@Gremio108
You conveniently try and forget that you are far more likely to lose your access to your game with a physical disc. They get scratched, (whole industry built around trying to repair them), stood on and broken, stolen in break ins and lost in fires and other emergencies. All of that stuff happens and happens a lot - you are far more likely to lose access to your games via holding a plastic licence token.

Really good article Sammy, thank you. What an exciting opportunity.

Finally finished AC Black Flag - great game.
I've had my Steam Machine turn up, so I'm playing with that and catching up with some cute steam titles I've been keen to play. Better play it now as there are so many must plays coming in the next couple of months!

Whatever you are playing, I hope you have fun!

Two TV's in this room, both with a PS5 pro connected. The LG oled makes it tough to play a game at slower refresh rates, but our main super bright back lit model is fine and I'm surprised I can play many games at 30fps just fine as long as the rate is consistent..
They could have used pssr 2 to upscale from a lower res and actually ended up with a better stable picture output and the extra headroom would have allowed a 60hz mode. The game sounds like its coming in hot and needed some time to allow such modes to be developed.

I'll play it anyway as I'm not stuck on an oled TV and I expect this game to be valued for far more than its refresh rate.

I'd much rather they spread their ban web wide and had to reinstate a couple of unfairly tagged Devs than leave all that cr@p on the store.
Glad this guy is back!

Loved the first chapter, don't need a demo to know this is day one for me!

So happy to see this. I really liked wukong, so this was game porn for me - looks fantastic!

@PuppetMaster Holy cr@pola! For a fan of Wukong (me), that video is really exciting! Thanks for sharing...

Credit where its due, this is an excellent preview that I find well written and observed - thanks for this insightful writing. I'll be delighted to get my hands on this one

@Robocod Yes mate, looking from the ground up, its very difficult to like what he's been about.
I'm not a shareholder, so strong financials are low on my list of priorities, but we all know that's what will determine if he stays or goes....lets face it, he's staying.

@RoomWithaMoose Concord certainly not.. that was a disaster and a half and no mistake. Certainly not part of the normal churn.
...and the whole Bungie thing is also not normal - they seemed hugely over valued and that kind of botched investment I'll agree is also not normal churn
Social media tends to ensure people have an eye on what your studio is doing these days. I left the business in 2003ish when you could work on something for ages with few knowing what it was. It was rare for a game to get close to publication before it was cut though, that does point to a failure in management structure in identifying its failures earlier... which I guess is ultimately Hermens issue.