koverby

koverby

I'm not very good at videogames :(

Comments 243

Re: Sony Studio Firesprite Accused of Alleged Toxic Culture in Exposé

koverby

@breakneck

Having worked in many countries all over the world, I assure you that toxic work environments are the norm universally. US and UK are actually some of the better places. Notice I didn’t say they are great; I said they’re relatively better. We can still do a lot to make working environments more healthy, but let’s not pretend that two of the countries on the forefront of positive change are the problem. That might be the perception because companies and individuals in those countries are actually having the conversation, so it hits the news. In many other places though, they didn’t even get to the step of acknowledging the toxicity in the first place.

Re: PS5 Audio Experience Upgraded with New Equalizer, Sidetone Features

koverby

Great. I hope it includes some stability fixes too. I got the Explore earbuds and they often fail to connect to the console. Yes; I read the instructions. Yes; I did the standard troubleshooting. Sometimes they connect right away. Other times I reset the buds, console, etc and it still doesn’t work. There’s no rhyme or reason to it as far as I can tell.

Re: Audio Experts Are in Love with PS5's New Pulse Explore Earbuds

koverby

@The_Pixel_King

…so Santa got me (I got myself) the new headphones and the PS Portal for Christmas.

I really like the headphones, but they aren’t perfect. I have 1st gen AirPods Pro, so that’s what I will compare them to. Keep in mind I’m not a professional, nor could I consider myself much of an audiophile, but maybe I do know slightly more than the average bear. The sound quality is good. I’d say as good as the AirPods Pro—overall. There are some real audiophiles on this site though who could probably break that down further, ex. Sony wins in latency and dynamic range, Apple wins in X, Y or Z. Sorry but I’m not informed enough to do that.

One feature that I really like that I did not think would matter is that I can connect via PS Link to the Portal and my phone via Bluetooth simultaneously. I honestly thought that would be too much to handle, but it actually works for some games. In my use case, I can listen to audiobooks while playing Power Wash Simulator for an evening wind down.

Some negative things:
Sometimes it doesn’t connect seamlessly and I have to mess around with the pairing button. There is no rhyme or reason to this as far as I can tell because other times it connects right away. I’m hoping that will get sorted with software updates. Another annoying thing: the case is big and the plastic of the case and the earbuds themselves feels cheap. Nothing has broken, but it doesn’t feel like a premium pair of headphones that cost over 200 smackeroos. The fit is okay for me, but I personally don’t like the sensation of in-ear buds because it feels like I’ve got my fingers in there. The AirPods Pro have the ambient noise feature that I am very used to because it completely fixes that uncomfortable sensation.

I’d give them a solid 4/5. They have an outstanding sound, which is their “one job.” I think for a premium product they could do better in some other areas though. I also grudge Sony for “forcing” me to get them to play the Portal. I think they could have given us Bluetooth support but pulled this slimy trick to sell more headphones. But I can’t complain about that too much because well…I’m the sucker who bought them.

I know you’re just a stranger on the internet, but I hope you and your family had a great Xmas, and that my review is useful or interesting to you. Peace!

Re: ISPs Seemingly Clamping Down on Downloads of Stolen Marvel's Wolverine Build

koverby

@Vega37

…except what you’re saying is not what the person I replied to said at all. Like, not even close.

Also, you said “but the others that had nothing to do with it who simply are looking at what is publicly available deserve no animosity or shame.” I don’t consider IP that was stolen by hackers “publicly available.” Just let creative people do their work and show us whenever they’re ready.

Re: The Last of Us 2 PS5 Remaster Announced, Has a Brand New Survival Mode, $10 Upgrade Path

koverby

For those wondering why Sony and ND are doing this—it’s uh…it’s to make money. Heaps of money. HBO’s first season of TLOU was wildly successful. There are lots of people playing though these games for the first time. For gamers like us on this website who’ve almost certainly played through already, well, we can upgrade for the reasonable price of 10 bucks. Or not at all. People are all fired up in the comments. The only valid concern I see is that this distracts ND from making new games. But that’s not true either. They’re gonna hire a handful of devs to touch up some textures for this remaster knowing it will easily pay for itself. All the while they’ll keep working on whatever new game they have in the cards.