Julius

Because it's never too early for Geoff to announce that The Game Awards is coming on December 10th, live from L.A., London, and Tokyo! Choice quote from the Variety article tied to the announcement (and which is well worth a read, in my opinion): Seems like we have a lot to look forward to! Now just waiting to hear that the cut-off date is towards the end of November, instead of mid-November, otherwise they'll end up putting Cyberpunk 2077 and Demon's Souls out of the running (as well as potentially Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity) for this year. There's no way they get left out, right?

So, listening to some video game music while working today (as you do), and came across this unused Main Theme from IX, from the FFIX PLUS album: That might be one of the best unused tracks I've ever heard? Obviously there's plenty of Melodies of Life in there (as there is throughout the entire game) but damn, I think that might be one of my favourite uses of it. There's a definite charm and power to this one that wasn't necessarily present in the other times you hear Melodies of Life. Seems a bit too energetic to be the overworld theme, and sounds like it was played with the instruments used in Zidane's Theme, so I wonder if it was maybe supposed to be the Title Screen theme instead? Or maybe to be used in the overworld later on in the game? Anyways, just thought I'd share it, because I love it

A lot of (nowhere near as telling, completely wild) rumours swirling around that MGS3 and MGS4 could be added too. Konami has an "Information Program" this Saturday at TGS, I wonder if it'll be announced then? If they are coming, fully expecting bottom of the barrel ports, but it would be interesting to see Konami releasing them. Wonder if they could also come to current gen? And also wonder if they'll leave Kojima's name on it?

I was wondering about that too, and it would make sense. Why would they want to advertise £50 and £40 versions (or something like that) of Miles Morales on the same store, for the exact same game? I don't think they'll be made available digitally on the PS5's PS Store I guess, I think you're right. Also got to imagine some of those older FIFA and annual sports games won't be coming over on the Store too, amongst many others which companies might have plans for Special Editions/Remasters down the road, even if not offering the same upgrade but just boosted performance (e.g. DMC V's Special Edition). Now I'm also stuck wondering where this would leave games like Ghost of Tsushima and TLOU2? I would say God of War too, but that's in the PS+ Collection, at least. They seem ripe for remasters.

I mean, even at launch you can also consistently get games at £5 - £10 less than the RRP listed on the PS Store at retail, like @Ganepark32 mentioned. And as you said Bob, the price goes down much faster (and much more consistently) at retail. Personally, I only buy digitally when there's a game I'm interested in and the deal is far too good when compared with the physical price, normally during the digital sales. Last month for instance, I picked up the Crash N. Sane Trilogy and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy for less than £30, when the physical copies would have cost me about £30 each at the time. To ganepark's question, I think it depends on if you think you'll be buying games on release day consistently. I imagine we're going to see RRP remain around the same for the next six months or so on both retail and digital storefronts, before inevitably we're going to start seeing the AAA first party games coming it at £65 instead of £70, whereas it will still probably be £70 on the store. AAA games normally don't get put on sale on the PS Store in their first 6 months or so from what I've seen, unless they're absolutely tanking, so I guess it depends on how much you can pick up some PS Store credit for. Though, you mention Cyberpunk, and we know that will be getting a free update from PS4 to PS5 with a Day 1 patch before we get the actual PS5 upgrade next year, meaning you could pick up the PS4 version and play it on the PS5? I've seen that going for £45 vs the £59.99 RRP it'll probably come in at, and you could potentially do the same for Miles Morales (£43-ish on PS4 I think, vs what will probably be £50 at RRP on the PS Store?), which will also come with a free PS5 upgrade. I imagine it's going to be a similar case for other AAA cross-gen titles on the way like Horizon Forbidden West, etc. Just something worth bearing in mind the backwards compatibility + free PS5 upgrades, because compared to the expected RRP that's already knocking off a decent chunk, and that £90 extra for the disc drive would probably pay for itself within a year or two (depending on how many games you get - but of course, if you wait on physical, it'll probably end up quite a bit cheaper too!).

(I mean, unless Goafer's name is Luke and you weren't going for that, but uh...)

Yeah, think it'll be fine. I picked up a regular, mid-to-lower end Samsung 4K TV (first TV I've bought!) earlier this year, but don't quite see myself putting in the money for an awesome 4K TV anytime soon. Plus, I'm really liking it so far, no complaints That money would be much better off for me being spent on the games EDIT: also, this is happening. Factions news, maybe..?

I think my biggest concern with this acquisition compared to others is that I just can't see the necessity for it from the outside, other than Microsoft having deep enough pockets. I wonder if they would've gone through with this if Zenimax/Bethesda were publicly traded? I'd bet not, because that seems too much of a hassle. I was not a fan in the slightest of what happened with Spider-Man coming to Avengers as PlayStation exclusive, because it feels less like exclusive content made for PlayStation and more content blocked from making its way over to Xbox. This could *potentially* be that with an entire publisher. This is Disney buying FOX, and theatres, and saying "pay up." It's a good business move, but not a good direction for games. Though, based on Microsoft's history this shouldn't be something to be too concerned about (until they flip that switch), as they're just interested in selling software and want platforms for doing so, it seems...wrong, almost. Again, "inorganically" being the word used could not be more accurate; it feels like they've ripped up a plot of the industry they had no real interest in and just threw it on the Game Pass pile of developers they've got growing. Before someone throws anything back my way over not wanting Xbox to do well, I think their previous acquisitions were fair and smaller acquisitions, and many of them made sense. It showed Xbox were going all out, but were willing to give things time to grow. This feels like them saying to hell with that and wanting to steamroll the competition, which I'm not all for. People will point at Insomniac being bought by PlayStation, or the potential for Bluepoint to be picked up by them, but as I said yesterday - that's already where their games were. People will say "but XVI is a timed exclusive! Moneyhatting!", and I will say...go look up how Xbox sells in Japan, and how well games like Final Fantasy sell on Xbox. Like it or not, those deals make sense, if nothing else because that's where the bulk of the audience is playing those games, if not a case where that's the place where the developer is releasing their games. Xbox has exclusivity deals for Yakuza 7 on next gen and I guarantee that that game still sells more on PS4 than it is played on Game Pass - it's deals like that which feel dirty to me (never mind the fact that SEGA Europe's cooperation with PlayStation is what turned the franchise and SEGA's recent fortunes around in the west, but anyways). Again, "inorganically" would be the word to use here too, because it is such an unnatural fit. I'm not saying PlayStation can do no wrong and that Xbox can do no right, but to the point of some others here asking what PlayStation need to do in response, saying they need to buy someone as soon as they can and react accordingly, I have to ask: is picking up the dying husk of Konami just for rights to their beloved IP's, to actually bring them back into the fold, really anywhere near as bad as this? And if not, then why on earth aren't Microsoft going there? It makes you wonder, because they could have bought Konami with ease (publicly traded I know, more hoops, but I'm talking more the money side of things), build PES into a worthwhile FIFA competitor, and throw EA out to die in 2022 when they pay up and get the official licensing for revised PES in their stead. And then there's Metal Gear. And Castlevania. And Silent Hill. How many PlayStation owners wouldn't buy an Xbox at that point? I know I would. I think the industry would be all the better for a returning Konami, and if Xbox did that, I'd be happy. I think picking up Konami and then forming a team around them after an overhaul to their core structure would have been the killer (and likely much cheaper) move, so it makes me wonder why they wouldn't go in that direction. Hey, maybe it's in the works, but it more makes me think the worst: that Konami isn't an active developer (right now, at least, because they seem to have be showing signs that some things are cooking) so they aren't exactly a threat or worth picking up. It's certainly not sending a message like Bethesda is. And seriously, what can PlayStation do? If laws against monopolisation weren't a thing, Microsoft would have bought Sony ten times over at this point, without even flinching. And Nintendo. If they had the choice, they would absolutely buy out the industry, and there wouldn't be any competition. It's a scary thought.

According to Deadline, Black Mirror's Toby Haynes is taking over as director from Tony Gilroy on the Rogue One spin-off series for Disney+. According to their sources it is due to travel and health concerns for Gilroy, and nothing more than that. Would be refreshing to have a director leave a Star Wars project for something other than "creative differences" for a change!

CNET interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Phil Spencer pretty much spells out they aren't done with the acquisitions just yet. Emphases mine, mostly to highlight some things and because we get a bit more of an idea as to how they'll be handling things. Not sure why, but the use of "inorganically" in this context seems so...gross. A lot of whispers going around from people who were on the ball with Final Fantasy XVI (though that wasn't too much of a surprise by itself), as well as some other things, which seems to be leading to the conclusion that Microsoft are looking to acquire two more studios. Favourites at the moment are looking like DontNod (Life is Strange) and Asobo (A Plague Tale: Innocence, and more recently Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020). Another two studios would take Microsoft up to a staggering total of 25 first party studios. Crazy.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry on behalf of those people. I checked Amazon this morning and noticed it was still up, conpletely forgot that Microsoft wanted them taken off shelves, but guess Amazon still has stock left to burn through. I'm sure this won't end up in someone's kid having a meltdown this Christmas

This the one that came with Zelda, Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and some Wind Waker demo-ish stuff? If so, then replace Wind Waker in that list with BOTW2 demo-ish stuff and I guess that's that sorted But more seriously, I don't know how they'd structure it if we end up with one. I mean, unless they're going to shaft a game here and there, which looking at Galaxy 2, seems to be in the cards! Any reason this wouldn't be Majora's Mask? Taking the wild assumption they won't bring the 2D games into the mix because you've got Zelda, Zelda II, and Link to the Past on Switch Online and a remake of Link's Awakening (unless they just come out with a 2D collection for the games following those?) and would just focus on the 3D games, if it's only three in a potential Collection...it would have to be Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess, surely? But then are they going to get all weird about how they reworked those games for the 3DS and Wii U, or just sell us upscaled, higher res, and still relatively low effort (by the standards of other remaster collections) emulations of the originals instead? And I guess Skyward Sword ends up with the 3D World treatment and gets to be its own thing, assuming they would want to potentially rework it? I haven't even played these Zelda games so someone's going to need to point out why it's crazy to start wishing for it, but in my head at least, it's a potentially weirder one to organise than with Mario. Unless you end up with two-in-one collections, Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask and Wind Waker/Twilight Princess, at full price, and then Skyward Sword still by itself? I give up on trying to make sense out of Nintendo, they can just surprise me (please nobody tell them or Game Freak it's Pokémon's 25th next year or they'll can the Diamond and Pearl remakes for Let's Go Zip Zap Pikachu and Let's Go Normal-type-means-boring Eevee)

More related to how the game performed than the game itself, so sticking it here: gamesindustry.biz have put up a summary article about the UK charts performance of Super Mario 3D All-Stars. And it's a doozy. Key takeaways: - third largest UK launch of the year, behind only The Last of Us Part II and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. - the fifth fastest-selling Switch title launch in the UK, behind only Pokémon Sword and Shield, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Super Mario Odyssey. - 15th largest Nintendo game launch in the UK. - only in terms of physical releases, this makes it the fourth best launch for a game to feature Mario in the UK (behind Mario Kart Wii, Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Odyssey). Going to be absolutely crazy to see the next quarterly report. Also...Zelda 35th Anniversary Collection next year, right? What games are we expecting?

Oh yeah, them too! Read and heard some crazy things about how it went, weren't they gone practically as soon as they went up, at least on their official store? And you're exactly right, I remember that very thought being a big concern of mine way back when it came to stock; there was never going to be enough, with more people positioned to pre-order than necessarily would be normally, or would even want to pre-order, because I imagine there are a lot of people who got back into gaming since the start of the year mostly down to COVID. Don't blame them, it's been a crazy year for everyone, but these companies just didn't really seem to tune into that fact. Also, I didn't pre-order a Switch at launch so I could be remembering this wrong (but I was already on the forums!)...but did Nintendo handle Switch pre-orders better than PlayStation and Xbox? Nice! Is this one of three colour variants available at launch (alongside black and white)? If so...blue is not the colour I would have expected from Xbox... SEGA ACQUISITION CONFIRMED?!

Just seen this and the outrage on places like Reddit, Twitter, ResetEra, etc., seems absolutely justified. @Ganepark32 I'd consider getting on the phone to them at some point to get that search removed (if it doesn't get removed anyways), because even people with "perfect" (999 or thereabouts on Experian, obviously going to different from one agency to another) credit scores are getting declined by the looks of things. It looks like a total botch of a system for everyone I'm seeing that tried to go with All Access, which honestly seems like the overwhelming majority of people trying to get a pre-order in today. Seeing people saying their orders have been cancelled now even beyond checking out, direct debits set up but then error on the site and their order not actually going through, etc. I cannot believe just how poorly both PlayStation and Xbox have started this off when it comes to pre-orders. It's absolutely mindboggling to me that it's become such a mess.

It's one of those that while the demand I think is lower for Xbox than PlayStation, they've likely supplied much lower than PlayStation too because of that (if nothing else just to be a hot ticket item and say they've sold out). Because of this, I am fully expecting more stock to go up in the coming weeks leading up to launch for Xbox. I feel like holding back stock to create that demand is, unfortunately, the best business move. As for the physical/digital split, Eurogamer reported the other day with regards to the PS5 that one of their sources at a major UK retailer had a 25% Digital Edition to 75% disc edition split. Other sources were saying it was more like 20% to 80%! Though, of course, this does make sense for brick and mortar stores, where PlayStation will still be expecting high physical games sales, and of course the stores would prefer that, too. They sold out anyways, but I think the ratio for production is probably going to be a bit more telling. I imagine that split has to be a bit different here for Xbox, purely because of the specification gap between the Series S and X, and had they only been selling at a standard £249 and £449 respectively with that the only way to buy in, I would expect the split to be something like 70/30 (based purely on the fact that one is being pushed HARD as the highest value and lowest cost way into next gen, and that the Series X seems like a bit of a niche product in comparison). However, with All Access being a thing, both are much more accessible. I still expect more Series S consoles to be out there ready to go, but maybe it'd be something like a 60/40 split instead now that Series X can be made quite affordable with Game Pass? But I have no idea. Imagine the One S and X numbers have had a huge influence on their ratio, as well as just how hard they want to push Game Pass, but guess we'll have to wait and see!

Just catching up on what's been going on, and I can't imagine Xbox are too pleased that their two retail partners for All Access in the UK have had their websites practically roll over. The queuing system from GAME is a great idea...until you get people getting an error message after an hour of waiting. And then going down for maintenance. They knew how busy it was going to be regardless, but having it go down now, especially with a set date and time... Hang in there folks who are still trying for All Access/pre-orders, hopefully it'll be sorted sooner rather than later!

Good luck to those of you trying to secure a Series S or X this morning!

Didn't get around to playing yesterday, but played some more 64 this evening. Grabbed another 15 stars, taking my total to 37 now; so far, I've just been going so far as getting the star for the red coins before moving on, because it feels like a good point where I know the level well enough to move on - and if I have to come back at some point for more, it's no big deal! Today it was Big Boo's Haunt, Hazy Maze Cave, Lethal Lava Land, and I'm just at the end of Shifting Sand Land getting those red coins. Big Boo's was honestly really charming, with a lot of character, and some fun puzzles. Hazy Maze Cave looked a little bland, but had some fun Stars to get, and an area you can only traverse with a Long Jump was really cool (love the Long Jump!). Lethal Lava Land could get a little annoying as it's quite easy to find yourself falling in the lava, but got used to it after a couple of tries. But screw Shifting Sand Land. So. Much. Sinking. Sand. It honestly felt a bit too much at times, especially when it came to traversing outside of the pyramid. And I've lost a lot of 1-Ups there too... Oh, and the camera has been pretty tough to handle, and on a couple of occasions I feel like I've been fighting the Lakitu for control. It is what it is, and probably the worst part today (as a newcomer) of a game that had aged really well in its mechanics and level design. Still having a great time so far

Would it then be time for a forum/site rebrand? X Europe? Or we end up with the Europe Series X, Series N, the NX...

Enormous news, obviously. My gut instinct is that every time I see a huge deal like this, can't help but think of just how lightly George Lucas let Disney off in picking up Star Wars and Lucasfilm I've just looked it up and at $7.5 billion, this is the largest acquisition in games outside of the smartphone gaming market, and second overall only to Tencent's acquisition of Supercell (Clash of Clans) for $8.6 billion back in 2016. So literally just as huge as it is ground-shaking for the industry as a whole. But on the other hand...I can't help but feel like this would have been a bigger deal a few years ago. Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield are on the way sure (I'm with those saying they'll probably end up multi-platform, just too much money to be left on the table, as was the case with Minecraft), but their big Bethesda Game Studios brands have taken a beating for too many reasons to list, at least in my eyes, over the last few years. I feel like that can all be turned around if they can actually put out a game which runs well and isn't surrounded by controversy, mind you, but I honestly think the more interesting acquisitions are the "smaller" teams: id Software (who seem to only be getting better at making Doom games - looking at how Infinite looked slightly inspired by Doom, minus the focused setting and narrow corridors, I feel like that'd be a natural place for them to help out), Tango Gameworks (horror is a gap in my head that Xbox certainly have), MachineGames, and Arkane. Honestly, I hope that this acquisition was more for the smaller teams than Game Studios, only because Obsidian could have that corner covered for them already. But...yeah. I feel like it's the biggest acquisition which could happen in the industry which will make me go "hey, that's huge!" and then forget it by the end of next week. My bigger question would be over what's going on with Deathloop, though I imagine it will still come to PS5, just no longer expecting it to be exclusive. Agree with those here that mention this isn't a necessarily great thing. People will point at Insomniac and say Sony did the same just earlier this year, but I mean, just look up the list of games that Insomniac have developed and the consoles they've ended up on, and it will show that is not this. And while I feel like it's a big deal, obviously, maybe it's just me, but it comes off a little...desperate, I suppose, for lack of a better word? They've been buying up studios left and right, and while this is by far their biggest get yet, I don't feel like this is what they needed to do? Again: Obsidian kind of have that covered. I get that Bethesda is a huuuuuuge company with plenty in the works, with huge IP's, but still...is this Microsoft conceding Japan? I feel like that their money would have been better in SEGA's/Konami's/Square Enix's/Capcom's pockets; while I never see any of those happening, any one of those would truly be groundbreaking, in that Microsoft lack that other side of gaming, for me at least. I feel like they're lacking fresh influence. I look at their games right now and, Tango Gameworks aside, go "yep, that's a western-made game!". There's nothing wrong with western-made games at all, but it feels like them doubling down on the western market and giving up on Japan in a way, at least right now, which seems...risky. There's something to a lot of these Japanese developers and games which for me just isn't there with a lot of others under Xbox right now (the charm of Dragon Quest, the zaniness of Yakuza, etc.). Great get for Game Pass, obviously. I won't deny that this is a huge deal at all, because it is huuuuuuuge. But I don't think that this is the move that Xbox needed to make right now. Also, no-one going to mention an acquisition of this scale taking place in the middle of COVID and a worldwide recession being the craziest thing? Great going for Bethesda, I hope; fingers crossed this gives some people a better sense of job security. That'd be the best takeaway for me EDIT: Just seen @Dcubed's post about Deathloop staying PS exclusive, that's pretty cool. Typed it up on the first page of the thread, that's my bad!

Huge news, obviously, but I don't think there's any reason for Sony to react to this and buy Bluepoint ASAP. Given their working relationship is very similar to that PlayStation had with Insomniac, in that the overwhelming majority of their work has come to their platform, I'm sure that even if Microsoft did make a move for Bluepoint, Sony would be made aware and probably given first pass anyways. On the remake/remaster side of things, of which Bluepoint obviously does wonders, I feel like it almost goes again the backwards compatibility angle Xbox have pushed to pick up a team like this; not saying it's impossible, but that the first games that came to mind were things like the first Halo for a remake/remaster, only to realise they're already on modern platforms...eh. I don't know why Microsoft or Bluepoint would want to take that on. I even thought the other day that Sony might acquire Bluepoint after Demon's Souls does super well in November, but then realised that they still waited a year and a half to finalise the Insomniac acquisition after the behemoth that was Spider-Man (2018)! So again, I don't feel the real need for them to rush. I think it's inevitably where they'll find themselves, as others have mentioned it might be a new IP next, but there are still plenty of other things they could potentially remake/remaster. The biggest and only real reason I would want Sony to pick them up ASAP is to inject some more money into them, and grow that team so that they can handle developments of two games (a new IP and remaster/remake) at the same time. Eh, feel like need is a bit strong here. Again, Bluepoint have already made a name for themselves beyond a typical remaster, and will want to tackle their own thing at some point. I don't think this is as out there as Bluepoint...but still a little too out there for me in fact, I would think it's more likely that Bluepoint end up tackling a Konami IP next through PlayStation which is console exclusive, than it would be for either "side" to pick up Konami. I think we'll see a reaction to their financials this year where gaming is keeping them somewhat afloat, whether that is them coming back and developing games in-house (think this is super unlikely) or partnering with third parties (i.e. PlayStation and Bluepoint).

The PS4 version game is also now up on ShopTo for pre-order at £43.50. Remember, Miles Morales is confirmed to be getting a free upgrade from the PS4 to the PS5 version, so if you want to save £8 or so and don't mind the PS4 case, that seems to be the cheapest way to go. Ultimate Edition won't be available on PS4 (as wouldn't include the PS5 remaster). I'm going to stick with my PS5 version pre-order, mainly for the box, and also so that I don't have as much to download on launch day

I wanted to avoid mentioning it in the original post but, yeah, with the timing of it, it would (unfortunately) make a lot of sense if that were to be the case. Certainly wouldn't blame him if that were the case, either. Can't imagine what it must be like to be a creative like this, to build a career for yourself, and then have the company you've worked so hard for (likely) be guilty of a number of egregious things. Add onto that how poorly they've handled things the last few months, and I'm surprised he wasn't out sooner.

That's actually insane. And yeah, sounds like your workplace has the balance right. If you are going to offer credit, then have it on your big ticket items (even from a business perspective this makes more sense), and for games that would be the consoles and expensive accessories like a headset or a gaming chair, or something like that. But the smaller items, the games themselves? Maybe if they order a load of them, but just totally bizarre to me otherwise. And I'd be questioning why you'd order a bunch of games just to stick it on something like this At the moment I look at lending with the perspective of walking into a bank, and questioning that if I asked for this loan in my local Santander or HSBC, would they seriously consider it? Or just laugh me out of the bank? It's not a universal thing, because of course people's circumstances can be unique, but it's just so bizarre to me that it's been allowed. Feels especially scummy to provide this option on smaller items in the middle of this pandemic and recession, when so many are unemployed, furlough, or on reduced hours, too.