Comments 1,208

Re: Poll: Five Years of PS5 - How Would You Rate Sony's Console?

nhSnork

PS5 remains too prohibitively home-chained (whether for lack of Portal or for the local infrastructure impeding its solutions) and most of its power still appears wasted on frixels rather than on game design novelties that Mark Cerny once painted the picture of. But its controller features (their factual application ratio asideπŸ‘€) and embers of past Nintendoesque SJS glory in titles like Astro Bot, alongside the familiar quality freeroamers like Horizon and Spider-Man, still make its sales numbers deserved. "Good but could have been better", then? Or maybe couldn't, because making it actually better in this day and age would be to make it hybrid - and Portal has demonstrated that Sony is only willing to go so far in that direction. Which will most likely leave Vita and PSP sharing the top of the pedestal among Sony hardware (and third place in my console rankings overall) - but hey, maybe if/when I live to be retired, I'll look back and consider picking up at least a used unit?πŸ˜„

Re: PS5 Sales Collapse in Japan as Sony Readies Overdue Rescue Plan

nhSnork

@SeaDaVie I was referring to how the Yakuza producer used to explain the franchise's absence on Switch by the console's more family-friendly image and his reluctance to see a tonally and thematically "underground" series like that share the store shelf space with something like Animal Crossing. That bias didn't seem to age well since we have four or five Yakuza games across the two hybrid generations by now. So much for those "image" concerns.

Re: PS5 Sales Collapse in Japan as Sony Readies Overdue Rescue Plan

nhSnork

@SeaDaVie "and they probably think the hit to their image would be greater. Yeah, that’s weird, but that’s how brand marketing works"

Right, I remember this kind of logic surrounding Yakuza/LaD. And how it ended.😏 Besides, of we go discussing images, there's always one of a Japanese company's products losing grip on its home turf.πŸ‘€πŸ˜…

Re: Embarrassing AI Art Plagues Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Launch

nhSnork

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 also reportedly uses AI tools, looks gorgeous and lacks extra fingers. Which might just indicate where these tools are actually used as tools to empower and support the studio's effort, not as cost cutter snake oil to throw at the wall in hope that something will stick.

Re: The Next Horizon Game Is an MMO for Mobile and PC, Prompting Fury from PS5 Fans

nhSnork

Fan fury can be taken and shoved, but sending such a game out past the consoles to the detrimentally buttonless devices and the domain infamous for adorning server-crutched games with variably moody launchers can raise some eyebrows indeed. Freemiums are THE live service model representatives; wasn't Sony crazy about making more of those on PS5?

I suppose it's still a more accessible Horizon entry in comparison to Call of the Mountain, but it's still ironic to see such a heavily action-oriented game prioritize platforms one needs to go and purchase separate controllers for (and in the phones' case, a controller will only be as reliable as the holder used with itπŸ™„).

@UltimateOtaku91 to be fair, the majority of Nintendo's mobile games are much less reliant on the offerings traditional controllers. And personally, I'm still lowkey salty that Dragalia Lost, the one original IP in that bunch, never made it to Switch.

Re: 9 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for November 2025 Announced

nhSnork

Nowhere on the hybrids yet, Pacific Drive has occupied my Steam wishlist almost since release but I'm definitely tempted to get a taste of it h- OH, COME ON.

Oh well, Still Wakes the Deep looks interesting as we- OH, COME ON!

I guess there's Insurgency, but it sounds like a strictly online multiplayer title. Thank Goodness is on Switch and the two aforementioned highlights will have to wait their turns on Deck or Switch/NS2 announcements.

Re: 'PS Portal Users Are More Engaged Than Non-Users': Sony's Hit Handheld Outperforms All Other Remote Play Methods

nhSnork

"None of this is hugely surprising given the bespoke nature of the PS Portal – if you bought it, you probably did so for Remote Play"

Well, duh, unlike PSP and Vita, this Remote Play device is literally useless for anything else.πŸ˜…

Personally, I still stand by my skepticism which has had time to waver with positive experience reports suggesting that the service CAN competently compress PS5's redundant resolutions for mobile internet and reinforce itself with first-hand experience of our local mobile internet's deterioration. Heck, forget mobile internet - for the last couple months, even attempting PS+ Premium streams on the laptop via the normally more than decent home wi-fi has produced enough lag to force-close the session (if start it at all). This is ultimately no medium to toss around graphically bloated amounts of data over unreliable third party infrastructure in, and it's already been years since even Google learned it the hard way.

The Portal at least seems to fare better with the first world internet hotspots - again, a machine devoid of autonomous functionality wouldn't be finding such a market otherwise, - but in the end, it looks like I won't be picking up a PS5 until my retirement after all. And to think that Portal itself can actually be found on the same Minsk store shelves that have yet to stock up on NS2s.😏

Re: The UK Government Shoots Down 'Stop Killing Games' Campaign in Official Debate

nhSnork

Welp, they said it, not me. If designing a game to be functional without connecting to the internet on every menu screen can't happen without risking "extended development and higher cost" (my humanitarian posterior would assume it takes a specific effort and budget to program an application WITH all the online ball'n'chains onboard, but what do I know), then this entire game development model is officially and legally flawed. Β―(ツ)/Β―

Re: First PS Plus Extra Game for November 2025 Leaked

nhSnork

Premium's option to skip the eye-watering download was handy but clashing with the game rotating in and out of the roster, so in the end I just reinstalled the copy I already owned on the main account. Still waiting for a Switch port to put an end to all this juggling and get me focused on ONE proper playthrough at long last.

Re: After Xbox's Contraband Cancellation, Don't Expect Another Just Cause Game

nhSnork

Some of my fave Final Fantasies have happened with few of the original team remaining onboard, so time will tell. In hindsight, it's probably THE spiritual successor to Gen 4 and 5's Strike series we've ever got, and it certainly doesn't feel like the franchise has depleted its potential. That said, I'd be equally in the market for JC4 port or even a JC1 remake on NS2 as well (alongside Mad Max for good measure) - heck, if it helped budget JC5, I'd even double-dip on the also completed 2 and 3 on the same platform.

@Bob_Tempura Strange Brigade is more linear, fantasy-slash-indianajonesing and perhaps with a comparative sliver of JC's chaos levels but what's there does apparently come with co-op (and at least on Switch, even with gyro aiming).

@Can-You-Believe-Sith I actually associate "the other" Avalanche with Disney Infinity (RIP) first and foremost.

Re: 'Man, This Is a Terrible Idea': Original Saints Row Director Slams the Reboot, Says He Could Revive the Series

nhSnork

SR22 has yet to leave me bereft of anything I've enjoyed about the previous two games (and so does AoM while we're at it), but I get the guy's sentiment - the previous cast and lore grew straight from the first game and the new stuff hardly seems impossible to have accomodated into the existing playgrounds. Since SR1 itself remains stuck on Xbox (whose odds of Deck emulation I've yet to chance and thus lack confidence about... although I suppose we ARE talking a Gen 6 machine with less complicated innards than PS2 here), so I'd certainly be curious about its original creator having a go at the franchise again, but I'm not sure what warrants the talks of setting it apart from GTA when the latter has already been in effect at least since SR3. And with all respect, Saints Row VR would be literally unplayable in my case, just like everything else locked behind the tech.

Re: Criticised House of the Dead 2 Remake Lurches to PS5, PS4 Just in Time for Halloween

nhSnork

@lessthanleo first game is the one I was talking about, but specifically on Switch. Both motion aiming when docked and touch controls in other modes are supported; as a last gen port, it won't work with the mouse controls on NS2 (although my one attempt to use them regardless did see the gyroscope mimic the reticle's X-axis to an extentπŸ˜†).

@Rambo-kind as with most arcade games without factoring in their original limitations. Citing my experience with the first HotD again, but most of your playtime will be likely spent on repeat playthroughs unlocking extra weapons (which, in turn, are fairly obligatory for tackling highest difficulties) and tackling other in-game achievements including several endings (assuming HotD2 has those as well). It bears mentioning that every stage tends to have multiple routes, too.

Re: There's a New Dissidia Final Fantasy Game, But Here's the Catch

nhSnork

Chances are I'll humour it anyway (assuming no region lock buffoonery), but Square Enix's recent freemium history has resembled Bandai Namco's indeed, so it can be frankly mystifying to see both companies persevere through all the hi-bye longevity instead of, in this case, porting Duodecim or a less arcade followup thereof. On the other hand, Opera Omnia, while defunct by now, is one of the most lasting mobile freemiums I've experienced over the years, alongside Record Keeper and Brave Exvius... so perhaps SE still hopes to recapture those results with the franchise that once produced them.

Time will tell, but I'm still in the market for proper console Dissidias as well. And at the end of the day, this impending one better have Lunafreya again - the gal is estimatedly out of playable appearances at the moment, and she can't have enough of those after being shafted by her own flagship in the first place.

Re: Free-to-Play Juggernaut Genshin Impact Is Delisting and Shutting Down PS4 Version

nhSnork

Not sure what kind of frixel/SFX deadweight would no longer make PS4 feasible for a cel-shaded game that runs on seven-year-old phones, but the five-years-in-the-oven Switch port becomes all the more topical with one less button-equipped option in Genshin's platform range.

@Oram77 "this gen" (assuming you mean last gen's PlayBox systems since this one literally just began with another hybrid console) mostly wasted its specs on redundant fluff anyway, so I can but welcome it being "held back" from more pursuits of the 50k500fps kind.

@rjejr if Nintendo had something against MiHoYo, the port would have never been announced in the first place. It looks much more like the company just clogged their pipeline with two new freemiums on top of Genshin's already released versions. As for Nintendo making money from gacha games, Fire Emblem Heroes' longevity alone indicates they already do, and the likes of Nintendo Badge Arcade and Pokemon Shuffle (which also lasted almost as long as their platform) date all the way back to 3DS.

@AverageGamer Speedstorm's own racer/crew capsules would have news for you, but Switch has had a veritable ton of other character gacha freemiums, from the already gone Dawn of the Breakers and Onigiri to the recent/ongoing Guardian Tales and Bleach: Brave Souls. Pokemon has what, at least three freemiums on the console by now? Plus other segment juggernauts like Warframe.

Re: PS Plus Essential Games for August 2025 Announced

nhSnork

Lies of P certainly sounds like one to try for now with the lack of hybrid ports in sight, and I may even dip toes into DayZ which only interests me so much as a strictly online multiplayer title but does appear to be among the relative few zombiecalypse games with [prospectively] functional vehicles. Empty pseudocritique slang like "average", "forgettable" and "bland" does nothing to deter me from One's Justice 2, especially after a positive experience with the first game... but both of them are long in my Switch library, so not likely to see any actual PS playtime.

Re: 10 New PS Plus Extra, Premium Games Announced for July 2025

nhSnork

Cyberpunk would have been a must check, had I not just grabbed it for NS2; it can still make the whole month by itself otherwise. Other stuff is neat but either also boasting a hybrid port or limited to PS5 on the home console front... but I've already poked around the first two Twisted Metal games on the service prior, so I might just dip my toes into the next two as well.

Re: Capcom Nixes Tone Deaf Conference on Monster Hunter Wilds Optimisation

nhSnork

The game's optimization issues themselves are a "seeing is believing" matter, considering the multitude of other games I have found refusing to corroborate similar fanbloid claims. But even if Capcom holding a seminar on the topic begets any skepticism, the most that skepticism is entitled to generate is snickers and eyerolls; if anything, naysayers could have possibly harvested said seminar for memes of "giant enemy crab" tier. Instead, they found no better pastime than to indulge in honest criminal activity in hopes of being shielded by online anonymity (or, let's be real, by what's left of it - people who can remain competently anonymous these days usually have bigger fish to fry than video game tantrums). If these folks also indulge in Halloween, I have a fitting classic outfit to suggest for them - tar and feathers.

Re: Red Dead Redemption 2 PS5 Version Tease Turns Out to Be a Cast Reunion

nhSnork

"Look, we’ll hold our hands up" - which you might as well; the fanbloid sphere's penchant for sensationalism is what makes it prohibitive for people like Wiethoff to get publicly excited about anything.

Personally, though, I could live without RDR2 even on NS2 for now, with plenty yet to do in the first game. I remain more interested in GTA5 finally hitting either or both hybrids without launchers and anticheats that busted my previous portable playthrough. My body is ready to photograph wildlife and save up for the coveted Rune Cheburek all over again.πŸ˜†

Re: Fans Can't Believe PS5 Has Made More Profit Than All Previous PlayStations Combined

nhSnork

"We know, of course, there are a significant number of players still on Sony’s last-gen console"

Tell that to the PS+ lineup management.😜

@Porco it has nothing on Vita and PSP but technically follows them in my PlayStation ranks as pretty much a PS4 (itself the first Sony home console to focus on being a video game machine instead of a media center) with blackjack and SSDs. Although the latter alongside the also enhanced (but similarly underutilized) controller tech still seem to exhaust what a new PlayStation can pragmatically offer over its predecessor. PS6 will really have its work cut out for it.

Re: PowerWash Simulator 2 Gameplay Is Looking Spotless in New Trailer

nhSnork

Huh, photorealistic visuals like these do explain the devs lacking confidence for the sequel's Switch ver- oh wait, that was a Yandex Music ad right now.

...and now I'm admittedly struggling to scan the actual trailer for anything I didn't see in PW1 on Switch. Or is it about the water splashes being more splashy now, with a higher RAM consumption price for the privilege?πŸ€”

Re: The Next Xbox Is a PC, So What Does That Mean for PS6?

nhSnork

"With next-gen hardware still several years away"

Not sure if someone is being specific about home consoles (as the article's context would indeed excuse) or bitterly dramatic about his NS2 order status.😏 But all in all, what we can already surmice is Microsoft being no more thrilled about their midgen upgrade experience with XBOX (at least the abbreviation was amusing) than Nintendo evidently was about theirs with New Nintendo 3DS. Looks like PS6 will be the only one late to the party this generation - but seeing as even PS5's juice hasn't been meaningfully squeezed to date, it's hard to say if many people are even pining for it yet. Or is Sony gearing up to sell 16k TVs already?πŸ˜†

Re: 'The Story Is Weak': Stellar Blade Dev Acknowledges PS5, PC Fave's Biggest Flaw

nhSnork

I don't expect the story to be anything not getting its job done (the likes of Bayonetta are often allleged to have no plot either), but what about a simple datalog? JRPGs from Symphonia and Graces to FFXIII and XV have sported comprehensive ones despite having no shortage of story cutscenes; even Xenoblade Chronicles X has its own despite the comparatively lesser focus on the main story than the flagship trilogy. And then there's System Shock's school of collectible archives that even the devs' very own prior Nikke tapped into. For all I know, perhaps either or both approaches are already being baked into the sequel as we speak.

Re: Switch 2 Can't Achieve a Great Experience on Big Screens, PS5 Boss Implies

nhSnork

My living room TV (an older Sony Bravia at that) is a legitimately big screen yet offers a civilized 1080p even for the Gen 9 Switch to "achieve a great experience" on. Not exactly Nintendo's problem that someone needs newer and fancier television models to sell first and foremost, with their gaming hardware biz molded accordingly.

Oh well, they do say that always holding a hammer can make everything look like a nail. PlayStation still has some noteworthy first party offerings even after defanging half the creative resources in its possessor, and the recent Switch ports do put their attention to the hybrid format in a positive context for everyone who no longer spends enough time around a big screen to benefit from "a great experience" and would mostly find themselves in the market for Sony-published games on the condition of being enabled to experience them at all. Whether this attention may translate into yet more Switch/NS2 ports or a proper Vita successor, the tenth console generation is here and the ball is in Sony's court now. Not that they can't afford to play it at the pace they choose.

Re: State of Play Confirmed for 4th June, 40+ Minutes of PS5 Games

nhSnork

Doing a SoP a day before the next generation begins, with countless gamers' minds on the new console preorder hullabaloo, is... a choice. Then again, after a borderline hat trick of Lego Horizon, Patapon and Everybody's Golf announcements for Switch itself, such proximity can honestly have one's expectation organs acting unwise.😜

Re: Borderlands 4 Boss Writes Grovelling Apology for Implying 'Real Fans' Will Pay $80 for PS5 Game

nhSnork

Fans are definitely not something to take for granted. They're something to weather, to survive, to continue in spite of and to ideally outlast. And definitely not something to apologize towards (especially for a response to the question whose genuine or simulated cluelessness I have already commented on elsewhere), but if Pitchford had nothing more important to share on social media at the time (or yielded to some fidgety posterior at Gearbox or Take-Two)... well, I'm not his PR manager either.