Julius

The first 45 minutes of gameplay are going up in about 45 minutes courtesy of Game Informer's New Gameplay Today:

Man, that box art looks really slick. Not as brightly coloured, but does the colour palette give anyone else a first impression of it looking a bit like Tokyo Mirage Sessions' cover?

I must have missed that, that's my bad! I'll update my post just to mention that's inaccurate appreciate the update @Map! In which case, yeah, it's the fun side of the internet carrying out business as usual. I swear, you'd think PlayStation flopped last gen and are in freefall with the PS5 right now. The funny thing is I absolutely think there are things PlayStation are doing wrong or could do better, and I do think a lot of that has come to light since the launch of the PS5 (the treatment of Japan Studio and many leaving en masse before that, the whole Days Gone and TLOU debacle Schreier mentioned in his recent article) - in short, I think they're in need of a win, because Xbox have done a great job of dominating the news lately - but it rarely, if ever, feels like a levelheaded discussion about the merits of PlayStation and more piling on. Anyways, talking about Game Pass doing so well, apparently they've crossed the 23 million subscriber mark, which is pretty insane. And that's without having anything new from their own AAA catalogue of IP's on there recently, if my memory serves me right anyways. Can't imagine the bump we'll see towards the end of the year with Halo if everything goes smoothly for them!

Considering that it would make all of zero business sense for Capcom to put it on there anytime soon anyways (unless alternatively Xbox showed up with five truckloads of green and dumped it outside of Capcom), this is quite a brilliant move from Capcom. PlayStation are the ones who look bad if anyone does here, they wouldn't have brought it to Game Pass in the next six months at least anyways and are getting paid now to not do so, and it doesn't exactly hurt their relationship with Xbox. Win-win for them. Although, I would assume this is simply a stipulation of their exclusive marketing deal and nothing more, and with that in mind I can't really blame them. It wouldn't exactly be a worthwhile deal from PlayStation's perspective if by Christmas you could get the game "free" as part of Game Pass. This is much better than what they apparently did with Monster Hunter World (if I'm remembering right, supposedly blocking cross-platform multiplayer, delaying the PC version of the game, and having similar agreements in place for Iceborne) and to a lesser extent I suppose even Monster Hunter Rise. And goodness knows what's going on with Final Fantasy VII Remake, but it doesn't look like that's making it to Game Pass for a good while more either. (EDIT: as H-o-T mentions on the next page, what I thought I was remembering about Monster Hunter World's deal turned out to be hot garbage. My bad!)

Tales be arising 9th September 2021. A win for anime. Looking forward to my first Tales game! 7 minute gameplay trailer: Also coming to next-gen, with 4K and 60fps prioritisation modes and DualSense support: And ufotable (Demon Slayer!) producing the anime sequences. Think they worked on some before, but I had no idea. Yep, this just got bumped up the pecking order a fair bit...

...the ancient European inspired architecture? I mean, who doesn't love a good pillar?

VGC are reporting that Sony is set to announce the PlayStation Plus Video Pass. Doesn't do much for me personally unless Funimation or Crunchyroll somehow tie into the service, which would be interesting to see. It's interesting too because only a couple of weeks ago Netflix obtained the streaming licensing deal for Sony's upcoming film slate (after their theatrical and home entertainment releases), so curious to see how it shakes out. Guess we've just got to wait for more details on what exactly this means, but added value is added value I guess.

This was revealed last year at TGS, closing out SEGA's 60th Anniversary stream. Figured it deserved it's own thread as though I don't think it's totally clear what it actually is yet, it's been spotted on the Japanese PlayStation Store, so surely it can only be a matter of time before we hear more?

Fair play to them, Sony really been on it with the way they've handled this one I feel, like when they postponed the PS5 reveal event (for obvious reasons delaying this benefitted them too), or when Sony Music launched a $100 million fund to support social justice / anti-racist initiatives. I feel I'm pretty powerless in my mindset when it comes to kicking out racism - while I'll stand up for anyone I see or hear about being mistreated and point it out, on a much, much larger scale, it's intimidating to think about, as it's almost always idiots who aren't willing to listen, let alone learn or change - so I'm glad big companies do take a stand. Some might say it's grandstanding or for PR, and hey, maybe part of it is that on a company level, but there are individuals behind these decisions who do want to see change, and they've got reach to an audience many of us simply don't, so it's important that it continues to be part of the conversation.

Yeah, think you mentioned at the start of this that of course his logic was pretty dubious considering he wanted you to pay full price if you love the game, which is impossible to know until you, well, have played the game. Which many wouldn't have been doing at launch in large part down to a variety of factors: as @Sheikah mentioned, the game was a technical joke at launch which likely hit the hardcore gamer crowd harder than it did the more casual audience, and I think a wider issue with Days Gone in particular is just how indistinct it is - when you look at its visual colour palette, it's general gameplay loop, it's genre - to The Last of Us. I know there were recently conversations in another thread about Sony's offering being cut from the same cloth, and while I don't agree with the sentiment being applied generally to their first party offerings, I do think it applies to some degree here. Personally, if I hadn't known Days Gone was another first party PlayStation studio taking a whack at a post-apocalyptic, undead-filled world...well, just looking at it, I would have thought it was Ubisoft or some other big third party publisher trying to stick an open world over the top of a game trying to ride off the tails of TLOU's success. So, while it's great to see Days Gone finally getting more attention after its long list of updates (even if discounted, as part of the PS+ Collection, or as a free game), I think it's failure in Sony's eyes lies squarely with Bend in that regard. It's like if I became a film director today and came out with an epic, fantasty-based space opera; it's clear as day to a casual audience that not only have they seen this elsewhere, they've already seen it knocked out of the park and become part of pop culture's subconscious. I hope it's a lesson Bend take moving forwards, because I've heard many people enjoy Days Gone, and they deserve all the success they can get, but you aren't helping yourself by making such a visually similar game, and that's why I'm excited to see them take a crack at a new IP rather than a sequel next. But, back to the topic at hand and the discussion of price, it's pretty simple in my eyes: beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in this case, that's just how much publishers value their own IP. Nintendo value their games greatly, and have my respect for sticking with their prices, but not everyone can be Nintendo, whom - as we all seem to agree - are more likely to give you a great game than not. Though, I do have to say, I think it helps massively that their first party studios releases games on a consistent basis of high quality, and exclusively; especially now that we're in a new generation for gaming, many games aren't given the same value in the audience's eyes as they simply aren't the newest and shiniest thing and are being released on last generation consoles first and foremost. Immortals Fenyx Rising was treated the exact same way as Assassin's Creed, and all of their other games, by Ubisoft, who seriously undervalue the value of their games consistently, so I'm not surprised it's price is slashed. Square Enix do the same. The examples @Sheikah gave it Sekiro and Ghost of Tsushima I think are good ones, because clearly the quality is there and they are highly valued by their respective publishers, which has seen them decrease in price much more slowly than other games over the last couple of years. Plus, remember with Sony, they want to focus on expanding their audience for IP above all else right now, hence the focus shifting to some degree towards blockbuster titles. God of War is free as part of the PS+ Collection, Horizon Zero Dawn is free this month as part of Play at Home, and that's clearly a move they're making with eyes on those games' sequels in mind: the larger the audience of those games, the more likely they are to crush some records on release. Days Gone I think comes on the other end of this where a sequel seemingly isn't in the works at the moment, and focus is going to be back on The Last of Us for the foreseeable future with Factions, TLOU Remake, and the HBO series, so I think this move to have more people play it is simply playing the long game to grow that IP's audience for its potential return years down the road. They have the numbers and probably didn't see it being played by as many people as they would have liked, hence why they seem so eager to give it away. Plus, from an audience perspective, it adds value to PS+, and now that game doesn't run poorly, the fact that middling reviews are out there, and that we're well removed from launch, I think players' expectations going into that game will be fair and the game will be appreciated more for what it is than what it isn't.

Totally agree, let's get some of these owners out and see more power given to the fans. It's atrocious and they cannot be allowed to get away with it, but my only issue with sanctions (transfer bans, point deductions, European bans, etc.) is that it hurts the players and managers much more than the owners in my opinion, yes it's their money in these clubs, but they're stupid and greedy idea shouldn't see the hard work of their players all be for nothing. I think forcing them out should be the one and only best outcome we could see, to be honest. I guess point deductions at the start of next season could work though, as it's not taking away something they would have already had, but at the same time, it shifts the sense of competition pretty drastically too. I'm not against the idea of sanctions, just think they need to be careful with how it's implemented, otherwise, as with them having to face the press without knowledge of this in the first place, it'll be leaving managers and players alike out in the rain. Do think it highlights just how ridiculous this whole thing is, and how angry every football fan is, just seeing how fans are looking for sanctions against their clubs. That's when you know you've royally messed up. Something crazy like nearly £1 billion spent in the last 8 years right? And very, very little to show for it. So yeah, think it's great he's out! But yeah, think the bigger issue is if the Glazers are allowed to stay. If it's some other useless puppet who takes over from Woodward you probably wouldn't be much better off, and they'd continue to bleed the club dry. I've genuinely felt sorry for United fans since Ferguson left, it's been rough to watch at times. Urgh. This doesn't giveeuch confidence. The issue is if it'll just go under, they (the clubs and owners) will lobby for more power in UEFA, and both they and FIFA are corrupt to the core, so I think there needs to be a hard stance on getting these owners out. Especially FSG and the Glazers in my eyes: whereas both City and Chelsea have benefitted from the money pumped into them, United and Liverpool are very clearly being run as businesses above all else, and have been for some time now. Liverpool have won a couple of big trophies in the past few seasons, but you wouldn't tell it from the size of their recent bigger transfer fees.

Might be the best news United fans have had in nearly a decade? Ed Woodward has reportedly resigned. And good riddance. While it's great that we and City are stepping away from this, I honestly think it shows a complete lack of backbone. Absolute cowards backing out of an absolute shambles of a league, it's so easy to leave when you're on the back foot. Then again, with the Americans and Perez seemingly at the head of all of this, it does make me wonder if they agreed to join not just for the money, but imagine how much weaker the Prem would be even without the four English clubs still in there. Might have seen it as a "join us or get left behind" situation"; to be clear, there's no excuse, and it's clear greed played a big part in this, but I do wonder if there are more politics at play here too. Guardiola seemed to come the closest to speaking his mind out of all of the press conferences, do wonder if City realised they'd potentially stand to lose the most in demand manager in the world - and the one at the core of their current success - if they went through with it. Do wonder who will be the last to leave in England, it's clear that over here at least the Americans were leading the way, and Daniel Levy is a spineless penny pincher, so it'll be fun to see how it all shakes out. What a crazy 48 hours it's been!

Square Enix president and CEO Yosuke Matsuda has confirmed their presence at E3 2021 in an interview with Nikkei. Courtesy of Gematsu: Good stuff. Don't know if this necessarily means having their own show at E3 or just being part of other conferences, but there are games like Babylon's Fall which we haven't heard about for years, and I imagine we'll be getting our next update on Final Fantasy XVI sooner rather than later (I still think they're aiming for it to be out by the end of March next year, so this would seem the right place to show it off again). There's also, of course, the question of when we'll see some Dragon Quest pop up too, as Yuji Horii teased that we'd be seeing all sorts of announcements this year for the 35th anniversary, and I would have to imagine that means some news on XII. As well as maybe some ports please?

So, there's a 99% chance this is nothing, as I would assume it's just the standard renewed trademark, but Konami just trademarked both Metal Gear Rising and Castlevania in Japan. I know it's in the thread title, but seriously, what the hell is going on? Because they've been especially weird this past year or so. Off the top of my head, they've thrown some MGS games on GOG, handed a sequel to a super niche and Japanese exclusive IP from decades ago to an indie developer, launched a brand new IP in Skelattack, launched an online store, and officially ditched the Fox Engine for PES in favour of Unreal. Weird bunch those Konami guys.

Wow, that is one heck of a 180°. Good for them, that puts a little less pressure on me to hunt down everything for my Vita and PS3! Cynically, I can't help but wonder if sales in recent weeks got them to change that decision, but regardless, this highlights the importance of making your voice heard; the backlash clearly worked here. Now if they could please bring back the web store pages for those systems that would be great, because traversing them through the console just ain't fun, especially on the PS3. And I do sincerely hope this is the first step of many. They now have undeniable evidence - which they didn't before - that there is a passionate fanbase that wants to play legacy titles, and is very willing to do so. Let's see them get to work on PS1 - PS3 emulation and make titles on PS Now available for download. I'm not saying it's easy, but come on, it's almost embarrassing.

Yeah, it's terrific. Scary thing is haven't they massively undersold vs their own expectations, only really down to console limitations due to the production issues that everyone's having at the moment? It's going to be something like 6.5 million shipped worldwide or thereabouts, when their projections were 11 million by the end of their financial year (March 31st), and if I'm remembering right, everyone and their mother was in panic mode because that was already down from a projected 15 million units to be shipped by that time as they'd shared previously. And yeah, their financial year ended at the end of last month, so we should have a solid report and some numbers to point to towards by the middle of May. I love pouring over all of these numbers (it's genuinely the only reason why I was upset Xbox stopped sharing their numbers last generation, and seem to have little interest in doing so this time around too) because it's such an interesting perspective to have on games. Nintendo kills it when it comes to their earnings reports (I mean, Japanese centric companies in general, Capcom's great with theirs too!), every major publisher should be sharing their stats in my eyes. I think a big problem you see sometimes when it comes to people's ideas of a game running away from them is actually because they share so little of the numbers side of things, and would make for some really interesting takeaways...like how obviously if you have a breakout indie hit, your profit margins will put these AAA developers to shame. You basically see what happened with the first Star Wars happen almost every year in this industry from a financial success perspective! I'd love for us to get into game budgets, because outside of some big ones trying to lay claim to records (Shenmue, GTA V), we really do know so little. I feel like that's the next step this industry has to take before we start seeing real change at a workplace level for these developers, because transparency is key at can make it much more accessible to many when we can start comparing things from an objective (financial) perspective. I followed the box office for years and found it absolutely fascinating (also predicting drop-off for films, opening weekends, what their American vs international vs worldwide pull would be, etc.). Got a little sidetracked there, but yeah...give me those numbers Sony

No worries, I was curious anyways as if/when I get around to replaying it before Forbidden West for the rest of the DLC, downloading the Complete Edition would save me the trouble of having to download the base game and DLC separately Yeah I guess that would depend on if you had PS+ and had it updating saves to the cloud when you originally played it through? If so it should be under Cloud Storage in Settings (through Saved Data if I'm remembering right).

I've had a little nose around and it looks like you should be able to. The only obstacle some seem to have had with this is if their versions of the game aren't from the same region, but I doubt that should be an issue for you?

First trailer for Shang-Chi:

Porto have declined an offer to join the European Super League: Fair play to them. I hadn't really thought about who else might be invited outside of the top five leagues in Europe. If they're inviting Porto, I'd have to imagine their countrymen at Sporting and Benfica were also invited, and I'd have to imagine Ajax could be getting an invite too? Also chuffed that Ander Herrera came out and said this: Hopefully we'll hear more from players and managers relatively soon.

Yeah, I think you're right about it being mainly used for diversion. Though now Mou has been sacked, can Sky or someone hurry up and get him on? I'd be interested to hear what he has to say about all of this. And I think that's a great question: what would the fallout of these clubs be leaving the Prem mean for everyone else? I think there'd definitely be an adjustment period of a few years if that were to happen from a financial perspective as things adapt and the power is moved from one set of clubs to the next (if they were indeed to leave the Prem, though at this point I think it's nothing more than posturing by basically leaping onto a table in the middle of a restaurant and declaring yourself the owner). Hell, wouldn't be surprised though if the issue then just went over to the next set of clubs down the line if new owners were brought in that only cared about the bottom line. I think it's a sign that larger reform is needed moving forwards for stable and healthy competition to thrive, which would be no mean feat. This year's Money League by Deloitte showed that the Big Six all fall within the top 11 (trust Arsenal to be the one you have to stretch this out for ) for highest total annual revenue, but again, I come back around to AC Milan and point at this season likely being the first time they've qualified in nearly a decade for the Champions League, because they're the only club in the ESL's 12 Founding Clubs nowhere in the top 20 on Deloitte's list. Surely this would suggest that other than the club's history, perhaps more than any other team in the list of Founding Clubs, that they have no business being part of the ESL, even from a financial perspective based on their own revenue reports? I've grown up on the Champions League in its current format, and while I do think it makes for great competition and memorable nights, it certainly does make it weird at times. We won it a season after coming third and during a season where we finished sixth (!), and Liverpool won two Champions Leagues (in its current format) before they even won the Prem (in its current format). It's bizarre to be the best in Europe in a knockout competition when you aren't winning silverware domestically. And again, even that move to expand out from only having champions compete was a move driven by the neverending hunt for money.

Grassroots and lower level football depends heavily on the money which trickles down from the top of the footballing pyramid, especially here in England, and that's hundreds of millions of pounds per year. It goes without saying that, by and large, that money is generated by the top teams, such as in the Premier League. Clubs cannot enter other competitions without getting the nod from their respective FA's/leagues, I would imagine mainly for two reasons: 1) potential scheduling conflicts, and 2) (much bigger in my eyes) the importance each competition is seen as having. I think we already see this to some extent with the League and FA Cup, because until the last half a decade or so where more money has been pumped in through sponsorship deals than ever before, the former was rarely considered a major trophy, and to most football fans, is overshadowed by the FA Cup. These Founding Clubs have put out a statement stating that they plan to start this league without conferring with their respective FA's/leagues, who obviously would have told them that it was a stupid idea and they weren't allowed to join. I think they're well within their rights to remove them from the competition. It is about greed, I think it's pretty plain and simple, and you just have to look at the names involved; unsurprisingly, the ringleaders are the Americans (FSG/Liverpool and Glazers/United) and apparently Real Madrid too. Current reports are that the involved clubs would be projected to take in some £300 million per year vs the approximate £100 million - £120 million per year in revenue they make now from ticket sales, broadcasting rights, etc., and as @Zell rightly pointed out they'd stand to make a killing from splitting away too because these clubs would own their own broadcasting rights rather than having them lumped in to be part of some big deal with Sky/BT/whoever else. Can you imagine each club having their own subscription deals to watch their games? And let's not mention the other stakeholders in this besides those at the top looking to line their pockets further: the fans, the managers, and the players. A European Super League wouldn't have the history of the Champions League/European Cup behind it, fans would have to travel abroad more frequently, and let's not forget just how tone deaf it is to announce this WHILE STADIUMS ARE ONLY JUST STARTING TO HAVE FANS COME BACK. I think there's also a big chance that something not being shared with us at this point is plans for some (maybe even most?) of these games to take place in Asia or America, as we've seen happen with more and more cup competition finals in recent years, and again, that's more money being spent by the fans. From a manager perspective, they very, very clearly haven't been spoken to about this, which will make today's press conferences even more interesting. I think you're about to see some names rightly dragged through the dirt today, and while I don't think the apparent Mourinho strike has been backed up by anyone yet, ahead of a cup final this weekend, this may potentially have had something to do with his sacking too. From a player perspective, the threat to not play for your country is huge, and one I wouldn't be surprised to see huge players speak out against. Ronaldo isn't too far off from the international goal scoring record, and now there's the potential he might not be allowed to play international football anymore? Right, like he or anyone else is going to take this lying down. For players, football isn't always just about the money - this is a fact. And it's similar for fans. It is about making history, beating records, stories of fantasy and drama. You don't see things like Leicester winning the league as this amazing thing if the best clubs in the country aren't even in the competition to begin with! What's at stake in a competition like this? Is there anything at stake in a competition like this? Feel it's also worth mentioning that they put this out the evening before the new format for the Champions League was due to be ratified, it's clearly a move from these clubs who have been against the new format to make their point loud and clear. And then we see the teams involved and Arsenal and Tottenham are clearly their based on their Big Six status only, because it's not like they've done anything on note on the big stage in the last decade or so. Heck, same goes for Inter Milan and AC Milan before this season too. And now, as Gary Neville rightly put it, these clubs think they have the God given right to be considered amongst Europe's most elite? It's an absolute joke. I've been a Chelsea fan since I was little, but this is the first time where I've seriously questioned if I should continue supporting the club. There is already a lot of money in football, or new owners coming in (to an extent), but the issue isn't just clubs wanting money, it's the unrelenting greed which has grown and grown as they have made more and more money. Yes, this is a business, but it's a business revolving around a sport, not a boardroom. I think of United, where suits and ties just swooped in, drove the club into the ground, and have spent over £1 billion over the last 8 years and have no major silverware to show for it. People are applauding PSG for not joining, but their owners have stakes in beIN Sports, so even their decision to not join is driven by a conflict of interest, otherwise I can guarantee they'd be there! And while Dortmund and Bayern I think are doing well and haven't accepted this, there are still three slots remaining, and that's a lot of money, but I think the obvious pressure from a majority fan-owned club allows for that. England needs to follow suit, or else some of these should be sent to the shadow realm, be it deducting points, relegation, or forcing them out of the competition altogether. It's disgraceful in my eyes.

It blows mind that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z aren't available over here on any streaming services. Not sure if this is necessarily a sign of that coming to fruition, but I wish they'd get their act together when it comes to some of their distribution rights. But first they can fix the app