Julius

Kind of nothing new, but also kind of clarification from Kojima on Twitter? During the event it sounded like some weird multimedia project, which I guess it still could be, but that last sentence basically makes it sound like they're being given access to Sony's film spaces and budget to realise this game.

Gameplay overview from today's State of Play:

Already starting the deep dive - a cursory search on Wikipedia turns up this page: List of intelligence gathering disciplines. So, [game] physics + intelligence? A hint that we'll be gathering intel based on the world, I guess? It doesn't say much but I feel like it also says loads, and definitely gets the mind racing. I'm not even joking, this might have just become my most anticipated game. I will gladly take Kojima returning to action-espionage over any MGS Remake overseen by Konami any day of the week, and seemingly with a blank cheque from Sony? Love your optimism. I don't think we get this in our lifetimes

"PHYSINT"

That action-espionage announcement from Kojima Oh damn

What. The. Fuuuuuuuu— Aiming to "transcend the barrier between films and games" Columbia Pictures in the picture, too

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach...coming 2025! 10 minutes lmao

Wait...please don't tell me VII Rebirth is their one more/final thing? I mean, we're probably getting a demo I guess, but still... Might have time for something else. Maybe. Come on DS2, wrap up and give me some hope...

George Miller?

"we finally caught a cat" in a samurai game trailer is the highlight of the day so far

The weird part I guess is that it was included in a video at the turn of the year saying it was coming in 2024 when we hadn't had that tied to a trailer. And we still don't? Also, they ended the reveal trailer for the Remake in October 2022 with saying it can be wishlisted, too. So yeah, I'm highlighting their weirdness about a lack of an update on release timing, not so much on wishlist availability (though that is also a bit weird because the wishlist on PlayStation sucks compared to Steam)

Huh, that Metro game being VR is about the most interesting thing they could've done with it. Good for them. We're 25 minutes in and 13 games in...how long is that DS2 trailer going to be?!

You can now wishlist the game on PS5! Congrats

Calling the Silent Hill 2 Remake we've known about for a good while now "in development" and announcing it being available for wishlisting is...so weird.

Don't have a proper thread for this I don't think, so I'll clean this up later. Today's combat reveal trailer:

Think we've seen some of this before? But anyways, I'll clean the thread up after:

Announced during today's State of Play, coming to all major platforms:

26th April it is:

Ah, the typical 2 minute casual late start from PlayStation. You'd think they'd buy a clock or something by now...

Expectations are low, and I'm ready to be disappointed which should make for a great show! Will be absolutely elated if we get something from PlayStation Studios which is original (a sequel, spin-off, whatever) and not a remaster/remake of a game from last gen. Hell, I'll take an interesting PS1/PS2/PS3 remaster. Not expecting it, though

For the casual audience who makes up the vast majority of people responsible for the Switch sailing by that 100 million sales mark and still going strong, the Steam Deck is a total non-factor. It is a niche even in the console space (as is pretty much every other, besides Nintendo's, currently); it is limited in supply; and has next to no marketing that the casual audience will have visibility of. Now, if we get reports of Steam upping their manufacturing numbers into the 10s of millions when the Steam Deck 2 gets announced, and throw a massive marketing budget behind it, with TV commercials, brand deals, celebrity sign-ons and such? I'll totally agree. Until then, Nintendo don't have any reason to think about the Steam Deck. I agree with @Hero-of-Time in that the Portal isn't in this conversation (I know you didn't bring it up but that's one of the weirdest products that'll be a brick in a couple of years that I've seen since I got into games, more so than the Vita), and so the only real question, which I think you kind of touch in, is whether Xbox are thinking of doing something similar; I don't know if they will, but well, I think they certainly should be. Xbox adapting the OS approach of Steam and it's stored and making a dedicated handheld to house it which doesn't depend on streaming and can download games, basically their take on the Steam Deck, is a truly scary proposition when you throw some marketing behind it and couple it with Game Pass. But do Xbox even have the balls to do that? Absolutely agree. I'm all for new ideas and new control schemes, but doing it completely for the sake of it seems like a very bad idea, in that it opens them up to unnecessary risk factors like, well...no-one liking whatever they come up with? The Wii motion controls were completely played out by the second half of that console's life, even if it did open them up to a much wider and new gaming audience. I'm not sure either. There are things which sounds interesting conceptually (3D, foldable screens, etc.) which would be great differentiators – but I'm not convinced that they will improve the system in any meaningful way, from a consumer or developer perspective. The main risks I foresee with a Switch 2 being focused on being a more powerful Switch is that they end up bottling the messaging around it (which, well, they've been much better at this last gen with the Switch, and a simply "2" or "Super" added to the name seems more than sufficient; that initial reveal trailer for the Switch has to be one of the most clear and effective "here's our concept, come join us" videos in a long while) or that they simply don't make the hardware powerful enough to last the entire gen. If this gen is anything to go by, they don't really seem all that interested in mid-gen upgrades, so yeah, just make it beefy enough for developers and consumers alike to get a gen of play out of the thing. Super Mario Odyssey DX and Mario Kart 8 Deluxest inbound

Monthly games for Feb: I mean...sure, I guess

Still a bizarre choice, but alas, here's another trailer: Gotta pay the bills I guess, if it keeps people in work, why not?

Reviews are up, and currently showing as 83 on Metacritic and 80 on OpenCritic: Seems pretty solid