themightyant

@kcarnes9051 Not really. They said they were fired for "distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum", not all of them have to have leaked it, they can just be discussing leaked confidential information they are in breach of their NDA.

As @FuriousMachine posited this may have been contract details and other business related documents that are under NDA, not details about a game. That seems highly plausible to me, and the most likely explanation.

@cainhurst94 It was a shame Uncharted 3 was rushed to hit a deadline and was shorter and a bit unpolished as a result, it needed another 6-12 months.

There were other issues like the actor Graham McTavish being cast in the Hobbit in New Zealand and unable to work on the game, meaning they rewrote the script to write Charlie Cutter out early when he was meant to be a far more major part. Rewriting the story mid way through rarely helps a narrative.

@cainhurst94 It's almost as if making a game takes more than one person... The trouble is we have always over inflated the importance of one or two known people in massive teams of unknowns.

Amy Hennig deserves her props for Legacy of Kain (4 games) and Uncharted (another 4 games) as well as others, but the reality is she was always just one cog in a large machine. An important cog, no doubt, but just one creative of many.

There’s plenty of choice out there. If you don’t want the expensive accessory with a PS logo just buy one without, it does the same thing.

@Andy22385 THIS! I’d put good money on it getting delayed again to early 2027. Next gen November 2027 and PS6 version in early 2028. I’m not sure I’d have the patience to wait, GTA is such a cultural phenomenon, but it would be tempting to hold out for the next gen version.

Predictable. I wouldn’t expect it until 2027 tbh. It releases when ready.

@nessisonett And a lot of already failing businesses, hence why they got so many 'bargains'.

Hmmm... should be right up my street, but something just isn't quite clicking for me. Maybe it's the rhythm based gameplay. But thanks for putting it on my radar.

@Titntin Totally agree we would need more facts before making any firm conclusions. But as I said in a post above I doubt Rockstar and their lawyers are stupid enough to fire 30-40 people JUST because they tried to unionise. That doesn't make much sense.

Far more likely is the group gave grounds for dismissal by breaking NDA and that's all the excuse Rockstar, and their lawyers, really need.

I feel a bit split on this. I have no problem with rewarding valued customers with cheaper pricing e.g. as PlayStation already do with PS+ subscriber sales.

But I don't trust corporations to not use this in some devious way e.g. using AI to see if you are likely a day 1 buyer and then not give you a discount because you are likely to pay more. Whereas giving someone less likely to buy a discount. That's not on imo.

@TrollOfWar @Nem We also already have different pricing for different users based on whether you are a PS+ member of not. Double discount sales etc. e.g. where it's 20% off for non-members but 40% for PS+ members (and usually the cheapest products have been). It's not illegal.

Lovely video, lots of happy memories. Thanks to all at the Dogpound.
Here's to the next 40 years.

Turns out I played Tears of the Kingdom for 15 hours and 30 minutes one day. I wonder how much of that was falling asleep on the couch...

@RobN ...to you. But for less engaged gamers, who are likely the target market for the ads, not you or I, then both styles work for different demographics. Smart to cover their bases imo.

Really like how they modernised this. Looking forward.

It's a pretty humongous list, fair play to Sony, and massively increases the PS Portal's desirability. Great addition.

That said - and I mentioned the same about Xbox Play Anywhere recently - until this is EVERY game going forward, it still isn't the silver bullet. As soon as you have to THINK and go and check if the game you are playing is on a list (or is tagged with Cloud) then it doesn't 'just work'.

Needs to be EVERY game going forward from next gen as part of their service. At that point cloud starts to become more viable.

@FuriousMachine That sounds very plausible.

@Titntin That would still be sharing company details and likely breaking NDA. Which would give R* fair cause for dismissal.

@Perturbator The Bloomberg article doesn't go into detail on what was leaked, but this is entirely normal. If information about the game, or Rockstar's business e.g. contracts, was leaked then they aren't going to publicize that further.

But it wouldn't have to be something particularly deep, just discussing anything that isn't public information on a public forum would violate their NDA and give fair cause for dismissal.

@Northern_munkey we don’t know if they did for certain, but it seems likely imo, and would have given Rockstar all they needed for fair cause dismissal.

I have no doubt it’s related to the union, but if they leaked info onto the forum that just gives R* and their lawyers a very easy out. If you are trying to upset the company status quo, and are being monitored, you have to not give them easy reasons to fire you.

I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I doubt Rockstar and their lawyers are stupid enough to fire 30-40 people just for trying to form a union without fair cause, but they may also have been looking for reasons to do so.

Hence it’s most likely the devs published something in that forum that then made them accountable for breaking NDA, giving Rockstar fair cause and an easy out. Which would have been pretty stupid to do.

Looked great since the first trailer. Bring it on.

Hmm... Press X to doubt. Previous studies have shown digital is better for the environment in most circumstances, but no where near to the same extent. 100x? Frankly I won't believe it without looking at their whole methodology and seeing how they came to that figure.

Being a "carbon accounting firm" they have implicit bias and it's easy to skew statistics to look in your favour... and grab headlines.

Another factor is where is Digital going? Cloud. So if we are REALLY looking forward, which environmental legislation demands, the more pertinent question should be 'Is Cloud better for the environment than Physical, or even Digital downloads'?

Again other studies have looked into this and it depends on how large the game is, and how long you play. E.g.

• If a games is only 200MB in size (like Animal Well) Cloud and Physical are very wasteful in comparison to a Digital download. (Aside: It's why I have a huge issue with Antstream Arcade which is using the cloud, the networks and your device to stream games that are often only a few KILObytes in size and would run on a solar powered calculator, hugely wasteful)
• Whereas for something like a 100GB download, if you only play for a few hours hours Cloud might be more environmentally efficient that Digital, but if you play for 50 hours it's exponentially worse, and perhaps even worse than Physical.
• If you play for a 100 hours then Physical may in fact be better for the environment than Cloud.

Absolute FIRE! Not usually a fan of gaming merch... but this ticks both PlayStation and Reebok Pumps boxes. Must stay strong.

@Rich33 I've made the analogy here many times over the years, so maybe it's that.

Also worth adding that which console was the lead development platform likely has an impact too. Which is more often likely to be PlayStation than Xbox, giving PS5 a leg-up. Though PUBG was an Xbox exclusive for a short while, so maybe it was reversed there.

Either way PUBG is pretty horribly optimised on all platforms with far higher PC specs being required than what the game should need and numerous performance bugs still exist.

I have never played a recent "Tales... " game. I played some of Phantasia and Destiny back in the day but since then nothing.

Yet I own at least 6 or 7 as I kept buying them in sales. I own at least Symphonia, Vesperia, Graces, Xillia, Beseria & Arise. One day I'll get to them! (maybe)

There's also many games I likely never would have played without a remake / remaster. I missed Days Gone first time around or Spyro you can't play everything and this gave a second change.

I also loved replaying Demons' Souls, THPS, RE2-4, Shadow of the Colossus, Mass Effect, Skyrim and many more.

@MichaelNau Wonderboy the Dragon's Trap is a marvel. One of my favourite games growing up, and the remake was a delight.

Depends on the game and the studio remaking/remastering it.

But while Remakes may get 2.2x more revenue I suspect they cost at least 2.2x more to make in general.

It's going to be a close run thing. It really depends on if Nintendo keep producing and selling the console. If they so for several years, like PS2, the sales will creep up over time.

But frankly it doesn't matter. Both are supremely successful and whether one sold slightly more units than the other means nothing.

@Rich33 @Oram77 @wildcat_kickz Developers and Digital Foundry have also discussed PS5s dev tools as being easier for devs to get the most out of.

I've always liked the analogy that consoles are like racing cars, and a finely tuned car with better aerodynamics and a tighter synergy between all parts will after be faster round some tracks than one with just more horsepower, but not all tracks.

PS5 is just a very well rounded package. XSX is still a beast though. Two great systems imo, they each have a few pros/cons over the other, but ultimately very little to decide between them in terms of performance.

You win some, you lose some. But PS+ Essential has had a some great months recently.

@Areus Crossbuy between PlayStation platforms has been a thing, but to my knowledge not between PlayStation and PC which these icons seem to suggest.

Seems sensible to me. Sony hedging their bets bets.

Let the REDEMPTION arc begin!!!!
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(or not)

I have no problem with creatives using AI as a tool to help them achieve their creative visions. I do have a problem with companies using it to try and cut costs, often by cutting creatives.

The key difference is if this is a creative led decision.

@Oram77 Scarred for life from that travesty!

Can't be unseen

Trevor as a secret agent sounds like a terrible idea to start with.

@Oram77 These polls are pretty useless imo as very few gamers would have played more than one of the games released each month anyway. Many will have played none. Making it a popularity contest rather than a fair comparison.

Looks great, but don't like episodic content, and will wait for reviews.

Good. Just Cause is mid AF, they can do better.

The value of the monthly games is entirely subjective. If you have already played a 90+ game it may hold less weight for you than a 75 game you haven't played but was on the fence about. Or if you have no interest in a title, sports games are polarising, it doesn't matter what it scored.

But I appreciate their more stats led approach here.

The perceived value goes up and down month to month in my eyes, but the general trend has been the quality of games is getting slightly better imho, with an absolute classic like Yakuza: LAD, Alan Wake 2 or Cocoon appearing more often than previously. It's rare there's nothing for me in a month now. Buy YMMV

Concord is a TERRIBLE example to use. Sony refunded everyone, they did everything that could be reasonably expected after a disastrous product launch to make good. This isn't a good example to use if you want to change the law for corporations.

Expedition 33 for me. Silksong a close second. Blue Prince in third.

(EDIT: also I can't read. lol)

Nowhere near their best, but still pretty cool.
The ads aren't really targeted at users like us.

@KundaliniRising333 Hundreds of games have released with PS5 Pro modes many with PSSR, the VAST majority perform better than base PS5 as you would expect… but this isn’t news so doesn’t make headlines.

What you see in the press, and what you are judging on, is the relatively small number of games that perform worse in SOME ways (usually there are plenty of benefits too). That isn’t very representative of the larger whole.

Additionally a lot of issues are quite subjective. E.g. consider Horizon Forbidden West, before the PS5 Pro was even released, some players said it was “unplayable” due to grass shimmer, whereas others just played the game and enjoyed it. It’s the same when articles highlight issues with PSSR, to a lot of users these aren’t the “unplayable” sins some articles like to make it sound like. Often it’s a minor irritant, other times hardly noticeable.

When Digital foundry have to slow it down and zoom in to highlight an issue it’s likely to be pretty minor all things considered. Also important to realise they are highlighting the worst instances of an issue, that probably doesn’t happen often. It all makes it seem FAR worse than it is.

But I agree that standard PS5 settings should also be included, so at worst, in the few games with issue they will never perform worse on PS5 Pro. Plus choice is good.

@Max_the_German it’s a combination of factors.

Upscaling works better from higher base resolutions. UE5 is computationally heavy and often requires lower base resolutions than other engines, making upscaling worse by comparison.

Additionally UE5 already heavily relies on post processing to achieve the results it does. PSSR doesn’t seem to play as well with this as DLSS for example. Especially when standing still it sometimes leaves a temporally unstable image. (Shimmering)

Whereas in MOTION PSSR is often better than FSR with less ghosting. (Trails behind moving objects) each of the upscalers have their pros and cons, some are better suited to some games/engines than others.

But every game and every engine is different. It’s a combination of the tech and the developers. I suspect in a year or so the worst results will all be forgotten as growing pains as the tech improves and developers understanding and skill with it also improves.

@Max_the_German why blame anyone? In most AAA games PS5 Pro is a noticeable step up over base PS5, but people don’t report on that because that IS the status quo for hundreds of games.

They only report on the handful of titles that are worse or the same. In most cases it’s usually a pretty bad base PS5 version to start with.

@Max_the_German Like early iterations of FSR and DLSS PSSR doesn't always give good results. The tech will improve over time, and developers will also learn how to best use the tools at their disposal.

@Cerny PSSR isn't really the key feature of the console 60% more GPU compute, 10% more CPU compute and additional useable RAM are.

PSSR is just an optional upscaling solution that developers can choose to use IF it works for their game. It's not a good fit for every engine or art pipeline.

I don't pay for PS+ for multiplayer so it makes little difference to me.

But I do remember how bad the PS+ online service was BEFORE it was paid. You get what you pay for.

@Czar_Khastik @Balaam_ That Chadley bit got me belly laughing here too.

@Bentleyma £39.99 - £49.99 would be fine IMHO. The Halo 1 campaign is great. But £69.99 would not be. Obviously even less expensive is better for us but I don't think £40 - £50 is unreasonable for the Halo campaign, it's a good 'un.

Do we know what Halo will be priced? Just one game, single player only, a remake, should be cheaper than a full release right?... right!