Julius

Hmm, okay. So, my first reaction was: oof, that sounds a bit concerning. But then after a little ponder and some digging around, it also seems pretty great for a first big release for an IP? Which was only really building off a great reception to a niche game (in terms of audience size) in Rescue Mission because VR, and a pack-in title that I still think too many people probably skipped over. Meanwhile, Ratchet & Clank had been around for nearly two decades by the time Rift Apart came out, was one of only a few seriously big name releases in 2021 (I was looking back at what I played in 2021 just last night and my GOTY was Tsushima's DLC lol), sales were obviously inflated for a lot of things when it comes to games in 2020/2021 because COVID, so weirdly, I think that's a pretty decent turn out? Going back and dragging out some old tweets of Dring's, I found this: If Rift Apart sold 3x what Returnal did at launch and Astro Bot sold ⅓ less than Rift Apart at launch (physically) then, in the UK at least, it sold double what Returnal did. Which sounds pretty good on paper, obviously the install base has increased a good bit since then, but still. And roughly ⅔ of the likes of a Monster Hunter launch on Switch (just physical) is nothing to sneeze at, either. This is also not to mention that digital storefronts have only grown since Rift Apart, and I think the super late review embargo on this likely pushed people who heard about the game through word of mouth to pick it up digitally over physically. Heck, I've never thought about it before, but I wonder if that's part of PlayStation's idea behind such a late review embargo lift? I completely agree with the assessment of it likely having a longer tail, too. This is rightly going to be in GOTY conversations (and hell, for my money, has a brilliant shot at winning if Rebirth is its competition, for a whole number of reasons), it has released far out enough to get a decent discount for Black Friday/Cyber Monday and Christmas sales, etc. It being a lock-in for GOTY talks means it will be cemented as one of those "must-play" titles which is going to make a whole bunch of lists on IGN and the like in the next few years, and is one of few first-party PlayStation exclusives parents will find being recommended as perfect for kids, too. Guess we'll need to wait on official word to come down, but if it has sold a few million its launch weekend worldwide across digital and physical, which I feel like this goes some way to suggesting, I think that's a really great start.

Going to be keeping my Astro away from the toaster moving forwards

What is XVI but twice as great as VIII? Still need to get around to playing VIII, it's the only mainline PS1 Final Fantasy I have left to play, which has been the case for...4 years? Damn, time really flies. I've only seen and heard bits and pieces about it over the years (some tracks, the opening cutscene, the existence of Triple Triad, the weird level-scaling, something about Ifrit?) so it's mostly unspoiled for me, haven't heard nearly enough to piece anything together. Hopefully I'll get around to it sooner rather than later, and before anything gets spoiled! Oh, and this is the first mainline FF which is younger than I am. Sorry, I just had to

Yep, definitely appreciate Pemberton weighing in. Guess we'll just need to wait and see how it all shapes up. The film's production hasn't been the cleanest as it is and it's without a release date as things stand, I think before this the latest update we had last month (?) was that voice recording was due to begin in the next few months, so a late 2025 or someone in the first half of 2026 seems reasonable to hope for to me. Which feels forever away, but I'll gladly wait for this

I mean, couldn't part of the reason that Nintendo have avoided price cuts be both that it is continuing to sell well, but also be reinforced by the weaker yen? A very steady 30% drop-off of the yen's value over a 4 year window isn't something I think anyone would be prepared for, and so while I think in the past the components and manufacturing becoming cheaper for manufacturers as the life of a console went on made sense, revisions like the Slim could drop in price because they'd then take additional steps to reduce costs or maximise profits (size of the console for one, as a single shipment could then include more consoles) but also the slim margins/taking a loss wouldn't hit as hard knowing the strength of the console when it comes to software sales. Nintendo, for me, could easily have seen that the margins were tightening on the Switch due to the weak yen and made the decision to not introduce a price cut in part because there just isn't as much room to, and they seem to be getting around this in more creative ways (such as trying to bundle in games and subscriptions). The Switch also wasn't cutting edge tech when it first released and so Nintendo are likely seeing incredibly healthy margins on the sales of Switch units which means they won't need to touch the price because, as you said, it's also just still selling really well. As for Xbox, being backed by Microsoft, I do think that is a whole other kettle of fish. Microsoft can live without Xbox and cut it, whereas Sony are still heavily reliant on PlayStation, possibly not to the same extent as they were a decade ago, but it means that PlayStation as a brand impacts Sony's shareholders more noticeably than Xbox does Microsoft's. I do agree that the smart move would be for Xbox to have introduced a price cut by this point - instead they seem to be gearing up for a new console, because..? They can? - because the strength of the US dollar would allow them ample margin to do this, but the strength of the dollar also means that Microsoft are probably not looking to squeeze everything they can out of Xbox as a brand (due to success elsewhere offsetting Xbox) and Xbox seem to be having an identity crisis as it is (I mean, it's been a decade, so a pretty damn long identity crisis), that I'm not sure selling hardware would resolve at this point. Also, it would make too much sense for them to introduce a price cut, so obviously they wouldn't do that The other thing to consider is that, as far as I can tell, PlayStation and Nintendo both seem to have their manufacturing centralised in East Asia in both Japan and China, where obviously the weaker yen is going to have hit them hard. Compare that to Xbox who, because of Microsoft, seem to manufacture in a number of territories located around the world, and their decentralised manufacturing structure being set literally anywhere but Japan must be something of a boon. Again, I think it's only one of a number of factors, but I think it wouldn't give the complete picture if we were to overlook the weakness of the yen, which has pretty clearly had an influence on PlayStation's decision-making here. I don't think it's necessarily the only reason, but it's got to be a big one, and I think the fact that the only price changes we've seen since COVID from the three console manufacturers have been to adjust to the value of currency (Switch had that small price cut in the UK and EU some years ago, was it £20? And then with PlayStation and their price increase) I think it makes some sense, and even going so far as to increase the price of accessories suggests to me that it's not just based on components for, say, the PS5, but it's a case of Sony trying to squeeze everything they can out of PlayStation. Yeah, I can see this being a big factor in things too. I mean especially with pretty much all of us here at N-E with PS5s considering the Pro a total waste of time for now, it is leaning very hard on being a specialty and premium product aimed at a very small cohort of enthusiasts, which I'm sure Sony will be looking to take advantage of. From what I've listened to of them recently, Digital Foundry seem to think that there's going to be some pretty great tech included in the Pro, too, and I can definitely see PlayStation wanting to charge a premium for that. I think it's also worth considering how PlayStation market themselves these days, they've started turning up at Apple events and seem to be taking more steps to evoke Apple; the DualSense, for example, which is what has turned up at Apple events, in both design and its default colours are clearly manufactured with form in mind over function. It's a far cry from the actual functional form of DualShocks of a bygone era, not to mention the fact that they sell a premium controller sold at 3x the price of a standard DualSense in the Edge which has comparable battery life! It's nuts. I think it's also how the price can be spread, we had Xbox All Access doing the rounds early on this gen but it didn't really seem to catch on, there are third-parties who can do this now of course (Klarna and the like) but PS5 Pro just getting a "so it's X amount" without potentially discussing how its price can be spread out like a contracted phone's (where contracts are probably just as common as buying a phone outright these days, if not more so in more developed parts of the world?) also means it's difficult to compare to the pricing of a £1000+ phone. A £1000+ phone being put up for £70 per month phone over 2 years includes a HUGE markup by providers, but given the climate of technology lasting longer, the economic climate, the fact that it is commonplace, etc., means that it's a much easier pill to swallow for most people my age (because I think I'm pretty squarely fitting that younger generation demo you mentioned) compared with the idea of dropping £600+ at once on a gaming console. It makes absolutely no sense but that's just where this stage of capitalism has taken us I guess

Beyond the Spider-Verse has reportedly hit some creative troubles and potentially had most of its content scrapped, with it being unlikely to release before 2027. Damn. On the one hand, let it cook, but on the other...it was originally pencilled in to release this summer, which makes sense considering it's a two-parter, so it sucks if true. Loved the first two, Across was one of my favourite films from last year.

What sort of price do you think we might end up seeing @killthenet?

James Earl Jones has sadly passed away at 93. RIP to one of the greats

It's a very complex issue with many factors to consider, but first and foremost it's down to Sony/PlayStation needing to search for a way to make profits to please shareholders despite the incredibly weak yen, which has depreciated significantly and consistently since COVID hit back in 2020; in mid-March 2020 the JPY was valued at 0.0077 GBP, whereas today it is valued at 0.0053 GBP, and it seems that search has started to even extend to their accessories, which really sucks. I imagine it's also been factored into Nintendo's reasoning for not reducing the price of the Switch. It sucks but Japan has had it really rough the last few years, I remember hearing during the COVID recovery phase (2021/2022, can't remember exactly when because so much of the early 2020s are a blur) that at one point they were literally giving away vouchers worth hundreds of £s worth of ¥ in an attempt to boost their domestic tourism, seeing as they made the decision to keep their borders closed to tourism much longer than many other countries around the world and their typically strong domestic tourism was rocked by people being afraid to move around because, well, COVID. Rock and a hard place and all that

Accidental double post, but what can you do: name confirmed as PS5 Pro in an unlisted video on PlayStation's own YouTube channel. Shocking, I thought the PS5 AddPlusTripleDeluxe rolled right off the tongue!

Don't go giving Neil ideas H-o-T, delete this at once

Yeah, I think I agree with @Hero-of-Time in that it's going to be in that $599/£579 sort of region, not only is it premium but the fact that prices have only increased for the base model since launch means they're likely going to struggle to keep the price down. $549 or lower would be very competitive but also nuke the base PS5 sales, and I doubt they'd consider going that low. I think the absolute top end of this at retail has to be £600 over here, so that'd be like $629 or something like that? I'm still not quite sure there's a market for it, but I mean, the same was said for the PS4 Pro and it seemed to do fine, I think it was being sold at a 1:4 ratio compared to the base model PS4, which considering the Slim, the price drop, the many bundles the base PS4 had, wasn't too shabby. What I think is going to be perhaps more interesting than the price is how Cerny and PlayStation are going to try to sell this thing. With the Pro, it heavily featured Horizon Zero Dawn in its marketing despite releasing 3 or 4 months ahead of it, but that game was stunning and did a great job of singlehandedly showcasing why people should at least be considering a Pro model. Here? We have no idea what the next big game is from PlayStation which could sell this thing, and GTA VI - which I think is going to really be what drives this thing's sales - is 12+ months away, PLUS whatever delays Rockstar inevitably adds on. It's a really hard sell for now and I have to think that they want to get a launch out of the way here, however quite it might be, so that it and the base PS5 have a chance at a price cut 3-6 months ahead of whenever GTA VI launches.

PS5 Pro time is upon us, with Mark Cerny himself hosting the PlayStation 5 Technical Showcase tomorrow (10th September) at 16:00 BST. Given that it's just 9 minutes long, figured it didn't warrant its own thread but I'll be tuning in, love a Cerny breakdown!

An update on the Switch's successor:

A new Asobi Studio-centric entry on the PS Blog is up: Going to give this a look later! Yeah, I was genuinely caught off-guard by how hard the ending hit And love those credits. Definitely the best credits sequence in a game, since, uh, *checks release date of a certain game*, 2008?

Maths clearly isn't part of the game's strategy, I'm sure what they really meant to say was under(world)²

Imagine this might be of interest to some here: And some more info from IGN's description for their upload of the trailer, including the platforms it will be coming to (basically everything):

Footage taken moments after the end of the stage:

I thought the same as @drahkon at first, it is a very strange title for a stage given that it's not the case, and the way that it's positioned in that galaxy makes it look like it's of some importance. But nope, just another really fun stage! I actually went so far as leaving the galaxy before seeing my progress in the others and just thinking "there's no way, surely?"

Everyone besides Kiryu has this uncanny valley, photoshopped, AI vibe to them which is hilarious to see poor Ichiban, as if his hair wasn't crazy enough, he now looks like a bonafide drug lord who would turn up on Narcos... Also, are those hints of a dating mini-game I see? If so then obviously I'm in In all seriousness, I've said it before but I think some of the best Yakuza mini-games are basically just mobile games without the scummy microtransactions. A mobile version of Cabaret Club management, Ichiban Holdings, etc., would be a better (and I imagine cheaper to make?) bet in my eyes than a wholly original game.

Damn straight, and I won't hear otherwise. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts Yeah, I'm a bit stumped on what I'm playing next too, especially after Astro Bot. I was planning to get around to another of my pledge games for the year but considering that it was featured in Astro Bot and also has a bit of a puzzle-solving aspect to it, as did the game I played before Astro Bot, I think I want to freshen things up a bit. I think it might be time to catch up on an earlier 2024 release, maybe go back to something I've already started? You could also do what I often do and revel in the dread of choice paralysis until The Plucky Squire drops

Hurts but, yeah, always seemed a possibility unfortunately with a title like that. Damn it, is this my fault? On the upside - because I need to scramble for one - at least we knew ahead of time to expect a new RGG game announcement at Tokyo Game Show, and it will be a surprise considering that it's not this? There's no way that they're hanging their hats on this to carry them at TGS...right? If it's Yakuza/LAD I could see it being Gaiden (Majima time?) or a remaster/remake (Yakuza Souls?), but I would also really like them to complete the Judgment trilogy, which I have to imagine could be on the cards with the image rights issues over the PC release seemingly being resolved considering those games, well, are now on PC? I mean, it's RGG, so better yet: I'll buy whatever they're selling at this point

Seems like he's reaffirming what he's said in other interviews which is great to hear, I hate when you occasionally get a director who seems to give parts of the picture out to different outlets, but Nicolas has been pretty upfront about speedrun and challenge levels in all of the interviews to drop since launch. Oh, and we're getting leaderboards for those speedruns too just like in Playroom, exactly what I've been asking for all along!

Trying to make the most of the anime mood I find myself in, I finally returned to Yu Yu Hakusho last night after taking a very long break from it (was only 7 or 8 episodes in when I started back in Feb), now 12 episodes in. I've got loads of thoughts, like how Kuwabara is already one of the greatest and most likeable characters of all-time, but what I really want to talk about is: What the hell did Togashi do in a past life to have not one, but two, of his adapted works get 10/10 OPs? Yes this is the second time I'm mentioning this, but Hunter x Hunter gets Departure and Yu Yu gets this wonderful OP. Smile Bomb is a certified banger The ED, Homework Never Ends, also SLAPS Did I use those terms right @Hero-of-Time? I'm sure @drahkon will back me up that no other words could convey the same feelings