@get2sammyb Is it? For themselves, maybe. For the consumer, this has probably been the most damaging generation in gaming history.
Diminishing technological returns in exhange for enormous sums of money (PS5 Pro, PSVR2). Metrics like the one used for the Portal (let’s congratulate ourselves on the revenue - not the sales - from a £300 peripheral). The Live Service clusterf. Number of worthwhile PS5 exclusives are countable on one hand. Sony are having a good generation in spite of themselves, not because they’re doing a great job, imo.
@LogicStrikesAgain You’ve literally ignored the point of my post. Best in class at a certain price point isn’t best in class, which the person I replied to explicitly said it was.
@OldGamer999 Apart from it isn’t the best. Not even close. Top-end PCs (even mid-range PCs) smoke it. It’s like calling your favourite fast food best-in-field. McDonald’s might make the best fast food hamburger, but there are other hamburgers that are 10x better. You’ll just pay more.
That’s why it’s hard to know who the PS5 Pro is actually for.
@ATaco The workaround I’ve had to use is manually sending my unit to a city, then using the button in the bottom right that lights up when the Trader is stood on the City Centre. I can’t think of any other reason for the counterintuitive layout than it’s broken.
There is so much of the UI that doesn’t feel like it works totally as intended. The minor visual blemishes on the UI I can look past, but the laggy UI (the allocate resource screen is the biggest offender) and buttons not working is pretty poor for an AAA game.
— EDIT —
Want to add that despite the UI woes, the core game is really good fun and a much-needed shakeup. I didn’t want CIV VI Part II and this title stirs the pot nicely.
It was obvious that this game would have a ”content” roadmap but I think I’ve reached the end of my tolerance for this stuff, because it instantly turns me off of the game. I’ll wait until there’s a complete edition that (if Civ 6 anything to go by) is regularly on sale for 70% off.
@Korgon A certain platformer never wins when Nintendo publish it either. When Sony release a (great) knock-off however….
But the GAs know their audience. Which is why I am fully expecting Elden Ring to win it. It wouldn’t even surprise me if there was some back scratching going on with the nomination in exchange for some exclusive trailer for their next project.
Will preface this by saying I adored both Rebirth and Astrobot… but wow that’s a weak year. When they need to scrape the GOTY barrel with DLC that’s a pretty good indicator of where we’re at right now.
1. Start off by offering a service with some value, watch people sign up in their masses.
2. Make terms steadily worse and worse over time, degrading value from consumer point of view, but maximising profit company side.
3. Disband service citing lack of engagement/user interest.
4. Replace or reboot, citing lessons learned, and start cycle from point one, repeating exact same cycle.
@Mikey856 What you’re describing there is literally platform bias, yes. “I play Sony, so therefore Astro > Mario.”
@PuppetMaster - You’re not wrong. However, none of those franchises has a game that comes even remotely close to the inspiration that AstroBot has taken from Mario Galaxy. And the Venn diagram of people that enjoy platform games but don’t like Mario games must be almost vanishingly small in 2024.
@Mikey856 Astrobot is literally a (very, very good) Sony-badged rehash of Super Mario Galaxy. That you “don’t get the hype” says more about your personal bias than the quality of Mario games. They’re objectively fantastic, just like Astro.
This is awful (and ultimately unsurprising given Roblox is essentially the Wild West), but kudos to PS for also pointing out that this is also a short-selling group who are doing this because there will be money to be made, not because they are altruistic social justice champions. They likely primarily see an investment opportunity in tanking a company’s share price.
@Blofse It’s better than Mario Wonder, agree. After a week with it I don’t think it hits the heights of either Galaxy game or Odyssey though. It’s still fabulous mind.
This has been my one experience with PSVR2 that has really rocked my socks when I’m playing it. The words game changer get thrown about pretty lightly sometimes, but it is genuinely hard to go back once you’ve tried it.
I can’t believe the F1 games still aren’t taking advantage of it.
My jaw hit the floor when I heard Joy Formidable on the soundtrack during my first playthrough on XSX. Was so awesome to hear such a niche band in a relatively high-profile game.
I don’t think it really matters with a global overview as such, but sub-categories would be more interesting.
The top 10 would likely be EAFC, COD, GTA etc but drill it down to genre level and I think you could get the boon of visibility for titles that might not normally get the exposure. I think that would definitely have some worth, both for the gamer, and for Sony.
I’m glad for the people that are hyped, for me this just reinforced my view that if you don’t like shooters or 3rd person action games, 2024 looks pretty dry.
Had it been physical - Day One. Without a disc, I’ll be waiting for a discount to <€20.
Exactly the same with Baldur’s Gate. I want to play it, but can wait.
If they take away the resale value of a physical product, the overall value proposition sinks massively. I want it on my shelf if I love it, I want to be able to sell it if I don’t.
Consumer habits have changed. Before, people would only buy a new release every few months. Now, a lot of people buy a game a week. A game with a great core hook but released without DLC will only sell for a short time. In 2023 Battle/Premium Passes, constant drip feed of new content to keep the FOMO alive and stop players from lapsing or moving to something else is just as important as attracting them in the first place, and will have been budgeted as such by the publisher. The clicks, social media interactions, and dripfeed of ‘content’ attempts to stop people from moving on to the next hot thing a week later.
I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but the days of complete multiplayer games being released on day one are long behind us.
This is the first month in ages I actually want to download the “big” game of the month. Haven’t played anything from PS Plus since Toem, but looking forward to all three this time around. Good work!
My thought is… why is an article like this on PushSquare apart from to inspire a bit of mouth-frothing?
The article doesn’t mention Sony or PlayStation one single time. This is Xbox news. I don’t think the acquisition is good news either but this article is pure flamebait, right down to the negative editorial slant.
You really think that TLOU TV series is in the same league as the Mario film? And that game that Nintendo just released that sold 10 million copies in 3 days earlier this month? The fact that the Metroid remake was EVERYWHERE on the internet a couple of months ago?
Regardless of what Sony says, the metrics don’t back up what Sony is saying. The PS5 is doing great, I understand that, now that the console is readily available. But they have not caught the gaming zeitgeist once yet in 2023 and that makes the “momentum” chart a total sham.
@R_Ryder They’re piled high and not selling in both Media Markt and Giganten in Sweden. At least near me anyway. I would estimate that both stores in my town have 20+ each.
Infantino is not a pleasant character, but isn’t this site above taking a derisory tone toward’s someone’s command of English? Seems like a bit of a cheap shot.
@Wiggo So, you mean they’re acting entirely logically if they want to increase the quality of their output, and thus market share, via acquisitions, then?
The GameCube is the most comfortable controller I have ever played with. Great sticks, good, instinctive button placement, and (wonderfully contoured) analogue triggers ten years before they became standard. The only thing that felt like an afterthought was the Z trigger. Everything else was perfect.
The DualSense is a great controller, and feels great in the hands. The rumble is something else, the first time I felt rain landing on the controller in Astro’s felt sensational. I have always thought that Sony controllers have the worst analogue sticks of the major controller manufacturers though, and PS5 is no different. And for that reason it doesn’t quite reach the pinnacle for me.
Comments 64
Re: Just 4% of PS5, PS4 Fans Think PS Plus Premium Represents Good Value for Money
@KeldorTheCursed I came to the same realisation about 12 months ago. I don’t miss it.
Re: GTA 4 Could Be Getting a PS5 Port to Help Ease the Wait for the Next Game
The best game in the series for me, have been looking at buying a second hand PS3 just for GTA IV recently. Would jump on a remaster.
Re: Feature: PS5's Not Perfect, But Here Are 5 Ways It's More Consumer Friendly Than Switch 2
Removed
Re: PS5 Sales Continue to Outpace PS4 in the USA, the Best-Selling System Last Month
@get2sammyb Is it? For themselves, maybe. For the consumer, this has probably been the most damaging generation in gaming history.
Diminishing technological returns in exhange for enormous sums of money (PS5 Pro, PSVR2). Metrics like the one used for the Portal (let’s congratulate ourselves on the revenue - not the sales - from a £300 peripheral). The Live Service clusterf. Number of worthwhile PS5 exclusives are countable on one hand. Sony are having a good generation in spite of themselves, not because they’re doing a great job, imo.
Re: Sony's Pricey PS5 Pro Is Now Being Outpaced by PS4 Pro Launch Aligned in the US
@LogicStrikesAgain You’ve literally ignored the point of my post. Best in class at a certain price point isn’t best in class, which the person I replied to explicitly said it was.
Re: Sony's Pricey PS5 Pro Is Now Being Outpaced by PS4 Pro Launch Aligned in the US
@OldGamer999 Apart from it isn’t the best. Not even close. Top-end PCs (even mid-range PCs) smoke it. It’s like calling your favourite fast food best-in-field. McDonald’s might make the best fast food hamburger, but there are other hamburgers that are 10x better. You’ll just pay more.
That’s why it’s hard to know who the PS5 Pro is actually for.
Re: PS5, PS4, PC Players Can't Decide Who Civilization 7's UI Was Made For
@ATaco The workaround I’ve had to use is manually sending my unit to a city, then using the button in the bottom right that lights up when the Trader is stood on the City Centre. I can’t think of any other reason for the counterintuitive layout than it’s broken.
There is so much of the UI that doesn’t feel like it works totally as intended. The minor visual blemishes on the UI I can look past, but the laggy UI (the allocate resource screen is the biggest offender) and buttons not working is pretty poor for an AAA game.
— EDIT —
Want to add that despite the UI woes, the core game is really good fun and a much-needed shakeup. I didn’t want CIV VI Part II and this title stirs the pot nicely.
Re: Firaxis Unveils Civilization 7 Content Roadmap for 2025 and Beyond
It was obvious that this game would have a ”content” roadmap but I think I’ve reached the end of my tolerance for this stuff, because it instantly turns me off of the game. I’ll wait until there’s a complete edition that (if Civ 6 anything to go by) is regularly on sale for 70% off.
Re: A PS5 Re-Release of SEGA RPG Classic Skies of Arcadia No Longer Seems Up in the Air
Yes!! Get it done Sega!
Re: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Roadmap Confirms Three Expansions and Loads of Updates in 2025
Hooray! Cut content to sell to ’loyal fans’ later!
Re: Poll: What Will Win Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024?
@Korgon A certain platformer never wins when Nintendo publish it either. When Sony release a (great) knock-off however….
But the GAs know their audience. Which is why I am fully expecting Elden Ring to win it. It wouldn’t even surprise me if there was some back scratching going on with the nomination in exchange for some exclusive trailer for their next project.
Re: Sony Brings Back Iconic PS1 Startup Screen on PS5, But Only for a Limited Time
I love the original PS splash but I love the Dreamcast one even more. What’s everyone else’s favourite?
Re: Astro Bot Blasts Past Elden Ring, Currently 2024's Highest-Rated Release
@Oxy The Zelda title released this year is the weakest since the OG DS titles, imo.
Re: Astro Bot Blasts Past Elden Ring, Currently 2024's Highest-Rated Release
”Hilariously uninformed”…
Or doesn’t like RPGs.
Re: Cyberpunk 2077, Phantom Liberty Make Bank for CD Projekt Red with Impressive Sales Figures
@breakneck That’s definitely… an opinion.
Re: All The Game Awards 2024 Nominees Revealed, Astro Bot Up for 7 Awards
Will preface this by saying I adored both Rebirth and Astrobot… but wow that’s a weak year. When they need to scrape the GOTY barrel with DLC that’s a pretty good indicator of where we’re at right now.
Hope 2025 is stronger.
Re: PS5 Pro Image Quality Issues Reported for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Taking the PSSR.
Re: Alan Wake 2 Trapped in Financial Dark Place, 'Most' Development, Marketing Costs Recouped
Skipped it at launch because of the digital-only release, and will wait now until the physical copies go down in price.
Re: Reminder: You Must Accept PS Stars Terms of Service to Keep Earning Points
The Live Service cycle:
1. Start off by offering a service with some value, watch people sign up in their masses.
2. Make terms steadily worse and worse over time, degrading value from consumer point of view, but maximising profit company side.
3. Disband service citing lack of engagement/user interest.
4. Replace or reboot, citing lessons learned, and start cycle from point one, repeating exact same cycle.
Re: Acclaimed PS5 Platformer Astro Bot Really Couldn't Be Selling Any Better
@Mikey856 What you’re describing there is literally platform bias, yes. “I play Sony, so therefore Astro > Mario.”
@PuppetMaster - You’re not wrong. However, none of those franchises has a game that comes even remotely close to the inspiration that AstroBot has taken from Mario Galaxy. And the Venn diagram of people that enjoy platform games but don’t like Mario games must be almost vanishingly small in 2024.
Re: Acclaimed PS5 Platformer Astro Bot Really Couldn't Be Selling Any Better
@Mikey856 Astrobot is literally a (very, very good) Sony-badged rehash of Super Mario Galaxy. That you “don’t get the hype” says more about your personal bias than the quality of Mario games. They’re objectively fantastic, just like Astro.
Re: Report Brands Roblox 'X-Rated Paedophile Hellscape' for Children, with Inflated Player Numbers
This is awful (and ultimately unsurprising given Roblox is essentially the Wild West), but kudos to PS for also pointing out that this is also a short-selling group who are doing this because there will be money to be made, not because they are altruistic social justice champions. They likely primarily see an investment opportunity in tanking a company’s share price.
Re: Nintendo DS Soccer Strategy RPG Getting PS5, PS4 Remake in 2026
Stand up, stand up if you love football
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Astro Bot?
@Blofse It’s better than Mario Wonder, agree. After a week with it I don’t think it hits the heights of either Galaxy game or Odyssey though. It’s still fabulous mind.
Re: PS5 Pro Announced, Costs $700 and Out in November
Yeah no thanks.
Re: Rumour: Xbox to Announce a 'Big' Game Coming to PS5 at Gamescom
Rather it was 4, tbh.
Re: Multiple Square Enix Rumours Spread Like Wildfire Ahead of Summer Game Fest
2024 and we’re still crossgen. What do we need a PS5 ‘Pro’ for, again?
Re: PS5, PS4's Gran Turismo 7 Continues to Get Better and Better
This has been my one experience with PSVR2 that has really rocked my socks when I’m playing it. The words game changer get thrown about pretty lightly sometimes, but it is genuinely hard to go back once you’ve tried it.
I can’t believe the F1 games still aren’t taking advantage of it.
Re: Hi-Fi Rush (PS5) - Xbox Gem Makes Its Rhythmic Debut on PS5
My jaw hit the floor when I heard Joy Formidable on the soundtrack during my first playthrough on XSX. Was so awesome to hear such a niche band in a relatively high-profile game.
Hi-Fi Rush rocks; just play it!
Re: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Acclaimed CCG Queen's Blood Could Get Expanded
I loved Gwent so much I bought a physical version, and would absolutely do the same for Queen’s Blood.
Re: Talking Point: Should Sony Be More Transparent About PS5, PS4's Most Played Games?
I don’t think it really matters with a global overview as such, but sub-categories would be more interesting.
The top 10 would likely be EAFC, COD, GTA etc but drill it down to genre level and I think you could get the boon of visibility for titles that might not normally get the exposure. I think that would definitely have some worth, both for the gamer, and for Sony.
Re: WWE 2K24 Lets You Relive Classic Fights from WrestleMania's 40-Year History on PS5, PS4
@nessisonett Would love that too, but can’t see it with E&C and the Hardyz being in AEW now.
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate the Latest State of Play Showcase?
I’m glad for the people that are hyped, for me this just reinforced my view that if you don’t like shooters or 3rd person action games, 2024 looks pretty dry.
Looking forward to the FF7 SoP next week though.
Re: Push Square Readers' 20 Most Anticipated PS5 Games of 2024
I’m possibly a sceptic here but Star Wars and FFVII aside, what a step down from 2023 this year is shaping to be…
Not every year can be a banger though I guess.
Re: Critical Darling Alan Wake 2's Sales Seem Soft, But There's More to the Story
Had it been physical - Day One.
Without a disc, I’ll be waiting for a discount to <€20.
Exactly the same with Baldur’s Gate. I want to play it, but can wait.
If they take away the resale value of a physical product, the overall value proposition sinks massively. I want it on my shelf if I love it, I want to be able to sell it if I don’t.
Re: Rumour: PS5 Pro Specs Could Leak Very Soon as Dev Kits Go Out to Studios
@Loamy In need of an upgrade?! Half of all new titles are still crossgen
Re: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Has Some of the Worst PS5, PS4 Review Scores of the Year
@gomersoul
Consumer habits have changed. Before, people would only buy a new release every few months. Now, a lot of people buy a game a week. A game with a great core hook but released without DLC will only sell for a short time. In 2023 Battle/Premium Passes, constant drip feed of new content to keep the FOMO alive and stop players from lapsing or moving to something else is just as important as attracting them in the first place, and will have been budgeted as such by the publisher. The clicks, social media interactions, and dripfeed of ‘content’ attempts to stop people from moving on to the next hot thing a week later.
I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but the days of complete multiplayer games being released on day one are long behind us.
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for October 2023 Announced
This is the first month in ages I actually want to download the “big” game of the month. Haven’t played anything from PS Plus since Toem, but looking forward to all three this time around. Good work!
Re: Microsoft Bigwig Hoping to Voice Frustration to UK Politicians Over $69 Billion Buyout Block
My thought is… why is an article like this on PushSquare apart from to inspire a bit of mouth-frothing?
The article doesn’t mention Sony or PlayStation one single time. This is Xbox news. I don’t think the acquisition is good news either but this article is pure flamebait, right down to the negative editorial slant.
Re: PlayStation Well Ahead of Nintendo, Xbox In Terms of Brand Momentum, Says Sony
@Beerheadgamer82
You really think that TLOU TV series is in the same league as the Mario film? And that game that Nintendo just released that sold 10 million copies in 3 days earlier this month? The fact that the Metroid remake was EVERYWHERE on the internet a couple of months ago?
Regardless of what Sony says, the metrics don’t back up what Sony is saying. The PS5 is doing great, I understand that, now that the console is readily available. But they have not caught the gaming zeitgeist once yet in 2023 and that makes the “momentum” chart a total sham.
Re: PSVR2 Sales Off to a 'Slow Start', New Report Claims
@R_Ryder They’re piled high and not selling in both Media Markt and Giganten in Sweden. At least near me anyway. I would estimate that both stores in my town have 20+ each.
Re: Resident Evil 4 (PS5) - A True Masterpiece Made Even Better
@Feena Yep, seems like calling Shenmue 2 an Xbox original or Samba di Amigo a Wii original. Really strange bit of revisionism.
Especially as the eventual PS2 port of RE4 was seen as inferior to the GC original in pretty much every way at the time.
Re: FIFA 25 Will Take on EA Sports FC, Promises Re-Elected Gianni Infantino
Infantino is not a pleasant character, but isn’t this site above taking a derisory tone toward’s someone’s command of English? Seems like a bit of a cheap shot.
Re: Resident Evil 4 (PS5) - A True Masterpiece Made Even Better
The PS2 Original!?
Re: Analysts Expect PS5 to Extend Lead on Xbox Series X|S in 2023
@Wiggo So, you mean they’re acting entirely logically if they want to increase the quality of their output, and thus market share, via acquisitions, then?
Re: Disney Dreamlight Valley's Festival of Friendship Is Sure to Put Some Pep in Your Step
Won’t be anywhere near as good as KO and Chris Jericho’s.
Re: Hands On: Resident Evil 4 PS5 Makes a Masterpiece Even Better
@GuyProsciutto Reacted in exactly the same way when I read the article. It’s a PS2 classic in the same way that FFVII is a Switch classic.
Re: PS Plus May 2022 PS5, PS4 Games Announced
Won’t FIFA be on EA Play any week now?
Re: PS5's DualSense Dubbed the Best Controller of All Time in Public Vote
Huge recency bias.
The GameCube is the most comfortable controller I have ever played with. Great sticks, good, instinctive button placement, and (wonderfully contoured) analogue triggers ten years before they became standard. The only thing that felt like an afterthought was the Z trigger. Everything else was perfect.
The DualSense is a great controller, and feels great in the hands. The rumble is something else, the first time I felt rain landing on the controller in Astro’s felt sensational. I have always thought that Sony controllers have the worst analogue sticks of the major controller manufacturers though, and PS5 is no different. And for that reason it doesn’t quite reach the pinnacle for me.
Re: Poll: Will You Buy Hogwarts Legacy?
@nessisonett Spot on.