This is not good news, even for those that have a PS5.
Now we're bound to get even more compromised cross-gen releases some 3(!) whole years since the PS5 launch, which is unprecedented.
If I was a PS5 owner and I see that we're still getting what is essentially PS4 designed games only at higher resolution and frame rate 3 years in, I'd be having huge buyer's remorse with PS5.
If they can't fix this situation fairly soon I fear we're going to get even more diluted cross-gen games. Is Sony really going to put Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine on a platform that most people still can't get a hold of?
Initially fell into the hype and thought for sure it was a 10 but after some re-evaluating have to drop it to 9.
It turns out there were quite a few things that bothered me:
Did not enjoy the Norse setting; brought very little enemy and environmental variety, especially compared to the far more diverse Greek setting
The in-game map is shockingly poor for any practical use
The repeated troll bosses
Too much deliberate game padding travelling back and forth on boat
Shoehorning of RPG elements; I don't want experience points, level gatekeeping enemies/areas and random loot in my action-adventure games
I did really enjoy the game overall, it certainly had the best story in the franchise's history and made the right evolution from a gameplay standpoint. However I must admit my interest in Ragnarok has waned quite a bit seeing as it's continuing with the Norse setting, bringing back the boat for traversal and possibly adding even more RPG elements with NPC filled towns.
I'd be down for this as long as it's action based horror where you can actually subdue enemies.
I'm sick of these modern horror games where you're chased by indestructible enemies with no means of fighting back while having to rely entirely on stealth to progress, I wish that trend would end already.
The UK game magazines really did a disservice to this game when it released and they can be fully blamed for the game flopping here in the UK. If you want to see a complete joke of a review go look up the Official UK PSM review of this game.
They basically completely trashed it for being a 2D game in a time when 3D was all the rage and suggested it would have been better suited for SNES instead of PlayStation. Meanwhile they happily handed out 10/10 scores to every PS1 Tomb Raider game.
They certainly ended up on the wrong side of history here.
Can't say I'm thrilled with this announcement; this studio has exactly zero games developed under their belt and now has to ensure they live up to being worthy of acquisition with their first release. The fact that they're headed by someone whose last projects were cancelled after 6 wasteful years (EA Motive) or didn't even get off the ground (Google) doesn't inspire much confidence.
That and coupled with the fact this team is only developing GaaS titles that aren't even PlayStation exclusive means I can't get excited about this at all.
@Nepp67 I understand why these consoles have paywalls within their ecosystems even if it's a flimsy excuse you can still rationalise it by saying it covers server costs and keeps cheaters out. However my issue is only when PC players get in the mix with console players. Why do console players still have to pay for online multiplayer when PC players get complete access to console players at no cost? Console players are basically paying for the PC players at this point and everyone seems perfectly fine with it.
Cool, then drop the PS+ requirement or explain why PlayStation players need to pay for online multiplayer while PC players don't when they're going to use the same servers.
I'm seeing some really dumb comments online from people who oppose JK Rowling's views but still feel entitled to pirate the game. And they justify it by saying it won't hurt the devs because they've already been paid for their work. If that's the case then what's morally stopping them from pirating literally anything else? They have no moral superiority here.
The current PlayStation leadership is so out of touch with their consumers that they're now doing the exact opposite of what they were commended for last generation. It's quite hilarious to see how they have no self-awareness to the concerns that online-only DRM would bring despite having witnessed their rival desperately try to mitigate the damage that cost them the entire gen and lost favour among the gaming community as a whole. Now you can add this to the long pile of how Ryan/Hulst are undoing all the goodwill the PS4 built up.
This game was such an easy home-run yet Sony completely screwed it up, and the worst thing about it is that it's been self-inflicted and could have been completely avoided! I feel bad for Kazunori Yamauchi whose hands were probably tied when these decisions came down from his bosses.
There's been zero justification provided why the single player component requires a constant online connection but after this people have rightly sussed out it's because Sony wants to peddle microtransactions. I think it's totally unacceptable that they charge a full £70 for this cross-gen, online only experience and still decide they want to inconvenience the player further by lowering the rewards to increase the grind.
Honestly this really doesn't bode well for Sony's future line up. They've already outlined their intentions of making at least 10 new GaaS games and they'll most likely follow this exact model if they can get away with it.
When the best thing you had to show was a free update to an already released game you know it's a bad showing.
I'm truly astonished at how awful these Japanese games looked, they honestly look like PS3 games with how poor the visuals and frame rate were. It's like these studios never improved after the PS2 era and still think they can sail by releasing mediocre looking trash like this at full price.
One theory I've seen floating around about the required constant online connection is that Sony wants to prevent players from manipulating their save files to earn credits and instead push microtransactions, which this game is apparently full of.
People who pay £70 for a single player game should be free to manipulate the game however they want if they feel progression is too slow. As long as it's kept offline and doesn't affect online multiplayer it should be fair game.
I'm really disappointed this game requires a constant online connection to play and has no offline modes with progression.
I saw an impressions video that showed the game can't even be played during server maintenance, which I find completely unacceptable for a full priced game that's primarily single player content.
I can't support single player games that come with hidden expiration dates rendering the game unplayable at some point in the future.
It's a shame because I was really looking forward to seeing this classic franchise make its long overdue triumphant comeback.
There's zero chance this game is console exclusive to PlayStation this time. The leaks already confirmed it being multiplatform. They were upfront about SFV being console exclusive as soon as it was revealed.
Has to be Street Fighter 6; it's the only franchise they have that warrants a countdown announcement. The leaked roadmap shows it was set to release Q3 2022 so this lines up perfectly for a reveal. No way do I expect them to have a countdown tease for an RE release, especially not DLC for Village or RE4 remake.
@naruball The difference here is unlike a regular game that fails, the studio can't swiftly move onto the next game. The investment for a live service game is too high to abandon and they'll be forced to keep updating until it gathers a sizeable playerbase. Just look at Sea of Thieves for example.
It also means less resources will be put towards any single player games that could have been made in the meantime. More studios dedicated to live service will result in fewer single player games and longer gaps between releases.
They're planning 10 live service games from 1st party studios, this will absolutely have an impact on their single player output whether it's the quality or quantity of releases this gen.
If the studios are concurrently working on both live service and single player games, they can't devote their full attention to one project without sacrificing things for the other.
This makes me think most single player releases will be Lost Legacy/Miles Morales/Rift Apart in length but still at £70, which is hard to justify given past games were cheaper and had more content.
I can't get behind live service games simply because they all have an expiration date. Once the servers shut down that's the end of that game's existence. These games also rely entirely on other active players to keep the game alive. There's no way most people will juggle between multiple live service games, they'll pick 1 or 2 max and stick with it, leaving the unpopular ones dead in the water. That's why the notion of having 10 live service games in development seems all the more absurd and out of touch with what the fanbase wants.
This purchase is a colossal waste for a PlayStation owner. PlayStation owners get no exclusives or any other advantages over others and instead lays the groundwork for Sony to move into live service games, something the vast majority of PlayStation fans object to.
In x years time when the servers are inevitably shut down, all the money you spent towards microtransactions will be worthless when the game is rendered unplayable, with no offline single player content to fall back on.
Don't forget that these "live service" games are stealthily enforcing online requirements into games. Even single player modes in GT7 will require an online connection. Expect other games to follow suit.
Jim Ryan is on course to ruin the legacy and reputation that PlayStation had built up for the past 25 years. PlayStation is no longer the only (or even best) place to play Sony's stellar 1st party offerings. In fact Jim's positioning the company to fully go 3rd party.
This is what he had to say on gameindustry.biz:
"I've been on record talking about increasing the size of the PlayStation community, and expanding beyond our historic console heartland. This can take many forms. And definitely one of the main ones is the ability for the wonderful games that we've been making over the past 25 years to be enjoyed in different places and played in different ways. We are starting to go multiplatform, you've seen that. We have an aggressive road map with live services. And the opportunity to work with, and particularly learn from, the brilliant and talented people from Bungie... that is going to considerably accelerate the journey we find ourselves on."
Jim Ryan really wants to follow Phil Spencer to the gates of hell here. Soon enough Nintendo will be the only company left making high quality traditional single-player games while Microsoft and now Sony will chase the online, microtransaction audience.
I hope all those whiners complaining about Sony's 3rd person cinematic GOTY calibre games come to regret it when we see an influx of trashy, incomplete, free-to-play, MTX filled looters, battle royales and survival games. The games we've come to expect from 1st party will be so few and far between now. You never realise how good you have it until it's gone.
If anything, Sony pledging to allow Bungie to remain multiplatform makes Microsoft look like the clear villains if they continue to refuse to release Bethesda and Activision games for PlayStation. Maybe this can gather momentum and Sony can get the players to turn the tables on Microsoft just like Microsoft did to Sony about cross-play.
It says they'll still remain multiplatform with an option to self-publish so yet again this does nothing for PlayStation owners expecting exclusive games.
Is the Show really worth continuing if PS owners continually get the short end of the stick? I can't imagine the series is that big of a seller outside North America. Wouldn't it be more productive for Sony San Diego to produce an original property with global appeal like every other first party studio produces?
I suppose this means Titanfall 3 is not happening at all. Disappointing to know as someone who could care less for Star Wars but was looking forward to a follow up to Titanfall 2.
One problem Sony has failed to address is developing casual friendly franchises that have mass appeal. Nintendo has certain key franchises that always dominate the charts: Mario, Pokemon, Animal Crossing and Mario Kart. Sony has no equivalents here which is a terrible oversight on their part. These are the kinds of games that are important to sell consoles to kids and get them hooked and develop sentimentality for the platform. This is what Nintendo excels at and has allowed them to thrive over the years even during turbulent times. Sony relies too heavily on 3rd parties, and as we just saw today they can be sold to the highest bidder and in one swoop disappear from your platform entirely. Sony only has Spider-Man that fits this criteria and even that isn't a wholly owned property and can just as easily be taken away from them.
People being gleeful that CoD won't be on PlayStation are missing the bigger picture. It doesn't matter that it won't affect you but it consistently remains the highest selling game each year. That's a massive source of revenue for Sony completely gone when Microsoft pulls it from PlayStation.
There will also be other ramifications such as the casual players who only buy consoles for games like CoD, FIFA and GTA switching to Xbox. Sony already relies too heavily on its casual playerbase to sustain them but they simply cannot afford to have them leave. This will be a huge challenge for Sony when Microsoft tries to lure them with CoD on GamePass, Sony has no response and just look even worse with their £70 games. Meanwhile they've also begun to alienate longtime hardcore players by releasing better versions of their games on PC with extra bells and whistles not even available on their own platform. Now even the hardcore gamers will seriously question whether it's even worth remaining on PlayStation anymore, now that they can get Sony's and Microsoft's library all on PC.
Don't worry, Sony are sure to make another smart purchase soon, remember when they bought EVO and Discord, we saw firsthand how happy PlayStation owners were now that they have a fighting game tournament and multiplatform messaging app. /s
Let the history books forever show that both this and the Bethesda acquisitions occurred while Jim Ryan was at the helm. Sony needs a Take-Two or EA to even compete on this level, which will never happen.
I still don't understand how more people getting to play first party games on their terms (on PC) benefits console users at all. How exactly will it lead to better quality games? Microsoft have gone fully day 1 Xbox and PC since 2016 and have yet to produce anything so incredible that's leaps beyond when they were Xbox only.
If more people getting to experience the game is good then why has Microsoft withdrawn future Bethesda games from PlayStation? Surely they stand to make more money if those games released on PS5 as well? Or is there an obvious double standard at work here.
It's 100% going to happen and within 2 years if not less.
They didn't acquire a port studio to just sit on games for 4 years, they'll be cranking them out sooner than you expect, much to the chagrin of console players.
I fear Rockstar are on a downward trajectory. First there was the departures of Dan Houser, Leslie Benzies and Lazlow Jones, arguably the 3 most influential people who shaped the games they made. Then there was the whole PS4 gen going by with them only releasing 1 new game in that timeframe. And just recently they put out the disaster that was GTA The Trilogy Definitive Edition.
All that and the complete focus on GTA online leaves me concerned that we're probably not going to see any non-GTA games for a long time if at all ever again. Unfortunately for the rest of us, GTA just prints too much money for them. I'd kill for a new Max Payne game.
"If you want to experience our games that truly realise our creative vision at their peak visual fidelity and performance, don't play them on our hardware." - Sony
Thanks for the PSA Sony, will keep that in mind when you reveal new games.
Let's hope the gunplay is massively improved in this one. For me it's the one thing that keeps the series from true greatness, it nails almost everything else.
@Bleachedsmiles Don't you see the hypocrisy of his actions though? He was pushing for cross-play because he says he's all about inclusivity and breaking down gaming barriers but then comes out with some lame excuse for not allowing Bethesda to release games outside his own Xbox and Windows ecosystems.
Cross-play serves to benefit his ecosystems the most by giving their meagre online base a larger community without sacrificing players who would migrate from Xbox and Windows to PlayStation for the healthier online base. He didn't spearhead cross-play as some noble "pro consumer" cause, it was simply to strengthen his ecosystems using a shortcut by spouting phrases like "when everybody plays, we all win", well PlayStation owners certainly won't be playing new Bethesda games will they?
He doesn't practice what he preaches, he picks and chooses whenever it benefits his platforms. I just wish he would come clean about it and not hide under the "pro consumer" guise that his supporters have lapped up.
Also Sony rarely if at all listens to its install base, if they did there wouldn't be PC ports, price hikes to £70 and upgrade fees going from PS4 to PS5 (Horizon Forbidden West). The only thing they've heard and reacted to is to keep the PS3 store alive for a little longer.
@Bleachedsmiles It absolutely was Phil Spencer who sparked the whole cross-play debacle with Sony when Minecraft got cross-play with Switch and he expressed his disappointment that Sony wouldn't play ball, I remember watching an interview from Giant Bomb's E3 coverage a few years back. When that happened PlayStation's social media would get completely hounded by people demanding cross-play until Sony finally relented.
Also I have no problem with cross-play among similar platforms that have paywalls, but when PC gets into the mix it raises questions why console owners still have to pay when PC players get the entire pool of console players for no cost. I have been vocal about that already.
I really hate how he spreads this duplicitous rhetoric acting all friendly and "pro consumer", first by guilting PlayStation and their owners into cross-play multiplayer that does nothing for PlayStation but bolster Xbox and PC's scarce online lobbies then proceeds to withhold long established multiplatform games for "reasons".
I fully understand why this game won't come to PlayStation but I would respect him more if he just dropped the act and said straight that for strategic business purposes all Bethesda games moving forward will remain Xbox and Windows exclusive and accept that he's fully responsible for that choice instead of this gibberish PR spin of not wanting to punish other platforms, trying to maintain his good-guy image.
It's no surprise this is happening and it's only being accelerated by Sony themselves who are putting their own 1st party games on PC, discouraging people from buying the console in the first place.
For a hardcore gamer PlayStation is becoming more and more redundant as a platform worth owning when practically all major Japanese 3rd party games now come day and date on PC apart from certain games that Sony have made timed deals with like FFVII/FFXVI. Even Capcom recently said they're going to target PC as their primary platform moving forward. The "unique" features of the DualSense controller can't even be used as a selling point for choosing the PS5 version over the PC either when a lot of devs are implementing its supposed "unique" features there also.
I guess the leadership at PlayStation believes it can survive solely from its casual playerbase; those who annually buy FIFA, CoD, GTA and Fortnite MTX and they can afford to lose the former loyal hardcore gamers who supported them from the humble PS1 beginnings though to the turbulent PS3 launch.
This is what Rockstar should have released for PS3 when all the PS2 HD collections were a thing. This looks very low effort and completely out of place for the standards of current gen.
@art_of_the_kill Ironic how now the Xbox controller will be the base standard for Sony first party games going forward in order to accommodate PC players.
Regarding the PlayStation 4 Pro, he suggested the Xbox wasn’t even being considered its main competition. Rather, it was the PC. “I saw some data that really influenced me,” he said. “It suggested that there’s a dip mid-console lifecycle where the players who want the very best graphical experience will start to migrate to PC, because that’s obviously where it’s to be had. We wanted to keep those people within our eco-system by giving them the very best and very highest [performance quality]. So the net result of those thoughts was PlayStation 4 Pro – and, by and large, a graphical approach to game improvement.”
Funny to see such a quick 180 turn after a leadership change.
I feel bad for those who were deceived into getting a PS5 under Jim Ryan's lies of "believing in generations" only to find most games are cross-gen and now PC bound, which completely invalidate the claims that certain games were only made possible due to the custom SSD in the PS5.
I think it's past the point of no return now, Sony will have to cater to the PC audience in perpetuity to make up for the possible loss in PlayStation sales. This will only be accelerated by the Nixxes acquisition and leave a lot of PS5 owners feeling resentment that they're not the prime concern for the company anymore when ports start arriving much quicker than expected with extra graphical options and cheaper pricing.
The strategy to chase the PC market is so short-sighted when it ultimately comes at the cost of your own platform and customers. It works for Microsoft because Windows is their own platform where they can shove Game Pass subscriptions down everybody's throats to recoup lost game sales on other storefronts, notably Steam. Sony doesn't have that luxury, they depend heavily on console owners to buy games and subscribe to PS+ on their platform. Them flirting with PC gamers rightly annoys longtime PlayStation gamers because it feels like PC players are getting the royal treatment with lower priced games, scalable graphics that far surpass the PS5's limits and no paywalls to play online.
Microsoft will reap the most from Sony's PC ports because it allows them to retain PC gamers on their Windows ecosystem much to Sony's chagrin who probably foolishly think they can convert them into buying PS consoles. This is only reinforced with the potential quick turnaround of ports like this game, which is barely coming to a year old.
These ports are actually having the opposite effect of what Sony probably intended, it's making people abandon PlayStation and go all in on PC gaming, where they'll not only receive every Xbox game but now even PlayStation games and playable at higher settings than what PS5s can offer.
@naruball I don't understand what point you're trying to counter. People don't have to play online on PC either but they don't have to pay anything should they decide to. As for game prices, you can't really beat free can you? I know it's a taboo subject but the reality is that option is always going to be available and probably plays a large part in why PCs are so popular in less affluent places of the world.
@Northern_munkey I think you're forgetting that PCs have graphical settings that can be toggled, so even a PC that's 2 years old will have little trouble running PS5 games on low settings. Sure they won't look as good as PS5 does but they'll still have the most future-proof version of the game that they can maximise should they choose to upgrade in future, unlike the PS5 version.
I agree that at the moment the latest consoles are great value for performance but that's primarily due to how screwed the GPU market is. When that market does eventually stabilise PCs will become a far more attractive choice than ever before especially now with Sony blessing it with ports. Although the initial cost of a PC seems high, the long-term savings can be made through not needing to pay for online multiplayer and the games costing significantly less (good luck getting PC gamers to pay £70 for games). Not to mention there's also the piracy avenue available for stingy people.
@IonMagi Digital Foundry partially proved that when they tested R&C: Rift Apart with a slower speed SSD not on Sony's recommended list and found only negligible differences from the native PS5 SSD. Along with Sony's PS4-PS5 cross-gen commitment, PCs will have no problems running upcoming "PS5" games.
@viktorcode If the people in charge of PlayStation were smart they would hold on to the current gen exclusives at least for the duration of the generation. However the Nvidia leaks prove otherwise and I predict we'll start to see some of them announced next year, certainly by the end of 2023 - it would align with their statements of an expected 2 year gap between platforms.
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Re: PS5 Stock Issues Could Last Into 2024 as Chip Shortages Continue
This is not good news, even for those that have a PS5.
Now we're bound to get even more compromised cross-gen releases some 3(!) whole years since the PS5 launch, which is unprecedented.
If I was a PS5 owner and I see that we're still getting what is essentially PS4 designed games only at higher resolution and frame rate 3 years in, I'd be having huge buyer's remorse with PS5.
Re: March 2022 NPD: PS5 Stock Problems Put Sony in Last Place
If they can't fix this situation fairly soon I fear we're going to get even more diluted cross-gen games. Is Sony really going to put Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine on a platform that most people still can't get a hold of?
Re: Poll: As God of War Turns Four, What Would You Rate It Today?
Initially fell into the hype and thought for sure it was a 10 but after some re-evaluating have to drop it to 9.
It turns out there were quite a few things that bothered me:
I did really enjoy the game overall, it certainly had the best story in the franchise's history and made the right evolution from a gameplay standpoint. However I must admit my interest in Ragnarok has waned quite a bit seeing as it's continuing with the Norse setting, bringing back the boat for traversal and possibly adding even more RPG elements with NPC filled towns.
Re: PlayStation Studios' Firesprite Hiring for a AAA Horror Game
I'd be down for this as long as it's action based horror where you can actually subdue enemies.
I'm sick of these modern horror games where you're chased by indestructible enemies with no means of fighting back while having to rely entirely on stealth to progress, I wish that trend would end already.
Re: The Absolute Best Castlevania Just Turned 25
The UK game magazines really did a disservice to this game when it released and they can be fully blamed for the game flopping here in the UK. If you want to see a complete joke of a review go look up the Official UK PSM review of this game.
They basically completely trashed it for being a 2D game in a time when 3D was all the rage and suggested it would have been better suited for SNES instead of PlayStation. Meanwhile they happily handed out 10/10 scores to every PS1 Tomb Raider game.
They certainly ended up on the wrong side of history here.
Re: Sony Acquires Haven Studios, the New Developer Led By Jade Raymond
Can't say I'm thrilled with this announcement; this studio has exactly zero games developed under their belt and now has to ensure they live up to being worthy of acquisition with their first release. The fact that they're headed by someone whose last projects were cancelled after 6 wasteful years (EA Motive) or didn't even get off the ground (Google) doesn't inspire much confidence.
That and coupled with the fact this team is only developing GaaS titles that aren't even PlayStation exclusive means I can't get excited about this at all.
Re: Guilty Gear Strive Season 2, Cross-Play Between PS5, PS4, PC Announced
@Nepp67 I understand why these consoles have paywalls within their ecosystems even if it's a flimsy excuse you can still rationalise it by saying it covers server costs and keeps cheaters out. However my issue is only when PC players get in the mix with console players. Why do console players still have to pay for online multiplayer when PC players get complete access to console players at no cost? Console players are basically paying for the PC players at this point and everyone seems perfectly fine with it.
Re: Guilty Gear Strive Season 2, Cross-Play Between PS5, PS4, PC Announced
Cool, then drop the PS+ requirement or explain why PlayStation players need to pay for online multiplayer while PC players don't when they're going to use the same servers.
Re: Poll: Will You Buy Hogwarts Legacy?
I'm seeing some really dumb comments online from people who oppose JK Rowling's views but still feel entitled to pirate the game. And they justify it by saying it won't hurt the devs because they've already been paid for their work. If that's the case then what's morally stopping them from pirating literally anything else? They have no moral superiority here.
Re: Gran Turismo 7 PS5, PS4 Offline and Unplayable for Over 24 Hours
https://twitter.com/PlayStation/status/344283496514199553
The current PlayStation leadership is so out of touch with their consumers that they're now doing the exact opposite of what they were commended for last generation. It's quite hilarious to see how they have no self-awareness to the concerns that online-only DRM would bring despite having witnessed their rival desperately try to mitigate the damage that cost them the entire gen and lost favour among the gaming community as a whole. Now you can add this to the long pile of how Ryan/Hulst are undoing all the goodwill the PS4 built up.
Re: Gran Turismo 7 PS5, PS4 Has Been Offline All Day
This game was such an easy home-run yet Sony completely screwed it up, and the worst thing about it is that it's been self-inflicted and could have been completely avoided! I feel bad for Kazunori Yamauchi whose hands were probably tied when these decisions came down from his bosses.
There's been zero justification provided why the single player component requires a constant online connection but after this people have rightly sussed out it's because Sony wants to peddle microtransactions. I think it's totally unacceptable that they charge a full £70 for this cross-gen, online only experience and still decide they want to inconvenience the player further by lowering the rewards to increase the grind.
Honestly this really doesn't bode well for Sony's future line up. They've already outlined their intentions of making at least 10 new GaaS games and they'll most likely follow this exact model if they can get away with it.
Re: Poll: What Did You Think of Sony's Latest State of Play?
When the best thing you had to show was a free update to an already released game you know it's a bad showing.
I'm truly astonished at how awful these Japanese games looked, they honestly look like PS3 games with how poor the visuals and frame rate were. It's like these studios never improved after the PS2 era and still think they can sail by releasing mediocre looking trash like this at full price.
Re: Gran Turismo 7 (PS5) - The Real Driving Simulator Makes Its Grand Return
One theory I've seen floating around about the required constant online connection is that Sony wants to prevent players from manipulating their save files to earn credits and instead push microtransactions, which this game is apparently full of.
People who pay £70 for a single player game should be free to manipulate the game however they want if they feel progression is too slow. As long as it's kept offline and doesn't affect online multiplayer it should be fair game.
Re: Gran Turismo 7 (PS5) - The Real Driving Simulator Makes Its Grand Return
I'm really disappointed this game requires a constant online connection to play and has no offline modes with progression.
I saw an impressions video that showed the game can't even be played during server maintenance, which I find completely unacceptable for a full priced game that's primarily single player content.
I can't support single player games that come with hidden expiration dates rendering the game unplayable at some point in the future.
It's a shame because I was really looking forward to seeing this classic franchise make its long overdue triumphant comeback.
Re: Shoddy GTA Trilogy Remasters to Get PS5, PS4 Patches Soon
@DeathByLasagna All they had to do was follow the damn train!
Re: Street Fighter 6 Announced, More Info Hits This Summer
There's zero chance this game is console exclusive to PlayStation this time. The leaks already confirmed it being multiplatform. They were upfront about SFV being console exclusive as soon as it was revealed.
Re: Street Fighter 6 Announced, More Info Hits This Summer
FYI when the Capcom leak happened there were two other entries listed: "SSF6" for Q4 2023 and "Ultra SF6" for Q4 2024.
So I would temper any excitement for the initial release unless you don't mind paying full price for a barebones version.
Re: Capcom Countdown Teases Reveal for Next Week
Has to be Street Fighter 6; it's the only franchise they have that warrants a countdown announcement. The leaked roadmap shows it was set to release Q3 2022 so this lines up perfectly for a reveal. No way do I expect them to have a countdown tease for an RE release, especially not DLC for Village or RE4 remake.
Re: Soapbox: Sony Is Making More Live Service Games for PS5, PS4, And I'm Excited
@naruball The difference here is unlike a regular game that fails, the studio can't swiftly move onto the next game. The investment for a live service game is too high to abandon and they'll be forced to keep updating until it gathers a sizeable playerbase. Just look at Sea of Thieves for example.
It also means less resources will be put towards any single player games that could have been made in the meantime. More studios dedicated to live service will result in fewer single player games and longer gaps between releases.
Re: Soapbox: Sony Is Making More Live Service Games for PS5, PS4, And I'm Excited
They're planning 10 live service games from 1st party studios, this will absolutely have an impact on their single player output whether it's the quality or quantity of releases this gen.
If the studios are concurrently working on both live service and single player games, they can't devote their full attention to one project without sacrificing things for the other.
This makes me think most single player releases will be Lost Legacy/Miles Morales/Rift Apart in length but still at £70, which is hard to justify given past games were cheaper and had more content.
I can't get behind live service games simply because they all have an expiration date. Once the servers shut down that's the end of that game's existence. These games also rely entirely on other active players to keep the game alive. There's no way most people will juggle between multiple live service games, they'll pick 1 or 2 max and stick with it, leaving the unpopular ones dead in the water. That's why the notion of having 10 live service games in development seems all the more absurd and out of touch with what the fanbase wants.
Re: Sony 'Vastly Overpaid' in 'Desperation' for Bungie, Says Outspoken Analyst Michael Pachter
This purchase is a colossal waste for a PlayStation owner. PlayStation owners get no exclusives or any other advantages over others and instead lays the groundwork for Sony to move into live service games, something the vast majority of PlayStation fans object to.
Re: Sony Plans to Launch 10 PS5, PS4 Live Service Games by March 2026
In x years time when the servers are inevitably shut down, all the money you spent towards microtransactions will be worthless when the game is rendered unplayable, with no offline single player content to fall back on.
Re: Sony Plans to Launch 10 PS5, PS4 Live Service Games by March 2026
Don't forget that these "live service" games are stealthily enforcing online requirements into games. Even single player modes in GT7 will require an online connection. Expect other games to follow suit.
Re: New and Existing Bungie Games Will Not Become PS5, PS4 Exclusives
Jim Ryan is on course to ruin the legacy and reputation that PlayStation had built up for the past 25 years. PlayStation is no longer the only (or even best) place to play Sony's stellar 1st party offerings. In fact Jim's positioning the company to fully go 3rd party.
This is what he had to say on gameindustry.biz:
"I've been on record talking about increasing the size of the PlayStation community, and expanding beyond our historic console heartland. This can take many forms. And definitely one of the main ones is the ability for the wonderful games that we've been making over the past 25 years to be enjoyed in different places and played in different ways. We are starting to go multiplatform, you've seen that. We have an aggressive road map with live services. And the opportunity to work with, and particularly learn from, the brilliant and talented people from Bungie... that is going to considerably accelerate the journey we find ourselves on."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-31-playstation-bungie-will-considerably-accelerate-our-journey-with-multiplatform-live-service-games
Not only is Sony committed to serving outside the PlayStation ecosystem, they're diving full in on live service games, which is disheartening to hear.
Re: PlayStation Studios Is Developing 'Several' Live Service Games
Jim Ryan really wants to follow Phil Spencer to the gates of hell here. Soon enough Nintendo will be the only company left making high quality traditional single-player games while Microsoft and now Sony will chase the online, microtransaction audience.
I hope all those whiners complaining about Sony's 3rd person cinematic GOTY calibre games come to regret it when we see an influx of trashy, incomplete, free-to-play, MTX filled looters, battle royales and survival games. The games we've come to expect from 1st party will be so few and far between now. You never realise how good you have it until it's gone.
Re: Sony Buys Ex-Halo, Destiny Developer Bungie for $3.6 Billion
If anything, Sony pledging to allow Bungie to remain multiplatform makes Microsoft look like the clear villains if they continue to refuse to release Bethesda and Activision games for PlayStation. Maybe this can gather momentum and Sony can get the players to turn the tables on Microsoft just like Microsoft did to Sony about cross-play.
Re: Sony Buys Ex-Halo, Destiny Developer Bungie for $3.6 Billion
It says they'll still remain multiplatform with an option to self-publish so yet again this does nothing for PlayStation owners expecting exclusive games.
Re: Sony's MLB The Show 22 Up to $70 on PS5, PS4, No Extra Cost with Xbox Game Pass
Is the Show really worth continuing if PS owners continually get the short end of the stick? I can't imagine the series is that big of a seller outside North America. Wouldn't it be more productive for Sony San Diego to produce an original property with global appeal like every other first party studio produces?
Re: Apex Legends Dev Respawn Making Three Star Wars Games, Including FPS and Jedi Fallen Order Sequel
I suppose this means Titanfall 3 is not happening at all. Disappointing to know as someone who could care less for Star Wars but was looking forward to a follow up to Titanfall 2.
Re: December 2021 NPD: Call of Duty: Vanguard Was the Best-Selling PS5, PS4 Game of the Year
One problem Sony has failed to address is developing casual friendly franchises that have mass appeal. Nintendo has certain key franchises that always dominate the charts: Mario, Pokemon, Animal Crossing and Mario Kart. Sony has no equivalents here which is a terrible oversight on their part. These are the kinds of games that are important to sell consoles to kids and get them hooked and develop sentimentality for the platform. This is what Nintendo excels at and has allowed them to thrive over the years even during turbulent times. Sony relies too heavily on 3rd parties, and as we just saw today they can be sold to the highest bidder and in one swoop disappear from your platform entirely. Sony only has Spider-Man that fits this criteria and even that isn't a wholly owned property and can just as easily be taken away from them.
Re: Reaction: Activision Blizzard Buyout Is Devastating for PS5, PS4
People being gleeful that CoD won't be on PlayStation are missing the bigger picture. It doesn't matter that it won't affect you but it consistently remains the highest selling game each year. That's a massive source of revenue for Sony completely gone when Microsoft pulls it from PlayStation.
There will also be other ramifications such as the casual players who only buy consoles for games like CoD, FIFA and GTA switching to Xbox. Sony already relies too heavily on its casual playerbase to sustain them but they simply cannot afford to have them leave. This will be a huge challenge for Sony when Microsoft tries to lure them with CoD on GamePass, Sony has no response and just look even worse with their £70 games. Meanwhile they've also begun to alienate longtime hardcore players by releasing better versions of their games on PC with extra bells and whistles not even available on their own platform. Now even the hardcore gamers will seriously question whether it's even worth remaining on PlayStation anymore, now that they can get Sony's and Microsoft's library all on PC.
Re: Reaction: Activision Blizzard Buyout Is Devastating for PS5, PS4
Don't worry, Sony are sure to make another smart purchase soon, remember when they bought EVO and Discord, we saw firsthand how happy PlayStation owners were now that they have a fighting game tournament and multiplatform messaging app. /s
Re: Microsoft Buys Call of Duty Publisher Activision Blizzard
Let the history books forever show that both this and the Bethesda acquisitions occurred while Jim Ryan was at the helm. Sony needs a Take-Two or EA to even compete on this level, which will never happen.
Re: Sony's Own First-Party Studios Championed PC Ports
I still don't understand how more people getting to play first party games on their terms (on PC) benefits console users at all. How exactly will it lead to better quality games? Microsoft have gone fully day 1 Xbox and PC since 2016 and have yet to produce anything so incredible that's leaps beyond when they were Xbox only.
If more people getting to experience the game is good then why has Microsoft withdrawn future Bethesda games from PlayStation? Surely they stand to make more money if those games released on PS5 as well? Or is there an obvious double standard at work here.
Re: Cory Barlog Has 'No Idea' if God of War Ragnarok Will Come to PC
It's 100% going to happen and within 2 years if not less.
They didn't acquire a port studio to just sit on games for 4 years, they'll be cranking them out sooner than you expect, much to the chagrin of console players.
Re: Red Dead Online's Paltry PS4 Updates Continue to Frustrate Fans
I fear Rockstar are on a downward trajectory. First there was the departures of Dan Houser, Leslie Benzies and Lazlow Jones, arguably the 3 most influential people who shaped the games they made. Then there was the whole PS4 gen going by with them only releasing 1 new game in that timeframe. And just recently they put out the disaster that was GTA The Trilogy Definitive Edition.
All that and the complete focus on GTA online leaves me concerned that we're probably not going to see any non-GTA games for a long time if at all ever again. Unfortunately for the rest of us, GTA just prints too much money for them. I'd kill for a new Max Payne game.
Re: God of War PC Has More Detailed Assets, Higher-Resolution Shadows, and More
"If you want to experience our games that truly realise our creative vision at their peak visual fidelity and performance, don't play them on our hardware." - Sony
Thanks for the PSA Sony, will keep that in mind when you reveal new games.
Re: New BioShock Set in a Fictional Antarctic City in the 1960s
Let's hope the gunplay is massively improved in this one. For me it's the one thing that keeps the series from true greatness, it nails almost everything else.
Re: The Elder Scrolls 6 Isn't Coming to PS5, But It's Not About 'Punishing Other Platforms'
@Bleachedsmiles Don't you see the hypocrisy of his actions though? He was pushing for cross-play because he says he's all about inclusivity and breaking down gaming barriers but then comes out with some lame excuse for not allowing Bethesda to release games outside his own Xbox and Windows ecosystems.
Cross-play serves to benefit his ecosystems the most by giving their meagre online base a larger community without sacrificing players who would migrate from Xbox and Windows to PlayStation for the healthier online base. He didn't spearhead cross-play as some noble "pro consumer" cause, it was simply to strengthen his ecosystems using a shortcut by spouting phrases like "when everybody plays, we all win", well PlayStation owners certainly won't be playing new Bethesda games will they?
He doesn't practice what he preaches, he picks and chooses whenever it benefits his platforms. I just wish he would come clean about it and not hide under the "pro consumer" guise that his supporters have lapped up.
Also Sony rarely if at all listens to its install base, if they did there wouldn't be PC ports, price hikes to £70 and upgrade fees going from PS4 to PS5 (Horizon Forbidden West). The only thing they've heard and reacted to is to keep the PS3 store alive for a little longer.
Re: The Elder Scrolls 6 Isn't Coming to PS5, But It's Not About 'Punishing Other Platforms'
@Bleachedsmiles It absolutely was Phil Spencer who sparked the whole cross-play debacle with Sony when Minecraft got cross-play with Switch and he expressed his disappointment that Sony wouldn't play ball, I remember watching an interview from Giant Bomb's E3 coverage a few years back. When that happened PlayStation's social media would get completely hounded by people demanding cross-play until Sony finally relented.
Also I have no problem with cross-play among similar platforms that have paywalls, but when PC gets into the mix it raises questions why console owners still have to pay when PC players get the entire pool of console players for no cost. I have been vocal about that already.
Re: The Elder Scrolls 6 Isn't Coming to PS5, But It's Not About 'Punishing Other Platforms'
Phil "When everybody plays, we all win" Spencer.
I really hate how he spreads this duplicitous rhetoric acting all friendly and "pro consumer", first by guilting PlayStation and their owners into cross-play multiplayer that does nothing for PlayStation but bolster Xbox and PC's scarce online lobbies then proceeds to withhold long established multiplatform games for "reasons".
I fully understand why this game won't come to PlayStation but I would respect him more if he just dropped the act and said straight that for strategic business purposes all Bethesda games moving forward will remain Xbox and Windows exclusive and accept that he's fully responsible for that choice instead of this gibberish PR spin of not wanting to punish other platforms, trying to maintain his good-guy image.
Re: Japanese Publisher Implies PlayStation Audience Is Transitioning to PC
It's no surprise this is happening and it's only being accelerated by Sony themselves who are putting their own 1st party games on PC, discouraging people from buying the console in the first place.
For a hardcore gamer PlayStation is becoming more and more redundant as a platform worth owning when practically all major Japanese 3rd party games now come day and date on PC apart from certain games that Sony have made timed deals with like FFVII/FFXVI. Even Capcom recently said they're going to target PC as their primary platform moving forward. The "unique" features of the DualSense controller can't even be used as a selling point for choosing the PS5 version over the PC either when a lot of devs are implementing its supposed "unique" features there also.
I guess the leadership at PlayStation believes it can survive solely from its casual playerbase; those who annually buy FIFA, CoD, GTA and Fortnite MTX and they can afford to lose the former loyal hardcore gamers who supported them from the humble PS1 beginnings though to the turbulent PS3 launch.
Re: GTA Trilogy Gameplay Shared Online
This is what Rockstar should have released for PS3 when all the PS2 HD collections were a thing. This looks very low effort and completely out of place for the standards of current gen.
Re: Sony Establishes PlayStation PC Label to Spearhead Porting Push
@art_of_the_kill Ironic how now the Xbox controller will be the base standard for Sony first party games going forward in order to accommodate PC players.
Andrew House was the last person who actually viewed the PC as a direct competitor as he was interviewed here: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/08/playstation-boss-andrew-house-ps4-pro-our-approach-isnt-reactive-this-time-around
Regarding the PlayStation 4 Pro, he suggested the Xbox wasn’t even being considered its main competition. Rather, it was the PC. “I saw some data that really influenced me,” he said. “It suggested that there’s a dip mid-console lifecycle where the players who want the very best graphical experience will start to migrate to PC, because that’s obviously where it’s to be had. We wanted to keep those people within our eco-system by giving them the very best and very highest [performance quality]. So the net result of those thoughts was PlayStation 4 Pro – and, by and large, a graphical approach to game improvement.”
Funny to see such a quick 180 turn after a leadership change.
Re: Sony Establishes PlayStation PC Label to Spearhead Porting Push
I feel bad for those who were deceived into getting a PS5 under Jim Ryan's lies of "believing in generations" only to find most games are cross-gen and now PC bound, which completely invalidate the claims that certain games were only made possible due to the custom SSD in the PS5.
I think it's past the point of no return now, Sony will have to cater to the PC audience in perpetuity to make up for the possible loss in PlayStation sales. This will only be accelerated by the Nixxes acquisition and leave a lot of PS5 owners feeling resentment that they're not the prime concern for the company anymore when ports start arriving much quicker than expected with extra graphical options and cheaper pricing.
Re: Rumour: Sackboy: A Big Adventure Is Making the Jump to PC
The strategy to chase the PC market is so short-sighted when it ultimately comes at the cost of your own platform and customers. It works for Microsoft because Windows is their own platform where they can shove Game Pass subscriptions down everybody's throats to recoup lost game sales on other storefronts, notably Steam. Sony doesn't have that luxury, they depend heavily on console owners to buy games and subscribe to PS+ on their platform. Them flirting with PC gamers rightly annoys longtime PlayStation gamers because it feels like PC players are getting the royal treatment with lower priced games, scalable graphics that far surpass the PS5's limits and no paywalls to play online.
Microsoft will reap the most from Sony's PC ports because it allows them to retain PC gamers on their Windows ecosystem much to Sony's chagrin who probably foolishly think they can convert them into buying PS consoles. This is only reinforced with the potential quick turnaround of ports like this game, which is barely coming to a year old.
These ports are actually having the opposite effect of what Sony probably intended, it's making people abandon PlayStation and go all in on PC gaming, where they'll not only receive every Xbox game but now even PlayStation games and playable at higher settings than what PS5s can offer.
Re: PS4 Exclusive God of War Releasing on PC in January
@naruball I don't understand what point you're trying to counter. People don't have to play online on PC either but they don't have to pay anything should they decide to. As for game prices, you can't really beat free can you? I know it's a taboo subject but the reality is that option is always going to be available and probably plays a large part in why PCs are so popular in less affluent places of the world.
Re: PS4 Exclusive God of War Releasing on PC in January
@Northern_munkey I think you're forgetting that PCs have graphical settings that can be toggled, so even a PC that's 2 years old will have little trouble running PS5 games on low settings. Sure they won't look as good as PS5 does but they'll still have the most future-proof version of the game that they can maximise should they choose to upgrade in future, unlike the PS5 version.
I agree that at the moment the latest consoles are great value for performance but that's primarily due to how screwed the GPU market is. When that market does eventually stabilise PCs will become a far more attractive choice than ever before especially now with Sony blessing it with ports. Although the initial cost of a PC seems high, the long-term savings can be made through not needing to pay for online multiplayer and the games costing significantly less (good luck getting PC gamers to pay £70 for games). Not to mention there's also the piracy avenue available for stingy people.
Re: PS4 Exclusive God of War Releasing on PC in January
@IonMagi Digital Foundry partially proved that when they tested R&C: Rift Apart with a slower speed SSD not on Sony's recommended list and found only negligible differences from the native PS5 SSD. Along with Sony's PS4-PS5 cross-gen commitment, PCs will have no problems running upcoming "PS5" games.
Re: PS4 Exclusive God of War Releasing on PC in January
@viktorcode If the people in charge of PlayStation were smart they would hold on to the current gen exclusives at least for the duration of the generation. However the Nvidia leaks prove otherwise and I predict we'll start to see some of them announced next year, certainly by the end of 2023 - it would align with their statements of an expected 2 year gap between platforms.