Sheikah

I think you are jumping the gun a bit here. Either one of two things will likely happen: Either it's plagiarism and it will be taken down/the developers sued, but the message of what people want should have gotten through to Game Freak. Or it's not actually going to legally be considered plagiarism (they seem pretty confident they were legally shored up, and it got this far), and millions get to carry on playing a game they seem to be enjoying. Game Freak learn something either way. If you step back and take the emotion/morality out of the situation I think it's very interesting. I'm not someone who is going to play it either way, just someone frustrated with how lazy a job Game Freak have done in the past years and interested to see how this plays out.

Close? That's what I was outright saying. [emoji14] Won't somebody think of the multi billion dollar corporation? Really though, if anything this shows them how hungry people are for a big 3D open world that actually makes use of the hardware somewhat. Basically what people have been asking for for ages (minus the guns). Perhaps them seeing these ridiculous sales figures is a more effective message.

Absolutely, early access is basically a scam that allows people to charge for their game while avoiding the usual responsibilities of making sure the game is relatively glitch free and functional. There's no condition that they even have to go on to fix it or do a full release, either. Glad consoles (mostly) don't seem to do it. Regarding Palworld specifically though, I'm actually kind of glad it's happened. Game Freak have run Pokemon into the ground and do a poor job of actually investing some of that ridiculous capital into making the best games they can. I mean, their games look like ass. Something like this couldn't ruffle the feathers of a more deserving chicken.

Nah. That's some smelly chat.

Who told you that? It's exactly the same as Chrono Trigger - enemies all respawn after leaving and re-entering the location. And if you want to be super OP, there's purchasable equipment that you can help you with that too.

I disagree there - apart from the fact you can time attacks in Sea of Stars, the rest of the battle system is pretty similar. Including having enemies always on screen prior to the battle, combined tech attacks, localised attacks affecting specific areas of the battlefield, destructible parts of bosses to make the fight easier. Aesthetically it looks very similar too in battles. It doesn't have ATB but that doesn't feel too different to me when I play.

It's especially good if you loved Chrono Trigger. It really captures the spirit of the game, very impressive stuff.

You really do. Awesome game.

Wasn't sure if this had already been posted or where to post it. Seems sort of appropriate to post it here? https://www.eurogamer.net/uk-retailer-game-to-cease-video-game-trade-ins-staff-say GAME no longer accepting preowned game trade ins from February. We move ever closer to the all-digital future.

How about Returnal, Deathloop and Assassin's Creed Mirage? I haven't played AC Mirage yet but Returnal is excellent and Deathloop was very good.

Just wanted to note that The Swords of Ditto is currently on sale for £3.24 until 18th Jan. I've been playing it a fair bit and it's quite fun, and reminiscent of top-down Zelda games. I've read that it used to be more unforgiving with a time limit (which is factored into most reviews) and they since patched the game, so it's really not an issue I've found. And the art style is brilliant. I mean, look at this.

I'm sure that was meant to be impressive but this basically reminded me of how threadbare Microsoft's exclusives have been this past generation.

Yep, that too. The PS5 in fact got a price increase!

It's all very interesting and it's to be expected that game sales drop massively once it goes onto the subscription service, but we don't have the information to know if it's causing "damage", per se. We certainly know from these graphs that "retail purchases" go down once it goes on Plus, like you'd expect. But they wouldn't be putting these games onto the subscription if it was purely a bad thing for their profit margins - they must surely be seeing a return in terms of new Plus subscriptions, new console buyers, etc. Like I say, without that information it's hard to tell if it's hurting the industry. All we see here is that they want to hold off putting the game on Plus as long as possible to maximise sales before it becomes included in the sub. Have their cake and eat it, so to speak. I do think that Microsoft are hurting the industry (or at least themselves) by putting games onto the subscription at day 1. I just don't see them making anywhere near the profit by doing this, especially with all the workarounds for ludicrously cheap (or short duration) Game Pass subs. Plenty of people cheesing the system to get Starfield or whatever the latest blockbuster is for far cheaper than a game should normally cost. In unrelated news, I just saw that the PS5 hit 50 million consoles sold, less than a week behind the PS4 in terms of reaching this milestone. I know this discussion popped up recently that console gaming was deteriorating in popularity, and I think this statistic really puts this idea to bed. Given the huge shortage issues the PS5 had relative to the PS4 over the last few years this is essentially proof the PS5 would be way out ahead if supply was unrestricted.

But this doesn't address how many sales were lost after Ratchet and Clank went onto the subscription service, nor how many new subs (or new console buyers) were gained.

This doesn't quite tell the whole story though. Ratchet has been on the subscription service for a while so I reckon a lot of people have played it there, possibly picking up a sub just to do it. I think as well that looking at raw sales is only part of the puzzle - exclusive software is what draws people to PS5 over Xbox, it's why Playstation is outselling Xbox by more than 2:1 (and far in excess of that in some territories). Ratchet is probably a loss leader for this purpose. Maybe they break even or worse but if they expand their userbase it's worth it. Sony get 30% from every digital purchase, getting new customers is the dream for platform holders.

To be fair I spent even less time than that playing a PS4. Don't ask me about my PS5 though

That would be suicide, people aren't going to spend several hundred just for one game.

The PS5 restrictions have only just been lifted, of course it's tracking behind the PS4. Strange comment. It's also not far behind considering everything and will likely surpass the PS4 sales, which goes against everything you're suggesting. I feel like you're forgetting the situation with PS5. For YEARS the situation would be that retailers would get a modest allocation and it would often be gone in minutes. Scalping was rife, like a very serious problem. I also bought the PS4 with absolutely no trouble not too long after launch (I bought the Infamous console bundle which came out not too long after launch). PS5 was seriously hit by production issues and COVID in a way that PS4 clear was not. You're trying to claim "oh but other consoles had availability issues too" but clearly the scale between PS4 and PS5 availability was completely different and you know it.

You're ignoring the points I just made. These are not equivalent examples and supply restrictions make any comparisons about "desirability" of the core consoles pointless. If the PS5 has been selling out continuously for years then looking at units sold only tells you about availability, nothing about the full extent of desirability like you are suggesting.

These aren't equivalent examples though. Not as many people wanted a PS3 for a Blu Ray player as they wanted a PS2 for a DVD player, not even close. Also we know the PS5 was selling out for a long time and only just now have Sony said stock is unrestricted. So we know that it was selling as fast as it could, so any commentary looking at units sold across generations is pointless and misleading.

But what about the limited component availability and restricted supply (which Sony even said, and mentioned they've only just got back to normal availability). Don't just focus on the COVID part. Also you're making points with numbers without applying context. Many people bought a PS2 as a DVD player, it was also a bit lightning in a bottle. Not a valid argument being made here.

I'm with you there. Bought the Poco F5 at launch for £250 from AliExpress...just makes expensive phones seem such a waste of money once you go down this route. Crazy how much you get for the price.

Something about a CERN supercomputer and controlling everyone...? Ages since I saw it.

Haha, I misremembered the episode count... Still, not too many episodes is a good thing. Doesn't overstay its welcome. And the reason they need a map (think this was explained) is because entering the Grand Line is really treacherous and needs to be entered via a certain point and navigated in such a way. Loads of ships/crew that try to cross it don't make it.