electrolite77

@streetzman

That’s a really strange post. As I say, if you can’t feel the difference fine, but others can. I’m not sure why you’re in denial about that, you just need to accept that fact and that you’re missing out. Either way, developers making sure games have 60FPS options isn’t something that should upset you so much.

Good month for an Essentials subscriber. Bit devalued if you’re on Premium.

What an amazing effort. Brilliant.

Might just be a mistake. Let’s hope so, it’s really handy to know. Much better than the ‘surprise, guess what’s gone in two weeks!’ approach Game Pass takes.

@Don_Corleone

“Gotham Knights is not that graphically intense compared Horizon forbidden West, and more. Huge games running at 60fps on ps5 right now so why would the developer all of a sudden say they can only do 30fps? Make it make sense”

They are games by different developers. Hope that helps it make sense.

@Don_Corleone

I’ve seen the links. They don’t change the reality. There is no reason why they couldn’t have optimised Gotham Knights for Series X and PS5. Other developers have done so and there is no requirement for parity between Series S and the other two systems. It’s a total red herring and an excuse on their part.

EDIT-It’s just a badly optimised game
https://twitter.com/naytny/status/1583318900090945536?s=61&t=p2f2AcdVDVykLq79geOjUw

@Don_Corleone

Series S existing is not the reason Gotham Knights is stuck at 30fps. The developers could have optimised it for XSX and PS5 and it could have run at a better Framerate on the more powerful systems (as some games already do) but they just didn’t bother. It’s an poor excuse on their part.

@streetzman

Almost all of your post is wrong. Especially the bit about TVs, that made me laugh. If you can’t notice a difference fair enough but I can. That why the only way forward is to give people options.

There should aways be a 60FPS option. Doesn’t matter how much details and resolution have to be dialled back. The key is to give people options. No excuses

Just me who thinks it’s a decent selection then….

It looks fantastic. Loved the depth to everything.

Not being a fan of God of War or VR I wasn’t expecting a lot. So while there was more in the Nintendo Direct for me I was pleasantly surprised by this State of Play. Nothing jaw dropping but definitely a few games to watch e.g.Stellar Blade, Pacific Drive

Two presentations in one day like a mini E3? Can’t remember this happening before but I like it! Hope they both bring the goods now.

So, three years beyond the current agreement which IIRC includes this years, another iteration of Warzone and another game on top of that? Plus there’s talk of a COD releasing every two years rather than one. Don’t think it’s too realistic to expect a written contract for much more than that.

Either way, the two large profit chasing multinational corporations bleating is getting a little tiresome.

@AFCC

They get more like Apple day by day

@Dudeman1

“ no one cares when they go to the store and get charged 30% more for literally everything”

No one cares? What?!

Not a lot for me personally at all, but objectively a pretty strong showing

Very interested but depends on what the games library is.

Also where’s the Vita?

Always thought they would do this. Having the biggest franchise in the world on Game Pass (probably with the odd bit of exclusive content) is a big plus and they can keep coining it in from PS owners.

It seems unlikely right now but I’m old enough to remember when Sony and MS didn’t even make Consoles. Don’t rule anything out. If both sides can make the financials work, it can happen.

@NEStalgia

Couldn’t agree more. Everything we know about Ryan suggests he isn’t what Sony need right now.

For all the panic, Sony are still in a very strong position that they’ve worked hard to create over the last 27 years. They have earned tremendous loyalty from many fans. Challenges come and go, they’ve faced them down before, what they need now is energy, imagination, and creativity. I’d like to see a response in terms of new services, better backwards compatibility to exploit that huge back catalogue they have, development deals, a slew of announcements even.

Beyond that I’d like to see a pivot to the Japanese market. Not just because personally I’ve been disillusioned by the Americanisation of Playstations output (and I have) but because there’s real potential there in terms of software that I think MS would struggle to exploit.

But will we see that? I’m not confident.

@NEStalgia

Well said. I really hope this focuses Sony and wakes them up. A renewed interest in the Japanese market would be a start. At the minute they’re in a pincer movement between MS attacking them in the West and Nintendo eating all their Sushi in Japan. They still have a very strong position, they just need to shake any complacency off. I just hope the current leadership are capable.

This might be a bit of an overreaction. First, COD may not go exclusive anyway. If you look at the best selling PS4 games as of Feb 2020, 6 of the top 14 are COD. This isn’t like Elder Scrolls or Starfield, that would be a lot of money to leave behind, especially with the MTX revenue that generates. There’s a benefit to Xbox just in having it on GP when other consumers have to pay £70, and in having exclusive maps etc. I also don’t think the average gamer who’s paid £450 for a PS5 expecting their annual COD/FIFA with a few other games on top would take too kindly to suddenly being told that isn’t happening. Xbox would have to tread very carefully with such a move.

If it does disappear of Playstation then yes that’s a blow to Sony. A lot of revenue disappears and a chunk of the casual market probably ups and moves to Xbox. But it isn’t the end of the world, it just means a closer Generation sales wise, possibly with MS edging out on top. But it isn’t just about ‘winning,’ Sony will still have a great system with a load of great games (some exclusive) and make a lot of money. If (like me) you were never bothered about COD in the first place PS5 will still be fantastic.

I think MS saw the chance to pick up a large Company for a decent price that gives them some of the family friendly properties (Crash and Spyro) they’ve been after for their games portfolio. A company that could do better if they can fix the poisonous culture-something good for the industry in general.

However it’s mainly about other markets. The deal gives them a good foothold in Mobile gaming, strengthens their position in esports with Overwatch and gives them a huge MMORPG that they don’t currently have. It’s about their battle with Tencent and Apple more than their battle with Sony in one segment of the market.

No rush. Take your time.

No no no. Absolutely no justification for a single player game to require an Online connection. Just don’t.

Good article. Fanboys will fanboy but it’s good to see Editorial content steering clear of zealotry. I agree with a lot of it. I thought it was a good, solid show overall but nothing Earth shattering though we do have to make allowances for the Covid effect. I bounced off GOW 2018 anyway and Ragnarok looks so similar it didn’t excite me at all. KOTOR was welcome but nothing was shown. Some other decent games but my PS5 is currently underused next to my Series X and Switch and nothing shown suggested that will change soon.

PS5-Sackboy multiplayer with my wife and eldest boy. Great fun.

Series X-Desperados 3, Flight Sim, Deaths Door

Switch-Mario vs Rabbids Donkey Kong DLC

@james_games

That’s a shame. It’s worked most of the time for me. Barring one of the Lego games to my eldest boys regular annoyance 😀

@james_games

I think if you trade up you’re always going to be looking across at the other side and feel like you’re missing something. Both are really good systems with lots to offer. I prefer using the Series X for Quick Resume and the better (IMO) UI. Game pass and the extensive BC means I’ve got a lot of variety installed. But that’s background really. If you’re choosing it really comes down to games.

@james_games

I’m similar to you in that I got a Series X first and picked up a PS5 in July, trading in my PS4 Pro. I wanted to play Rift Apart and Astros Playroom along with being able to play the Spider-Man games, Sackboy, Ghost of Tsushima and Ratchet and Clank 2016 in the best available quality. It’s a bit of a stretch for me to justify the cost, especially in the middle of a spate of Xbox releases I want to play, but I like shiny things and usually buy all the major systems.

If you aren’t bothered about any of the exclusives I honestly wouldn’t bother. More will be along at some point. If that’s the case PS5 doesn’t have a lot to offer over the SX/GP combination. If you haven’t got much on Series X and are thinking of swapping over completely that might be worth it.

A real shame. PES has overtaken FIFA again since 2015 in terms of playing a good game of football, though it lacks the glitz and glamour of FIFA. This is especially true in single player. This feels like the end now. FIFA or nothing.

@sanderson72

I can see the logic in reducing the PS4 but like I say I don’t think it’s a big priority for them. It could be that the transistor shortage is hindering production/pushing up production cost. But even if not I’d say the goal is to not be left with inventory. They could ramp up production and drop the price only to find demand isn’t there. Instead they’ve got a vast existing PS4 Userbase along with new PS5 owners to sell their games to.

@sanderson72 @outsider83

Don’t think Sony are fussed about selling PS4s. They don’t want to making many when they’re struggling to get PS5s in the shops, and they can sell PS4 games to PS5 owners anyway.

@Kidfried

Somebody who floated a company valued at $145m in 2018 and has just seen sell it for $1.3 billion 😉

I don’t know what his shares are worth but I suspect he said that quote live from a swimming pool full of money.

@get2sammyb

True, especially as-and I didn’t know this-they’d gone public in 2018.

This feels like bad news. I’ve no evidence for that yet but just a bad vibe. They’ve done lots of great work all the way from Outrun 2006 on PS2 and Virtua Tennis on PSP through Sonic Racing Transformed and to Sackboy which is a fantastic game.

@BerryD @BAMozzy

I’m not complaining about it. I just think their margins will be lower on the Digital because that £90 difference isn’t accounted for by the Blu Ray. I think that’s one of the reasons it’s so scarce, even though (theoretically, though that’s complicated) potentially they stand to make more on software. I think the system is fairly priced for what it is (I still have the receipt for my PS1, bought shortly after launch-£550 in today’s money!).

@BerryD

Stand-alone players do, but internal drives that can read UHD Discs don't.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-BU40N-ARAA10B-Ultra-Slim-Internal-Blu-Ray/dp/B071CPRK74

I’d love to see a new Vita, basically a portable PS4, especially if it was supported properly. However I can understand why Sony aren’t interested.

First, although handheld gaming remains a big market there probably isn’t much space for competition to Nintendo. Second, how do they make it work? If it’s a totally different system it needs two software streams which splits resources. If it’s close enough to a portable PS4 to make porting easy, are people going to rebuy their PS4 games? Or if they can use their existing (digital) games how does the handheld make money?

@Titntin

Of course there are more than one reasons to buy a second Controller, they have more than one use (like rechargeables). I was specifically replying to the comments of “ And I can list a lot of reasons why someone would buy 2 controllers. First reason being to not have to worry about having to stop playing a game to charge their controller cause it's low on battery.” followed by “ I'll take 2 $70 controllers over buying a crap ton of batteries and save money.” Also post #43, same user. As I say, plenty of reasons but to avoid charging is not a good one.

@Titntin

Your link backs up what I said-

“ "[The deal is] for OEM to supply the battery product for the Xbox consoles and also the controllers' battery”

I said “ They have a deal with Duracell to supply the batteries in the box, that’s all.”

There’s not a lot controversial there. That isn’t the reason they continue to use AAs, it’s just the option that gives consumers greater flexibility, especially with Battery Packs carrying over from Controller to Controller as well as the batteries themselves.

Rechargeable is definitely the most environmentally friendly option. Decent rechargeables last ages and take away the risk (as some have alluded to) that a Controller with a dead battery just gets binned because of the difficulty/cost of replacing a proprietary one.

I understand others have different preferences, totally on board with that. I just disagree that proprietary batteries are in any way an advance (same with proprietary cables for example). Just because the industry says they are (because profit) doesn’t make it true.

@Nepp67

“ I'll take 2 $70 controllers over buying a crap ton of batteries and save money.”

Just buying another Controller in case your first one runs out of charge is amazingly uneconomical.

I just looked on Amazon U.K. and a Dualsense is £55.59 while a Battery Charger with 4 decent rechargeable batteries is £19.83

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08H99BPJN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_6HSQNDNCBGAKR83FFVDD

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00RZD32EG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_P42QPNF9MDHGQ1TR7AWQ

@Titntin

They have a deal with Duracell to supply the batteries in the box, that’s all.

https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/318995-microsoft-denies-cutting-secret-deal-with-duracell-over-xbox-controllers

And using AAs isn’t polluting at all. You just buy rechargeables, which given the flexibility is the least polluting option.

Good to see Spencer again being very sensible about the competition and looking to see where they can learn (and steal things) rather than getting defensive.
Series X Controllers are great, there’s a reason they refined rather than innovated and that’s because they already had so much right.

Dualsense is a big step forward for Sony though, in two ways. The extra features are really interesting and worthwhile, and it’s also a big improvement in shape and feel over the dire DS4. Shame about the proprietary battery mind you, the industry really needs to grow out of that.

Hahahaha wow. EA must think their customers are absolute mugs.

@Eldritch777

I’ve got both as well, and a Switch. I hope MS catch up, the best scenario for consumers is all three platform holders having 33% of the market each. Not everyone might agree if they’re overly emotional about a plastic box of electronics sold by a Multinational corporation that just wants their money, but it’s true.

@BAMozzy

Post 73 is just superb. Very nicely put. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

(Rubs eyes)

(Blinks)

(Looks at bottle of whiskey in paper bag)

(Throws bottle away)

I thought this was known for a while. Game looks good but I’ll wait until next year and get it on SX/Gamepass.

@UltimateOtaku91

“ the need for all 3 consoles to enjoy the games you used to love all being on one console.”

It’s always been the case that you needed more than one system to play all the good games in a generation.