Comments 7,531

Re: We Could've Had Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PS5 Much Sooner

themightyant

I know not everyone is a fan of using the cloud to stream more of the game. But as MSFS 2020 took up around 200GB with expansions on Xbox I am glad that MSFS 2024 currently only takes up around 30GB and you stream the rest.

You were always streaming much of the game anyway so this makes a lot of sense. FYI the entire install of the whole world is reportedly around 2.5 Petabytes or 2,500,000 GB according to the developer.

Re: Sony Allegedly Encouraging Devs to Use PS5's New Low Power Mode, Prompting Fresh PS6 Handheld Speculation

themightyant

@Sakai I'm well aware of all this but the 100W mode does virtually NOTHING for the environment as it is as virtually NO ONE is going to use on their PS5, unlike things like rest mode.

For comparison ROG XBOX Ally and other Windows based handhelds use up to 30W TDP.

Either way it's not that deep, I just think DF are wrong in this case. We'll see in a year or two (if RAM and other parts prices doesn't scupper next gen!)

Re: Sony Allegedly Encouraging Devs to Use PS5's New Low Power Mode, Prompting Fresh PS6 Handheld Speculation

themightyant

@omadeli Yes there is a TINY bit of lag added on PS Portal but it's not really noticeable imo when streaming from your console at home or cloud streaming. I just played a lot of Sonic Frontiers this way which is fast paced, and it was great.

I'm sure this will depends game to game (e.g. Red Dead 2 already has a LOT of lag built into the game, or some games are very twitch based) or based on your sensitivity to it, but it's more than playable imo. You simply forget you are streaming and play.

Re: Sony Allegedly Encouraging Devs to Use PS5's New Low Power Mode, Prompting Fresh PS6 Handheld Speculation

themightyant

@Sakai I agree the handheld won't be 100W probably 25W - 35W max, but it also will be running at a lower resolution with upscaling and on a far more efficient process node and I think it's possible it can hit that TDP and use the 100W mode.

Most games are scalable, look at what Steam Deck can achieve on MUCH older hardware at 15W when a PC is drawing 300W - 1000W.

I simply don't believe this is some Eco only mode, but I guess only time will tell.

Re: Honkai: Star Rail's Milestone PS5 Update Allegedly Postponed Due to Political Tensions

themightyant

HSR’s story has been so bad and drawn out for so long Penacony was bad but Amphoreus was even worse. Perhaps changing plans to something shorter in the meantime will actually improve it. It surely can’t get any worse.

Regardless I actually deleted HSR (again) yesterday, the lame snack-dash event was the final straw. I’ll probably login via cloud to claim the rewards though.

Re: 'It's a Huge Upgrade': PS5 Pro Poised to Improve Massively in 2026

themightyant

@Bizzy I'm not excusing anything. They should last longer, i'm just providing a simple explanation of WHY they drift more often (tighter dead zones) and how Sony could fix this, at least in the short term. If the controller went from lasting 2-4 years to lasting a generation due to being able change this that would be much better for consumers.

Long term, from a consumer standpoint, they need to lose the potentiometers which are always going to fail eventually. The lottery is when.

Anyway I'm off to finish Metroid Prime 4.

Re: 'It's a Huge Upgrade': PS5 Pro Poised to Improve Massively in 2026

themightyant

@Bizzy We posted at the same time. My last response was a second one to your first question.

Those ALPS sticks come from many different manufacturers, unless they are all colluding to manufacture them to the same lesser lever, which I don't believe, then I don't think that is the main reason. (though I do believe it's possible one or two are cutting corners.)

Yes it's a fiddly repair that very few have the tools, or knowhow to do, but quite easy when you do know how and have done many. I fixed a few dozen controllers for me and friends over the years until my solder station died. I did have drift on X360 (twice) but it never happened as quickly or seemingly as frequently based on chat with other gamers.

Re: 'It's a Huge Upgrade': PS5 Pro Poised to Improve Massively in 2026

themightyant

@Bizzy Or to put it in a form of your thought experiment:

  • Month 12 on PS5 (you can increase dead zones a little so that you no longer have drift in game)
  • Month 18 on PS5 (you have drift again and you increase dead zones again)
  • Month 24 on PS5 you have drift again, but the controller is now unusable.

You have just extended the usable life of your controller to twice as long through one simple controller setting. Better yet there would be some sort of console level detection which would run you through a diagnostic and fix it automatically, by increasing dead zones so the vast majority of non-savvy users can get the fix.

ALSO

  • Month 12 on Nintendo and Xbox controllers with the same amount of use. No drift because deadzones were larger.
  • Month 18 on Nintendo and Xbox controllers with the same amount of use. No drift because deadzones were larger.
  • Month 24 on Nintendo and Xbox controllers you finally have drift, the controller is now unusable.

N.B. i'm only using months as your example did, timeline isn't accurate

Re: 'It's a Huge Upgrade': PS5 Pro Poised to Improve Massively in 2026

themightyant

@Bizzy Yes. It's a temporary fix, wear and tear on potentiometers is inevitable over time but, crucially, increasing dead zones would prolong the controllers usable life in line with other controllers we have used in the past, which I think is acceptable.

I don't think anyone reasonable expects the controllers to last forever, wear and tear occurs, but the DualSense has been far more susceptible to drift BECAUSE the dead zones are set so small and so even a TINY amount of relative drift shows up as actual drift on PS5, whereas controllers with more relative drift on PS4 or Xbox or Switch Pro don't drift on those consoles.

What we want is for controllers to last longer and having a per controller dead zone setting would solve this.

Obviously it's not a perfect solution, but until we have Hall Effect, or better yet TMR, sticks drift will ALWAYS be a potential issue.

Re: 'It's a Huge Upgrade': PS5 Pro Poised to Improve Massively in 2026

themightyant

@nessisonett Why don't you just get the sticks repaired? A good shop should charge you around £15. I use eBay for this.

EDIT: This is the Ebay repair shop I use, you can even upgrade to Hall Effect sticks for a little more, but there are many others, or use a local repair shop.

That isn't to say the DualSense should be more durable, the main issue is how sensitive the DualSense is because the dead zones are set in system SOFTWARE so small. If they allowed us to change this in system settings per controller it would fix it.

Re: No One Seems to Know if This Shenmue 4 Trailer Is Real or AI

themightyant

@get2sammyb That's the most likely in my eyes, official but AI assisted, which would explain why so much feels legit but spidey-senses are tingling.

I watched it again, a few times, really scrutinising the character models between different scenes and they look basically identical even when cropped in close and missing most of the model. This is something AI really struggles with right now, it doesn't refer back to all the other clips for reference e.g. the Coca Cola ad was ripped apart for each truck having a different number of wheels / being a different size / shape on each shot. But I don't see ANY of that here.

Hopefully we will know soon because I feel engrossed by this true-crime mystery. LOL

Re: New PS5 Controllers Said to Be Optimised for Better Battery Life

themightyant

@Bizzy If you've replaced them, then you'll know it's the same ALPS part. e.g. This same part is usable in all those controllers.

But thinking logically it could be a bit of both. Depending on the supplier some may have cut corners in some areas like you suggest. Already there is variation where some of the analogue modules use 2.3k Ohm potentiometers and others use 10k Ohm ones. Each controller is then calibrated in the factory.

But you can test the software issue easily by plugging a slightly drifting PS5 controller into a PC and running a diagnostic tool. You will see that they start to drift at around 8-9% relative drift whereas an Xbox controller doesn't start drifting (on the console) till around 12%+ relative drift and PS4 around 15%+.

I understand some want more responsive controllers, it was a complaint about PS4 which had huge dead zones, it's a balance. But a setting to allow us to increase the dead zones if it doesn't bother us would fix this in all but the worst cases of drift.

Hopefully next gen they use different tech like Hall Effect or even better TMR

Re: No One Seems to Know if This Shenmue 4 Trailer Is Real or AI

themightyant

@get2sammyb If it is AI then it is VERY well done and curated by a human, or humans, who have used a lot of skill and knowledge to use it as a TOOL to make the trailer. AI doesn't just pump out something of this quality unguided.

I'm still on the fence, but after watching it again a couple of times i'm leaning towards it being real purely because there is a thematic consistency between most of the shots and models. That's usually AI's weakness, things like that are pointed out in AI ad's like Coke's.

But perhaps it's BOTH a partially AI trailer AND an official trailer by Ys trying to drum up funding for a sequel.

Re: No One Seems to Know if This Shenmue 4 Trailer Is Real or AI

themightyant

In today's game of 'Is it AI...'

It's mostly very well done either way, but my mind is screaming red flags. Even little things like the placement of "Coming 2026" jammed right in against the Shenmue logo, no designer worth his salt would do that. But we also all make mistakes.

I hope it is real, even if after backing Shenmue 3 I played a couple of hours and quit with my memories intact.

Re: New PS5 Controllers Said to Be Optimised for Better Battery Life

themightyant

@Vermines It can be dust or dirt, that's worth a try. But if you are tidy, it's usually it's just wear and tear to the potentiometer in the analogue stick (this is the part that judges how far the stick is being pushed) there's one for the X axis and one for the Y axis on each stick. It's the most likely part to fail and there's 4 of them.

Unfortunately, as I said in my lengthy post above, the specific problem with PS5 DualSense is that the Dead Zones on the controller are set so small (to make the controller more responsive, which PS4 wasn't) but the downside is you will get drift with only a TINY bit of relative drift, when a PS4 controller with more relative drift on the stick wouldn't drift on PS4.

With this part it's a balance between responsiveness and durability and they over tuned it imo. Annoyingly it could easily be fixed by allowing us to increase the dead zones slightly per controller in settings.

Re: New PS5 Controllers Said to Be Optimised for Better Battery Life

themightyant

@Bizzy That isn't what causes drift on DualSense, they use EXACTLY the same analogue part as PS4, X360, XONE, XSX, Switch Pro controller. (Though there is a bit of a lottery on this as the part comes from multiple manufacturers). I used to fix controllers myself when I still had a soldering station, it's the same part.

The issue is with dead zones that are set too small on PS5, so that even a TINY bit of relative drift - which happens over time - shows up as actual drift on PS5, when it wouldn't on another console. It's effectively a software issue. This can easily be demonstrated on a PC with diagnostic tools whereby a PS5 controller that drifts can often have less relative drift than a PS4 controller or Xbox controller that doesn't drift on those consoles.

What is frustrating is the tool to fix this is already on PS5, a setting that can change the dead zones per controller, but it's locked to the premium DualSense Edge. Annoying!

Re: New PS5 Controllers Said to Be Optimised for Better Battery Life

themightyant

@Vermines I'd recommend going on ebay to find a repair shop, or finding one locally. I've had sticks replaced for around £15, much cheaper than a new controller. It's also worth trying to see if Sony will fix it for free first even if it's out of warranty they do sometimes depending on age.

EDIT: worth adding that some will replace with Hall Effect parts.

Re: Japanese PS5 Sales Slump as New Model Hype Begins to Die Off

themightyant

FYI It's only the cheaper digital model that is down, they sold 37k PS5 units last week (when it was celebrated) and 36k units this week.

But games sell consoles. As soon as a Japan favourite game appears on the console I am sure the sales will spike, especially if it's not available on Switch / 2.

For comparison here are other totals from recent weeks:

  • 35,786 - this week Nov 24
  • 36,983 - w/c Nov 17
  • 5,855 - w/c Nov 10
  • 7,691 - w/c Nov 3
  • 7,537 - w/c Oct 27
  • 10,503 - w/c Oct 20
  • 12,085 - w/c Oct 13
  • 14,800 - w/c Oct 6
  • 27,344 - w/c Sept 29
  • 16,911 - w/c Sept 22

Re: This RAM Crisis Is Looking Like a Nightmare for the PS6

themightyant

This isn't going to be fixed anytime soon. I seem to remember reading, during the last microchip crisis, that it takes around 5 years to set up a new factory including training staff for this sort of endeavour. And with it costing billions they are only going to consider that if they see demand staying as large in 5-10+ years, otherwise they will never see a return on their investment.

As for Micron / Crucial... what a 'F**k you!' response to consumers who have made the brand what it was over the years. Now abandoning them in their hour of need.

Though I do wonder who the companies are that have done a deal with Micron, and if it is AI, or other businesses, like Sony. At some point they, and others, are probably going to have to do a deal.

Re: Rumour: We've Been Robbed of a Soul Reaver Reboot

themightyant

@Shinnok789 Was thinking the same, could just as easily be Legacy of Kain. I'd take either.

I never played Soul Reaver 2, I was so pissed by the "To be continued" ending of Soul Reaver 1, just as I THOUGHT the game was hotting up for a great finale. But maybe I was just young.

Re: Microsoft Flight Simulator PS5 Trophies Want You Racking Up the Air Miles for the Platinum

themightyant

@Dodoo I can't be certain of the PS5 version, and how much is on the disc specifically, but the Xbox version was "only" about 30+GB. This is because they have moved to a new cloud-based model where you need to be online to stream the higher quality assets.

The previous game (FS2020) also did this but had higher resolution base assets, but the downside was with all free expansions it was around 200GB on Xbox, 400GB on PC.

For me this makes a lot of sense, when you have the ENTIRE of planet Earth as a game world, of which you will only visit a tiny portion. According to the devs it would take around 2.5 Petabytes (2,500,000 GB) to install it all.

But some people preferred having the 200-400GB installed, and streaming less, which is understandable. Personally I think they made the smart choice, ESPECIALLY on console. ymmv

Re: Microsoft Flight Simulator PS5 Trophies Want You Racking Up the Air Miles for the Platinum

themightyant

@Questionable_Duck I can't speak to PC as I've not played it there, but I haven't had any major bugs on Xbox recently, all the major issues I had at launch have been resolved in my experience. YMMV. For what it's worth I don't play it a lot, but maybe take a flight every few weeks when I fancy it, and my biggest complaints would be:

1) how unguided you are. If you aren't a Flight sim ace it can all be overwhelming, which I was hoping would be better than the 2020 game, it is, but only just.
2) The UI is awful for new players. It feels like a PC interface with a controller.

As for the Steam reviews: A lot of negative reviews i've seen fundamentally don't like the streaming of more assets compared to 2020 version and mark it harshly for that. That is fair enough, but it is a subjective love it / hate it thing, personally i'd suggest taking that into account as it's always going to be marked down by a section of the audience for that alone. It's unavoidable.

With that taken into consideration the recent Steam reviews are 67% positive on recent reviews which isn't bad compared to the 2020 version at 78% positive (and a major improvement from 32% positive that it was in the first month!) Just my 2 cents.