glennthefrog

Sales will tell the tale of whether a product lands with an audience and that's really the only thing that isn't noise.

Some internet tomato throwing means nothing (Hogwarts Legacy) and some is an accurate forecast of what's coming next (Concorde). Arguing with people for or against Laufey today won't effect the actual metric that will determine if it was successful.

I expected it since that's standard for Microsoft. It's the reason I don't even bother with their physical releases, I'll get them at discount in the digital store someday.

@TheSingularity Totally absurd that commenters on an enthusiast site would be enthusiasts.

You don't have to theatrically point out the world has bigger problems. This is the appropriate place to discuss this topic.

It's not so much switching to PC as likely sitting out the next generation mostly or entirely. I'll still have a Switch 2 so it would just be the highest end AAA titles I will miss and tbh I haven't enjoyed those much in recent years anyway.

If I did decide to hop back in PC would be the most logical choice considering the superior stability of Steam vs PSN and when you factor in the annual cost of PS Plus (even just Essential for basic online multiplayer) to the cost of $1k+ PS6 the console price advantage is melting away these days.

Sony has to get the price way way down (like sub 350) for me to even consider it. The all digital bit really hurts them on top of this and makes it easier to cut the cord at least from my perspective. Without the ability to play all my old discs the 6 will have to stand more on its own as a value proposition. I have very few digital purchases. It's a double whammy of incentive to just stick with PS5 rather than move to the next generation.

In addition to the digital only games, for fans of older JRPGs this is the cheapest you'll find Xenogears or Persona 2 (among many others) anywhere.

There's no telling when or if the original versions of some of these PS1 JRPGs will ever be offered again. Hop on them while you have the chance.

Ultimately all that matter is the money.

If people comment and then remain customers nothing will change. If people leave a comment and then close their wallets afterward Sony will take notice.

@Flaming_Kaiser The industry will recover, and could simply evolve in other directions, but yeah it'd be the ultimate sign the good times are over for what we consider AAA gaming.

Personally I think 6 will be a massive success no matter what. Sequels to massive hits are rarely flops, even if people dislike 6 I think it'd redound more onto 7 (or hurt interest in GTA 6 Online). Sort of like how Star Wars 8 was hated but 9 was the one that bombed. People will want to see this for themselves after all this time.

Microsoft clearly did everything they could to keep studio closures out of the headlines at least. Still a massive bloodbath though, but less gamers will be upset if the companies still exist. and MS knew that and acted accordingly.

About a year ago I remodeled my entire entertainment room and displayed my physical collection pf PS1-5 games. Along the way I realized I'd hardly even have enough time to play the many favorites from among that shelf twice more before the end of my life (I'm middle aged) and perhaps it was time to be a full-time retro gamer to enjoy the fruits of that collecting.

PS6 has made that passing thought into the actual plan. I'm fine cutting things after PS5 at my age, I'll ride out Switch 2 as well and that might be it. I have a lifetime of gaming to revisit, the cost and quality no longer justifies anything but that imo.

So for me I'd say cost first and foremost. No physical simply made it very easy and delivered the final push (if there's nothing more to add to the collection it makes a tidy end point).

@Member_the_game 'The only way to go is up...'

Tomorrow's headline: 'Sony insists Harambe deserved it and worse'

I'll be really interested to see how it does at what must surely be a record price in this economy after all the bad PR. I guess they have two years to regain momentum, but right now their reputation is kinda mud.

Add to that, after the long PS4/PS5 transition a lot of people are banking on that again. Will they be able to? Can Sony afford not to?

This is the Playstation console with the most uncertainties since PS1. I could see it being their Wii U in the worst case.

Crosscode is a very good game if you don't already own it, definitely give it a shot.

Nice of them to remind us that digital services end, just as they're demanding everyone give up anything but digital 'ownership'.

Galaxy brains in Sony HQ.

Sony's hubris is going to screw them badly at PS6's launch, as it did with the PS3 launch.

Sony and Microsoft are practically begging for a AAA industry crash. It's like they're trying to speed run the collapse of high-end gaming as a mainstream hobby.

They've done everything they can to crush consumer confidence in them and will turn around and demand 1k+ price of entry in a couple years. Let's see how that works out for them.

Glad they're doing it at the end of PS5's life and before PS6 instead of mid generation, that way I can duck their next console entirely.

Vote with your wallets.

Rare is in danger. That would definitely make a lot of oldsters like me upset.

There is zero chance Netflix adapts that material faithfully for a dozen different reasons. I don't see the point.

@SingleStooge It's possible they could do that, but I'm sure they'll see using the base game as a way to lure people in GTA Online much like 5 and eventually drop it to practically nothing.

If not no great loss really, I always thought GTA was the most overrated game (regardless of generation, they aren't bad but also not really 10/10s to my personal taste if I'm being honest) and generally play it later just to round out my experience in a gaming generation. Didn't play 4 until around 2013 and didn't play 5 until 2020, never played any other GTA games.

So very low stakes here. I worry mainly for friends and fam who are super hyped, especially any buying a console with these prices at this time, I really hope it delivers and isn't a bunch of unproven creators hiding behind a legendary brand until it's too late as we've seen too often recently. The fact they won't show gameplay this late should set off red alarms if you expect quality. It might be a slideshow on base PS5 for all we know.

@Flaming_Kaiser Honestly, no.

I have zero faith in western AAA studios to deliver a game this big without severe problems. I won't be buying day one regardless, so really I'm just hoping it's not disappointing for everyone else. I fully expect it will be a ***** show because Rockstar knows they can get away with it, but that's the cynic in me.

Just don't be another Cyberpunk.

I didn't buy GTA5 until 2020 for $5, probably won't buy GTA6 until it hits the same price.

I hope it doesn't end up being a Cyberpunk situation for the early adopters. People have a lot of faith in Rockstar, but they're a Ship of Theseus at this point. The people making GTA6 for the most part are not the ones who made GTA5, and only a few of them made Red Dead Redemption 2. This is mostly new staff, and entirely new writers, so we'll see if they can uphold the legacy.

It should be standard price of 70.

The thought of gouging early adopters makes investors swoon, but that's extremely short sighted. Rockstar will want the biggest launch possible and will make the big bucks with shark cards etc.

2029 sounds great. Does anyone really think this creaky industry can raise development costs another notch in the near future?

I don't want to be harsh, but what did they expect? Hellblade was boring, expensive and not a financial success, so they make Hellblade 2 which is even more of all the above. I actually bought 2 mainly to support the studio since they'd done such great work in the past, but I'm not sure if they're even talented anymore at making games I'd want and there was no chance I'd ever buy Hellblade 3.

I loved Ninja Theory back in the day when they made Enslaved and Heavenly Sword, but their output since then has been lackluster at best imo.

@Ninerguy1608 It benefits me as a longstanding customer because I have a vested interest in knowing which games have been successful. Sales determine which studios get funded or shut down, and sales determine which games get sequels vs going a different direction for the next project. I'd rather know that my favorite studio is in trouble, or that the underdog title performed very well as opposed to not knowing so I can be prepared for what comes next.

Right now I have to rely on social media PR (5 million players, what a success, thank you!) and educated guess analytic firms like the one in this article to know if a title succeeded or flopped. Neither of them are going to be truly accurate.

I think more data is beneficial to customers generally. I wish PSN and NSO had active player numbers like Steam. I don't have to wonder what games are popular on Steam, and no one can astroturf the appearance of success. I don't see the point in hiding any numbers aside from retaining the abilitty to deceive people into thinking a project was popular when it actually wasn't, and that's not a really pro-consumer motive either.

@wilky2988 Sony just has to be realistic with studios like Housemarque. Their style of game is very fun but also stands next to no chance of finding mainstream success.

The budget should be planned accordingly. Not everything has to be AAA $100 million+ budget (before marketing).

PlayStation Studios seems to burn through money during development as a point of pride, even for their niche titles, but that just isn't good business and has created all this precarity.

I wish Sony gave us real numbers on a regular basis so we didn't have to rely on educated guesses by analysts.

If Xbox is making one last serious push to be market leader next generation this makes sense, I guess.

What doesn't make sense is that Xbox seems to believe they can do that when all evidence suggests the brand is mostly dead.

Santa Monica Studios showed they were very sensitive about this criticism and that their social media team needs to get better at their jobs.

It would have been better to just roll eyes and not respond at all, no one would have even cared. Now everyone sees the original snark and their overly sensitive response and a hundred news articles were written. Anyone social media savvy knows don't feed the trolls, the social media team failed at their prime directive.

@RBMango The trojan horse strategy! I like it.

@RBMango The Kemuri presentation was very obviously trying to recapture the memeable moment of how cute that lady is (she was a star briefly at E3 years ago). She was super emotive and quirky for maximum effect. I don't think it landed as well as it did back in the E3 days though. Probably the difference between seeing a live audience fall in love with her vs just a video clip of her alone.

A decent chunk of the Sony audience came up in a very Japanese-centric era. Playstation Japan did a lot of quirky and unique things through the years. That sort of game has, with a few exceptions, been left by the wayside by modern Playstation Studios.

I think that's a big part of the disconnect here. If you like Playstation Studios content from 2020-present you'll be very satisfied with what we saw. If a viewer was hoping for a bit more of the old Playstation Japan flavor they would surely be disappointed, and I think that's a lot of the genuine negative responses. The announcement of Astro a year ago got so much unexpected hype for this very reason, it was feeding the part of the audience that felt neglected. Not everyone is just lying that they didn't like anything for clicks.

@Panic_Attache Too soon to tell without a drug test.

@Czar_Khastik He's a man of principle.

I rated it 'poor'. Personally I'm not into Marvel, had my fill of GOW (even less interested in a spinoff) and thought Control was a bore. Not really into horror either, so there goes Silent Hill and Until Dawn.

Maybe this was cool for others but for me it was a lot of buildup for little to no payoff. The heavily implied promise of a big show (renting out Alama Drafthouse for viewings) was not even close to met by this lineup. I doubt I'll buy any of these games. Sony's moved too far from their Japanese origins to be very appealing to me any more. No sense of wonder, no delights, mostly just grim dark violence. Hopefully 3rd parties can pick up the slack this holiday, I do expect Xbox to show a lot for PS5.

I'll try it again if PVE is available. I think this is a good and necessary move tbh, the game has very little chance of revival but what chance it has requires a shot in the arm from F2P.

Not even JRPG heroes are spared the side shave!

I'm glad they went with a new direction. I was concerned about the reports of an edgy tone, it just didn't sound like DQ at all and the original logo was also quite sharp and ominous for that series.

Very low expectations for this one.

I've always liked the idea of Media Molecule games much more than the actual products. I'll keep an eye out for their next project but it will be a hard sell for me if it looks like another fun idea that is poorly executed.

Schreier is the worst. Such a pompous guy.

It's not even a real disagreement. 'Angry' vs 'upset at costs'. Like...barely any difference there except tone level.

@Judal27 It really depends. HD2D is apparently very expensive, way more than you'd think. So if the FF Pixel Remasters perform better or similarly at a drastically lower cost / quicker development time I could see Square-Enix switching gears.

They already broke the pattern with 7 being puppet-like, it could have easily been HD2D as well.

It is a bit weird.

But no weirder than putting a 100mb activation key on a Blu Ray and selling it physically.

Niche game gets niche sales, not surprising at all. Returnal had zero competition as an exclusive when it launched, the landscape is totally different now and can't be fairly compared.

The only issue is if Sony expects it to make back the cost of development. And if they do they need to have Housemarque reduce the budget of future releases, because their style of game isn't going to ever sell like FIFA or RE.

PS has always been defined by 3rd parties and a broad library, but they've also had really stellar 1st party content in the PS3 and PS4 eras.

However it's fair to say, at least imo, their 1st party quality and cadence has suffered since moving operations to California. Whether that's causation or coincidence I don't know, but their 1st party output (again, imo) has been really subpar this entire generation with the exception of Astrobot. All the sequels, Ragnarok, Forbidden West, Spidey 2, Ratchet, have been worse than their PS4 predecessors. I don't currently have any upcoming Sony 1st party titles that interest me and that has me doubting whether I'll continue to PS6.

After thinking about it a bit I believe what will ultimately decide things is if Nintendo feels it's justifiable to keep Switch 1 on the market for another 4-5 years as an entry level device. Even with the price increases it's the cheapest option on the market.

I think Nintendo will most likely want to consolidate everything around Switch 2 within the next 18 months, but it's at least possible they quietly let Switch 1 hang around as Sony did with PS2. It will outsell 160m if it is available for another half decade. Otherwise it almost surely won't.

@IntrepidWombat Some kind of PS2 classic will almost certainly be attempted someday, even though I know PS1 classic kinda flopped. It's just such a low-effort and low-cost concept to pitch for nostalgia bucks in a decade or two it's bound to happen.

Should those count towards PS2 sales, I wonder?

Did PS2 sell really sell 160m though? I thought the figure was 160 produced, that was on the plaque on that photo of the final PS2 off the line. I would assume sold would be lower than produced by a decent margin over a decade of production due to replacements, promo giveaways, etc (but it would probably still put them between 158 or 159 because it would only be a million or two of those at most).

I wish Sony hadn't gone radio silent on PS2 sales between 155 and 160 so it wasn't as murky.

@RoomWithaMoose No worries. I'm agnostic about the game personally, haven't played it yet. I'm just reporting the three dominant strains of criticism I'm seeing.

@RoomWithaMoose I didn't say this is an inherently bad game. Reread my post.

I gave 3 reasons why people are 'acting so weird' about the game since that is the topic of discussion. You don't have to agree with people to realize why they dislike something, those reasons are some of why many people reflexively dislike this game.