You are preaching to the choir here. Apparently they used to eat white rice and cold meat for breakfast until the 1920s, which I deem to be a crime against humanity.
It talks about how in the early 1900s, it would have been really odd and bizarre to eat eggs and bacon for breakfast. Nowadays, it's normal. That's because Bernays, in the employ of companies that wanted to sell more eggs and bacon, used his new marketing tactics to normalize it. And obviously succeeded.
Poof, now nobody remembers or knows you would have been thought of as a crazy person to eat eggs for breakfast back then. We are all sheep apparently able to be guided this way or that fairly easily it seems!
Did you ever read 'Bernays and Breakfast'? Summarizes how susceptible people are to marketing, even (or especially) the savvy customers who think they are immune to it. Yeah, I definitely see some parallels.
I get so much conflicting information on this acquisition thing, which is frustrating because I need to know which Fortune 500 company I should swear my undying allegiance to.
Capcom is the only mega publisher I still respect or haven't had some huge mis-step in the last 5 years. Seems like all the other big publishers - Ubisoft, Bethesda, Konami, SquareEnix, Blizzard, Activision, EA, TakeTwo - have been in a race to the bottom for years. They call them Capgod for a reason.
Looking forward to their showcase. RE Code Veronica Remake please and thanks.
I know digital is the future, but won't be buying. Also I find the reasoning disingenuous; if they want to save money or "keep costs down", they could just charge 10 more dollars or euros for the physical edition. I've been arguing digital copies should be around 10 bucks cheaper compared to physical for years now anyways. It's always been pure greed that they charge the same price for digital copies while saving money on manufacturing and distribution. I've heard retailers demand price parity but that doesn't stand up to scrutiny really.
All those people saying nobody cares about physical games anymore, remember about 30% of sales for a given release are still physical. That's a heck of a lot of sales to leave on the table.
I imagine digital sales share will plateau around 85% with the remaining 15% of holdouts refusing to ever buy digital. It will always be a substantial piece of the sales pie. This is ridiculous and I don't get it. Unless - as I suspect - this is just a glorified DRM measure under the guise of cutting costs. Which it is Epic, so yeah...
I see some people want that 4k/60fps but I don't think that's out of the question on the current hardware (at least dynamic 4k/60fps). Like you said, I think devs just poorly optimize their games combined with a culture of releasing unfinished stuff, and that's why we see the performance issues on new releases. Do we really need new hardware already when devs haven't fully tapped the current PS5? Seems a bit early when we haven't even seen what the box we already have can really do.
My whole thing about a PS5 Pro is they haven't really justified that yet because there have been very few PS5 only games, and I'd argue none of them really maximized the potential of the current hardware, so we don't need a whole new, more powerful system just yet.
Part of the reason I feel that way is their insistence on cross releasing games on PS4/PS5. If they decided to finally leave PS4 behind, then waited say about 2 years of PS5-only releases, I'd be open to a Pro. It's just too early for me.
PS4 Pro made a little more sense back then because it introduced 4k, which was badly needed at the time. Can't think of a use case argument for a PS5 Pro at this particular juncture.
As a big physical-only person, seeing all this appreciation for physical games in the comments section brings a tear of joy to my eye.
Digital may take over as the main vehicle for consuming games eventually... but I don't ever see streaming being the only way to play. More of a side hustle than the main attraction so to speak.
The attach rate of 9.6 for the PS4 is some kind of record I think, it was normally much lower even than that! Crazy thought for those of us that buy hundreds of physical games every year.
Fair point. Well Kojima finally got his "real star". I remember hearing rumors he secretly just wanted to work with Sutherland, quality of the game be damned, but I didnt want to repeat that since I couldn't confirm it (the other stuff I wrote comes from Hayter himself). Although it checks out given Kojima using his games as a vehicle to make not so subtle homages to western movies.
What always got me is they never changed the Japanese voice actor for MGSV.
Anyways, I hope Hayter gets another shot at Solid Snake or Big Boss and completely knocks it out of the park. He's absolutely down to do it and everyone is clamoring for it. Now that Kojima is canned I don't see why it can't happen.
C'mon Sony and Konami, make it happen. Give this guy some work, he's the nicest guy in the industry and down to earth.
This guy straight up back stabbed David Hayter (voice of Snake / Big Boss). Hayter didn't know he didn't have the part for MGSV until the game was announced. Not a thank you, not a how do you do, just got ghosted essentially. For the most iconic voice and voice actor in video game history.
And Keifer Sutherland did a terrible job.
Yeah I don't care for this dude's opinion and I'm really curious what went on behind the scenes at Konami. Thinking they may have had some legitimate reasons to get rid of him.
Ground Zeroes was a $40 demo. Not sure pricing was Kojima's fault but seem to recall he 'blamed' the existence of Ground Zeroes on Konami in a previous interview.
Do my eyes betray me? A positive post about a Sony product or service? Are you feeling well sir?
I kid, I am very excited about PSVR2 and glad you are too. I know you are hard to please, but so am I after all. If it can pass your bar then it's gotta be good. GT7 is a big deal for me and I seriously thought it would be very limited in terms of modes / use, so very pleasantly surprised, same as you.
Yeah there are forums full of this crap still debating best orientations for every Sony system going back to PS1 (turn the PS1 upside down and it will read discs better?!) And there has never been any real agreement except, I think, a few specific models of the slim PS2 which did have a known hardware issue when standing vertical would cause the ribbon in the disc tray to come loose and scratch the outer ring of the disc as it spins. This was fixed with the release of the 9000x PS2 models I believe.
Anyways, what I think is going on is people aren't being cognizant of a roughly 2-3% hardware failure rate straight off the factory floor and right out of the box (higher for PS3). They are just shipped in a state where they are non-operational or will be in a short period of time due to manufacturing errors. Your PS4 sounds like it fits the bill. Then people assign these external factors to it, like what orientation you had it in when it never really mattered.
You guys really trying to crack the code of a multi-pronged social issue in the PushSquare comment section, huh? That's bold. Hold on, let me grab a beer before you continue, I want to watch. This is why we come here folks.
This is a great opportunity for Bloober Team to show what they can really do. I liked Layers of Fear alright for the type of game it was, but putting Bloober Team up against Team Silent is like a junior varsity high school basketball team up against an all-star NBA team.
I'm rooting for them though. Everyone loves an underdog and maybe they just never had the right opportunity until now.
They refuse to elaborate on whether a controversial scene made it in, directly after saying it's a faithful remake. Not sure how to feel about that.
Also, for any dev doing a remake, they almost always say something along the lines of "We are being really faithful while trying to draw in a new audience." You can almost put a stopwatch to it, it is absolutely boilerplate at this point to say it. It's reached a Pavlov's Dog level of conditioned response. Could be true, could not be - gotta wait for the game to come out to see.
Positive is they brought back some of the original Team Silent guys to oversee this, so I'm cautiously optimistic.
Would agree with the overall sentiment from other commenters SquareEnix is a notoriously mismanaged company. I don't have a business admin degree but multiple Square execs have more or less admitted to it in various interviews going all the way back to the Square-Enix merger. They have a few big hitters (praise YoshiP for FFXIV), but they are wildly inconsistent and perhaps the most delay-prone publisher in the history of the video game industry, and I say that with no hyperbole or exaggeration.
Square isn't exactly a trainwreck though. They remain profitable. And every other game they put out is at least "good" or better, even if that is a far, far cry from the glory days of 90s Square where everything they touched was pure gold. Still, based on Sony's previous acquisitions it seems unlikely they buy Square as they seem to stay away from companies not on very solid ground.
Also, Square flirting with NFTs and block chain stuff smells like desperation a bit, and that stuff supposedly isn't a part of Sony business going forward so seems not a great fit overall. Different business ideologies it seems.
Yeah I do believe Ragnarok has more mass appeal than Elden Ring and is better at letting all types enjoy it. That doesn't make it the better game to me, even slightly, but there is value in that absolutely. It's awesome to see people new to the hobby being able to jump into Ragnarok alongside the 30+ year veterans.
God of War was purdy good. But a game hasn't grabbed me like Elden Ring in 5+ years.
Elden Ring had a lot of reused stuff and if you try to 100% it (which looks like a lot of people did), it DOES have quite a bit of repetition in the side dungeons and bosses. But if you look at it as a complete package, the totality of it as an experience, it was amazing. Although any one component of it taken by itself does not amaze besides the music and art direction, if that makes sense.
I'm not sure of the two which is the better game, but Ragnarok will fall out of the conversation in a few years, tops. It will be vaguely recalled as a very good game with bombastic setpieces and razor sharp gameplay. While I believe Elden Ring will keep getting mentions as something special and analyzed 20 years from now. Not that this necessarily makes it the better game though...
God of War was great, but Elden Ring was something really special.
Look, I openly admit it is wrong-headed and elitist, but I can't help how I feel about it. I'm not perfect, and yeah I agree trophies are worthless except what they mean to you the player. And to me, they are a badge of a challenge overcome. I have "easy" games on my list that I played just because I thought they were good games like Tales of the Borderlands. And I'm actually proud of those too.
I'm talking specifically about those 5 minute platinum games. Why do people do that? Like, you want to see your numbers and stats go up, I get that. But if anyone actually takes a few seconds to look at your game list, the jig is up and any small sort of esteem you were trying to get is instantly vanished. And yeah, I always look. The accounts I delete I consider the equivalent of an email spam folder.
I would put it this way: I detest people that stack their accounts up with these games. But I wouldn't go so far as to ban or remove the garbage games from PSN. I don't like that people do this, but I respect people's right to do what they want up to and including infecting their account with these digital STDs.
I'm talking about a very weird and specific breed of trophy hunter. The people that blow hundreds of dollars on junk games to pump their score up to those of us that have been doing this regularly for 14+ years now. They absolutely have the right to do it. They just won't be doing it on my friend's list is all I'm saying. And the 150 or so people that go for trophies on my friends list would agree with me. But that's okay, I'm sure they have their own friends. It takes all kinds after all!
I would love to see the Final Fantasy: Advent Children movie villains get some screen time in one of these Remake games. It would make zero sense chronologically but hey, the remake story already makes zero sense.
You also have Genesis, Weiss, Nero, Azul, Roche, etc... There's a lot of goofy crap in this series and I think they need to go whole hog.
Since Crisis Core is considered canon despite being a bit odd, I think it will enhance the future Remake entries, as I imagine some villains and plot beats from Crisis Core will be referenced or even included directly (due to the altered timeline story Remake is going for).
As another person mentioned, Intermission went off the rails and included Dirge of Cerberus villains, so Genesis seems like a no brainer for inclusion in future games.
Those weird moments from Intermission were a dive into the Dirge of Cerberus corner of the Final Fantasy mythos, perhaps the most obscure and odd entry in the FF7 canon. So yeah, that game was FF7 with Dragon Ball Z villains essentially. Thought it was random in a kinda cool way to see callbacks to Dirge of Cerberus, of all things.
I think they are saving the other main villain of the FF7 series (Genesis from Crisis Core) for future remake entries. Just a theory.
"The storytelling borders on utterly nonsensical at times, and again, it's always been like this."
You just described every JRPG's storyline/dialogue. This coming from a JRPG fan. Japan isn't exactly known for weaving Shakespearian tales into its games, a few exceptions aside. The goofy, juvenile writing in these games is part of the charm sometimes though.
Found it, pre-ordered, then promptly realized there aren't any games I'm excited for beyond RE4. But I am - very - excited about RE4.
I might be rationalizing here, but if you look at it like a console launch (the price certainly matches up to a new console), the games are always lacking up front and you are always sort of gambling on that promise of future content. While it's technically a peripheral I guess, the PSVR 2 is its own platform distinct from PS5 in my mind. It has its own processors, screen, and games library.
VR is the only truly new frontier in gaming to me, so the price wasn't as much of an object. Pretty disenfranchised with current gen gaming so far (incremental, slight improvements). I do wish the price was lower so it was more accessible to others though. I want more people to try VR, however they can (Quest/PSVR/whatever).
I suppose that makes sense, having more reviews approaches the "true" average and the score is less affected by outliers. So less reviews equals the scores varying wildly for the same game. Haven't thought about it that way 🤔
Great point. Though, if Xbox has less reviews and therefore more variation in the score, wouldn't you see Xbox underperform the PS version just as often (as the outliers could bring the score either up or down)? Why does it seem Xbox consistently has a one to two point boost? I was typing in random multiplatform games and every one I looked up, the Xbox version scores were equal or higher, never less. But again, I was just randomly looking up games, not exactly scientific. Might be confirmation bias on my part.
I don't know if it was fair of me, but I always viewed overly enthusiastic Stadia supporters similarly to Scientologists. Strange folks who live on the fringes of society and have their own secret clubhouse or something. A very passionate bunch for sure though. "Streaming is the future!"
Amen brother. I never really understood it. But then again, I'm finding there are many things I do not understand about modern culture 😔
Somebody understands it though, because some of these people make more money than I would in 100 lifetimes. Buuut... if being poor is the price for being able to avoid the more insane aspects of the internet and "news" media, that is a price I am willing to pay. Can't put a dollar amount on my mental health.
Yeah. This burgeoning generation of Youtube and social media influencers always felt off. Pedaling their opinion and commentary like it's some sort of commodity. Some have original content or good humor so I don't want to paint them all with the same brush. But why do we want to watch people who self-indulgently stare at a camera screaming out their opinion for a living? We live in a world where opinions aren't worth the air they travel through to reach your ears, why am I interested in their take? I mean, what's the value proposition here?
Nobody expected the UK regulators to re-examine the deal. All I heard over and over is regulators dont't actually do their job (true) and allow almost every merger with no resistance. The situation with US Airlines and telecom corps. merging after '08 is a ridiculous example of what I'm talking about.
The deal will go, but it hopefully prevents more mega-publisher buyouts... for either of these two huge soulless companies. What can I say, I'm an optimist.
Alternatively, it goes through and Sony responds by buying a big publisher (though not as big as Activision of course) and we continue to descend further into this maelstrom of corporate greed. From Software's IPs? SquareEnix? I don't like any of this.
I'm not sure I care which Fortune 500 company comes out on top. But this whole trend of consolidation is no good.
There will be some hemming and hawing but the deal will go through. Microsoft probably getting more pushback to this than it expected. Good news to this story - whichever plastic box you have meaninglessly self-identified with - is Microsoft is done with the mega acquisitions after this one, at least for a good while. No more buying mega publishers for a good while after this pushback (hopefully). They blew their load on Candy Crush and Call of Duty, which is a relief to me. Commercially successful garbage, but garbage nonetheless.
Buying a large publisher is ridiculous and should be off limits, in an ideal world... build your own stuff like everyone else.
"The PSP was also notable for its pioneering XMB interface, which would later be adopted by the PS3 as well."
Little know but interesting factoid (to me, anyways): the XMB pre-dated the PSP. The first iteration appeared on the Playstation 2, specifically the PSX which was a Japan-only turbocharged PS2 with digital video recording capabilities. It looks like a huge white TiVo and was the most "fully featured" version of that console.
Comments 872
Re: Microsoft's Potential Game Plan in 2020: 'Spend Sony Out of Business'
@themightyant
You are preaching to the choir here. Apparently they used to eat white rice and cold meat for breakfast until the 1920s, which I deem to be a crime against humanity.
Re: Microsoft's Potential Game Plan in 2020: 'Spend Sony Out of Business'
@Shepherd_Tallon
I hadn't heard that. Tying women smoking to equality and the women's suffrage movement... That's pure, diabolical genius. Guy was dangerous.
Re: Microsoft's Potential Game Plan in 2020: 'Spend Sony Out of Business'
@Shepherd_Tallon
It talks about how in the early 1900s, it would have been really odd and bizarre to eat eggs and bacon for breakfast. Nowadays, it's normal. That's because Bernays, in the employ of companies that wanted to sell more eggs and bacon, used his new marketing tactics to normalize it. And obviously succeeded.
Poof, now nobody remembers or knows you would have been thought of as a crazy person to eat eggs for breakfast back then. We are all sheep apparently able to be guided this way or that fairly easily it seems!
Re: Microsoft's Potential Game Plan in 2020: 'Spend Sony Out of Business'
@Shepherd_Tallon
Did you ever read 'Bernays and Breakfast'? Summarizes how susceptible people are to marketing, even (or especially) the savvy customers who think they are immune to it. Yeah, I definitely see some parallels.
Re: Microsoft's Potential Game Plan in 2020: 'Spend Sony Out of Business'
I get so much conflicting information on this acquisition thing, which is frustrating because I need to know which Fortune 500 company I should swear my undying allegiance to.
Re: Microsoft's Potential Game Plan in 2020: 'Spend Sony Out of Business'
This whole thing has descended into a trailer trash race to the bottom for all involved parties... And I'm here for it.
Re: First Final Fantasy 16 Review Awards a Near-Perfect Score
Back in the good old days, a Famitsu 40/40 score was a big freakin' deal. Really something to write home to your mom about.
Nowadays... let's just say their editorial standards have slipped.
Re: 27 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games Confirmed for Big June Update
I would just echo the others on here to highly recommend Inscryption.
Re: Mortal Kombat 1 Will Bury Krypt System for Unlocks, Replacement Teased for PS5 Release
Can't wait for the new 'Kredit Kard' unlock system. It's gonna be big.
Re: In a Shock Twist, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Will Have Music on PS5
These sly devils are building up to their FF7 Rebirth NFT announcement, I know it. This is some 5D chess they are playing on us, and we are not ready.
Re: The Next Capcom Showcase Airs Next Week
Capcom is the only mega publisher I still respect or haven't had some huge mis-step in the last 5 years. Seems like all the other big publishers - Ubisoft, Bethesda, Konami, SquareEnix, Blizzard, Activision, EA, TakeTwo - have been in a race to the bottom for years. They call them Capgod for a reason.
Looking forward to their showcase. RE Code Veronica Remake please and thanks.
Re: Alan Wake 2 Is a Digital-Only Release, $60 on PS5
I know digital is the future, but won't be buying. Also I find the reasoning disingenuous; if they want to save money or "keep costs down", they could just charge 10 more dollars or euros for the physical edition. I've been arguing digital copies should be around 10 bucks cheaper compared to physical for years now anyways. It's always been pure greed that they charge the same price for digital copies while saving money on manufacturing and distribution. I've heard retailers demand price parity but that doesn't stand up to scrutiny really.
All those people saying nobody cares about physical games anymore, remember about 30% of sales for a given release are still physical. That's a heck of a lot of sales to leave on the table.
I imagine digital sales share will plateau around 85% with the remaining 15% of holdouts refusing to ever buy digital. It will always be a substantial piece of the sales pie. This is ridiculous and I don't get it. Unless - as I suspect - this is just a glorified DRM measure under the guise of cutting costs. Which it is Epic, so yeah...
Re: PS5 Pro Is '100%' Happening, Says Reliable Report
@SgtTruth
I see some people want that 4k/60fps but I don't think that's out of the question on the current hardware (at least dynamic 4k/60fps). Like you said, I think devs just poorly optimize their games combined with a culture of releasing unfinished stuff, and that's why we see the performance issues on new releases. Do we really need new hardware already when devs haven't fully tapped the current PS5? Seems a bit early when we haven't even seen what the box we already have can really do.
Re: PS5 Pro Is '100%' Happening, Says Reliable Report
My whole thing about a PS5 Pro is they haven't really justified that yet because there have been very few PS5 only games, and I'd argue none of them really maximized the potential of the current hardware, so we don't need a whole new, more powerful system just yet.
Part of the reason I feel that way is their insistence on cross releasing games on PS4/PS5. If they decided to finally leave PS4 behind, then waited say about 2 years of PS5-only releases, I'd be open to a Pro. It's just too early for me.
PS4 Pro made a little more sense back then because it introduced 4k, which was badly needed at the time. Can't think of a use case argument for a PS5 Pro at this particular juncture.
Re: Soapbox: I No Longer Think Subscriptions Like PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Are the Future of Gaming
As a big physical-only person, seeing all this appreciation for physical games in the comments section brings a tear of joy to my eye.
Digital may take over as the main vehicle for consuming games eventually... but I don't ever see streaming being the only way to play. More of a side hustle than the main attraction so to speak.
The attach rate of 9.6 for the PS4 is some kind of record I think, it was normally much lower even than that! Crazy thought for those of us that buy hundreds of physical games every year.
Re: Konami's Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake Reportedly Out Next Year
I just watched David Hayter read the script of The Little Mermaid in Solid Snake's voice at a comicon and my body is ready for this.
"Hey... you're pretty good."
Re: Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes Was an Experiment Fans 'Didn't Understand'
@NorthwestEagle
Fair point. Well Kojima finally got his "real star". I remember hearing rumors he secretly just wanted to work with Sutherland, quality of the game be damned, but I didnt want to repeat that since I couldn't confirm it (the other stuff I wrote comes from Hayter himself). Although it checks out given Kojima using his games as a vehicle to make not so subtle homages to western movies.
What always got me is they never changed the Japanese voice actor for MGSV.
Anyways, I hope Hayter gets another shot at Solid Snake or Big Boss and completely knocks it out of the park. He's absolutely down to do it and everyone is clamoring for it. Now that Kojima is canned I don't see why it can't happen.
C'mon Sony and Konami, make it happen. Give this guy some work, he's the nicest guy in the industry and down to earth.
Re: Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes Was an Experiment Fans 'Didn't Understand'
This guy straight up back stabbed David Hayter (voice of Snake / Big Boss). Hayter didn't know he didn't have the part for MGSV until the game was announced. Not a thank you, not a how do you do, just got ghosted essentially. For the most iconic voice and voice actor in video game history.
And Keifer Sutherland did a terrible job.
Yeah I don't care for this dude's opinion and I'm really curious what went on behind the scenes at Konami. Thinking they may have had some legitimate reasons to get rid of him.
Ground Zeroes was a $40 demo. Not sure pricing was Kojima's fault but seem to recall he 'blamed' the existence of Ground Zeroes on Konami in a previous interview.
Re: Marvel's Avengers Support Officially Ends in September, Three Years After Release
Another one for the live service graveyard. Who's next?
Re: Gran Turismo 7 on PSVR2 Is the Full Game, Except for Split-Screen Play
@NEStalgia
Do my eyes betray me? A positive post about a Sony product or service? Are you feeling well sir?
I kid, I am very excited about PSVR2 and glad you are too. I know you are hard to please, but so am I after all. If it can pass your bar then it's gotta be good. GT7 is a big deal for me and I seriously thought it would be very limited in terms of modes / use, so very pleasantly surprised, same as you.
The lineup is impressive and cannot wait!
Re: Placing Your PS5 Vertically Could Kill It, Unverified Claims Suggest
@tinCAT-zero
Yeah I've heard of it actually working. Never tried it myself 🤔
Re: Placing Your PS5 Vertically Could Kill It, Unverified Claims Suggest
@LP09
Yeah there are forums full of this crap still debating best orientations for every Sony system going back to PS1 (turn the PS1 upside down and it will read discs better?!) And there has never been any real agreement except, I think, a few specific models of the slim PS2 which did have a known hardware issue when standing vertical would cause the ribbon in the disc tray to come loose and scratch the outer ring of the disc as it spins. This was fixed with the release of the 9000x PS2 models I believe.
Anyways, what I think is going on is people aren't being cognizant of a roughly 2-3% hardware failure rate straight off the factory floor and right out of the box (higher for PS3). They are just shipped in a state where they are non-operational or will be in a short period of time due to manufacturing errors. Your PS4 sounds like it fits the bill. Then people assign these external factors to it, like what orientation you had it in when it never really mattered.
Re: Placing Your PS5 Vertically Could Kill It, Unverified Claims Suggest
To this day people still argue about all the urban legends of what orientation was best for the PS2, horizontal or vertical.
Glad to see this tradition continues.
Re: 20 Most Anticipated PS5, PS4 Games of 2023 as Voted By You
I'll take me some of that there Resident Evil 4 with a side of Final Fantasy XVI. Japan is coming back, baby!
Re: Silent Hill 2 Remake Dev Taking 'Very Safe Approach' to Any Changes
You guys really trying to crack the code of a multi-pronged social issue in the PushSquare comment section, huh? That's bold. Hold on, let me grab a beer before you continue, I want to watch. This is why we come here folks.
Happy New Year.
Re: Silent Hill 2 Remake Dev Taking 'Very Safe Approach' to Any Changes
This is a great opportunity for Bloober Team to show what they can really do. I liked Layers of Fear alright for the type of game it was, but putting Bloober Team up against Team Silent is like a junior varsity high school basketball team up against an all-star NBA team.
I'm rooting for them though. Everyone loves an underdog and maybe they just never had the right opportunity until now.
Re: Silent Hill 2 Remake Dev Taking 'Very Safe Approach' to Any Changes
They refuse to elaborate on whether a controversial scene made it in, directly after saying it's a faithful remake. Not sure how to feel about that.
Also, for any dev doing a remake, they almost always say something along the lines of "We are being really faithful while trying to draw in a new audience." You can almost put a stopwatch to it, it is absolutely boilerplate at this point to say it. It's reached a Pavlov's Dog level of conditioned response. Could be true, could not be - gotta wait for the game to come out to see.
Positive is they brought back some of the original Team Silent guys to oversee this, so I'm cautiously optimistic.
Re: Square Enix Commits to Business Consolidation in 2023 as Sony Buyout Rumours Start Again
Would agree with the overall sentiment from other commenters SquareEnix is a notoriously mismanaged company. I don't have a business admin degree but multiple Square execs have more or less admitted to it in various interviews going all the way back to the Square-Enix merger. They have a few big hitters (praise YoshiP for FFXIV), but they are wildly inconsistent and perhaps the most delay-prone publisher in the history of the video game industry, and I say that with no hyperbole or exaggeration.
Square isn't exactly a trainwreck though. They remain profitable. And every other game they put out is at least "good" or better, even if that is a far, far cry from the glory days of 90s Square where everything they touched was pure gold. Still, based on Sony's previous acquisitions it seems unlikely they buy Square as they seem to stay away from companies not on very solid ground.
Also, Square flirting with NFTs and block chain stuff smells like desperation a bit, and that stuff supposedly isn't a part of Sony business going forward so seems not a great fit overall. Different business ideologies it seems.
Re: Game of the Year: #1 - God of War Ragnarok
@ErrantRob
Yeah I do believe Ragnarok has more mass appeal than Elden Ring and is better at letting all types enjoy it. That doesn't make it the better game to me, even slightly, but there is value in that absolutely. It's awesome to see people new to the hobby being able to jump into Ragnarok alongside the 30+ year veterans.
Re: Game of the Year: #1 - God of War Ragnarok
26% voted it should be higher than number 1 on the list. I think that pretty much sums up the PushSquare crowd.
Great game though, for sure.
Re: Game of the Year: #2 - Elden Ring
God of War was purdy good. But a game hasn't grabbed me like Elden Ring in 5+ years.
Elden Ring had a lot of reused stuff and if you try to 100% it (which looks like a lot of people did), it DOES have quite a bit of repetition in the side dungeons and bosses. But if you look at it as a complete package, the totality of it as an experience, it was amazing. Although any one component of it taken by itself does not amaze besides the music and art direction, if that makes sense.
I'm not sure of the two which is the better game, but Ragnarok will fall out of the conversation in a few years, tops. It will be vaguely recalled as a very good game with bombastic setpieces and razor sharp gameplay. While I believe Elden Ring will keep getting mentions as something special and analyzed 20 years from now. Not that this necessarily makes it the better game though...
God of War was great, but Elden Ring was something really special.
Re: Fill Your PS5, PS4 Trophy Cabinet with Dirt Cheap Platinum Games
@SerJosh97
Look, I openly admit it is wrong-headed and elitist, but I can't help how I feel about it. I'm not perfect, and yeah I agree trophies are worthless except what they mean to you the player. And to me, they are a badge of a challenge overcome. I have "easy" games on my list that I played just because I thought they were good games like Tales of the Borderlands. And I'm actually proud of those too.
I'm talking specifically about those 5 minute platinum games. Why do people do that? Like, you want to see your numbers and stats go up, I get that. But if anyone actually takes a few seconds to look at your game list, the jig is up and any small sort of esteem you were trying to get is instantly vanished. And yeah, I always look. The accounts I delete I consider the equivalent of an email spam folder.
I would put it this way: I detest people that stack their accounts up with these games. But I wouldn't go so far as to ban or remove the garbage games from PSN. I don't like that people do this, but I respect people's right to do what they want up to and including infecting their account with these digital STDs.
I'm talking about a very weird and specific breed of trophy hunter. The people that blow hundreds of dollars on junk games to pump their score up to those of us that have been doing this regularly for 14+ years now. They absolutely have the right to do it. They just won't be doing it on my friend's list is all I'm saying. And the 150 or so people that go for trophies on my friends list would agree with me. But that's okay, I'm sure they have their own friends. It takes all kinds after all!
Re: Preview: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Is a Great Remaster of an Awkward 2007 Spinoff
I would love to see the Final Fantasy: Advent Children movie villains get some screen time in one of these Remake games. It would make zero sense chronologically but hey, the remake story already makes zero sense.
You also have Genesis, Weiss, Nero, Azul, Roche, etc... There's a lot of goofy crap in this series and I think they need to go whole hog.
Re: Preview: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Is a Great Remaster of an Awkward 2007 Spinoff
@Th3solution
Since Crisis Core is considered canon despite being a bit odd, I think it will enhance the future Remake entries, as I imagine some villains and plot beats from Crisis Core will be referenced or even included directly (due to the altered timeline story Remake is going for).
As another person mentioned, Intermission went off the rails and included Dirge of Cerberus villains, so Genesis seems like a no brainer for inclusion in future games.
Re: Preview: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Is a Great Remaster of an Awkward 2007 Spinoff
@Thrillho
Those weird moments from Intermission were a dive into the Dirge of Cerberus corner of the Final Fantasy mythos, perhaps the most obscure and odd entry in the FF7 canon. So yeah, that game was FF7 with Dragon Ball Z villains essentially. Thought it was random in a kinda cool way to see callbacks to Dirge of Cerberus, of all things.
I think they are saving the other main villain of the FF7 series (Genesis from Crisis Core) for future remake entries. Just a theory.
Re: Preview: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion Is a Great Remaster of an Awkward 2007 Spinoff
"The storytelling borders on utterly nonsensical at times, and again, it's always been like this."
You just described every JRPG's storyline/dialogue. This coming from a JRPG fan. Japan isn't exactly known for weaving Shakespearian tales into its games, a few exceptions aside. The goofy, juvenile writing in these games is part of the charm sometimes though.
Re: PSVR2 Game Pricing Revealed as Pre-Orders Go Live
@huyi
If this is anything like the first PSVR, the price should see a pretty steep drop down the road. Larger library, cheaper game prices too.
The smart play is to wait anyways. Early adopters are not smart. I am not smart. 😂
Re: PSVR2 Game Pricing Revealed as Pre-Orders Go Live
Found it, pre-ordered, then promptly realized there aren't any games I'm excited for beyond RE4. But I am - very - excited about RE4.
I might be rationalizing here, but if you look at it like a console launch (the price certainly matches up to a new console), the games are always lacking up front and you are always sort of gambling on that promise of future content. While it's technically a peripheral I guess, the PSVR 2 is its own platform distinct from PS5 in my mind. It has its own processors, screen, and games library.
VR is the only truly new frontier in gaming to me, so the price wasn't as much of an object. Pretty disenfranchised with current gen gaming so far (incremental, slight improvements). I do wish the price was lower so it was more accessible to others though. I want more people to try VR, however they can (Quest/PSVR/whatever).
Re: God of War Ragnarok Is Now Sony's Highest Rated PS5 Game
@Fight_Teza_Fight
I suppose that makes sense, having more reviews approaches the "true" average and the score is less affected by outliers. So less reviews equals the scores varying wildly for the same game. Haven't thought about it that way 🤔
Great point. Though, if Xbox has less reviews and therefore more variation in the score, wouldn't you see Xbox underperform the PS version just as often (as the outliers could bring the score either up or down)? Why does it seem Xbox consistently has a one to two point boost? I was typing in random multiplatform games and every one I looked up, the Xbox version scores were equal or higher, never less. But again, I was just randomly looking up games, not exactly scientific. Might be confirmation bias on my part.
Re: God of War Ragnarok Is Now Sony's Highest Rated PS5 Game
Removed
Re: God of War Ragnarok Is Now Sony's Highest Rated PS5 Game
Removed
Re: The Callisto Protocol Hints at the Hideous Truth in Blood-Drenched Black Iron Story Trailer
Looks amazing. Sensing possible H.P. Lovecraft vibes and possible eldritch goings-on, similar to the monoliths from Dead Space.
Re: Sony Gates Customer Service Priority Behind New PS Stars Program
Get to the back of the line peasants. Level 4 Playstation Stars member here! swaggers on up to the front sipping a code red mountain dew
Haha. Sony what the heck man.
Re: Once Considered a PlayStation Competitor, Google Stadia Is Shutting Down
I don't know if it was fair of me, but I always viewed overly enthusiastic Stadia supporters similarly to Scientologists. Strange folks who live on the fringes of society and have their own secret clubhouse or something. A very passionate bunch for sure though. "Streaming is the future!"
Re: Ubisoft Issues Strong Response to Embargo Breaking YouTuber
@NEStalgia
Amen brother. I never really understood it. But then again, I'm finding there are many things I do not understand about modern culture 😔
Somebody understands it though, because some of these people make more money than I would in 100 lifetimes. Buuut... if being poor is the price for being able to avoid the more insane aspects of the internet and "news" media, that is a price I am willing to pay. Can't put a dollar amount on my mental health.
Re: Ubisoft Issues Strong Response to Embargo Breaking YouTuber
"Influencers"
Yeah. This burgeoning generation of Youtube and social media influencers always felt off. Pedaling their opinion and commentary like it's some sort of commodity. Some have original content or good humor so I don't want to paint them all with the same brush. But why do we want to watch people who self-indulgently stare at a camera screaming out their opinion for a living? We live in a world where opinions aren't worth the air they travel through to reach your ears, why am I interested in their take? I mean, what's the value proposition here?
Re: Test Your PlayStation General Knowledge - Issue 18
7. I have failed you all.
Re: Sony Won't Let Microsoft's $69 Billion Activision Acquisition Go, Stresses It's Bad for Gaming
@MaikonCSGarcia
Nobody expected the UK regulators to re-examine the deal. All I heard over and over is regulators dont't actually do their job (true) and allow almost every merger with no resistance. The situation with US Airlines and telecom corps. merging after '08 is a ridiculous example of what I'm talking about.
The deal will go, but it hopefully prevents more mega-publisher buyouts... for either of these two huge soulless companies. What can I say, I'm an optimist.
Alternatively, it goes through and Sony responds by buying a big publisher (though not as big as Activision of course) and we continue to descend further into this maelstrom of corporate greed. From Software's IPs? SquareEnix? I don't like any of this.
Re: Sony Won't Let Microsoft's $69 Billion Activision Acquisition Go, Stresses It's Bad for Gaming
I'm not sure I care which Fortune 500 company comes out on top. But this whole trend of consolidation is no good.
There will be some hemming and hawing but the deal will go through. Microsoft probably getting more pushback to this than it expected. Good news to this story - whichever plastic box you have meaninglessly self-identified with - is Microsoft is done with the mega acquisitions after this one, at least for a good while. No more buying mega publishers for a good while after this pushback (hopefully). They blew their load on Candy Crush and Call of Duty, which is a relief to me. Commercially successful garbage, but garbage nonetheless.
Buying a large publisher is ridiculous and should be off limits, in an ideal world... build your own stuff like everyone else.
Re: Best PSP Games
"The PSP was also notable for its pioneering XMB interface, which would later be adopted by the PS3 as well."
Little know but interesting factoid (to me, anyways): the XMB pre-dated the PSP. The first iteration appeared on the Playstation 2, specifically the PSX which was a Japan-only turbocharged PS2 with digital video recording capabilities. It looks like a huge white TiVo and was the most "fully featured" version of that console.