Sheikah

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.

I think my in-game clock was about 44 hours at the point of completion (including all side quests and trophies, except for the one that has you starting again).

I finished this game last night, doing all but the final trophy (which requires you to basically play on NG+ up to a certain point). I really loved it. They absolutely nailed the look, feel and tone of an old-school RPG - it really does remind you of Chrono Trigger. The way battles are triggered (i.e. non-random battles) is exactly like Chrono Trigger and works just as well here. The story, gameplay and characters are all really top notch, it definitely scratched the 90s JRPG itch. Really pleasant surprise for it to drop on Extra.

"Hiding" means it's deleted for everyone. I'm not sure why it's called that.

I enjoyed it quite a lot. I'm someone who normally really hates anime live adaptations because the focus is usually on visual appearance and consistency with the anime - so the characters are usually pretending to be "anime" with awkward grunts and gestures. Perhaps because this isn't made in Japan it actually works. The characters are kind of believable in their own way and not just clones of how they are in the anime. Luffy is a good example - not as goofy and stupid as in the anime, but with different eccentricities. The only slightly weak character I thought was Zoro, with the rest being very well realised. It's also 10 episodes long so it doesn't drag on anywhere near as much as the anime, so that's another definite plus.

They should call it the Alexbox.

I've been playing Forager quite a bit. Really nice game, especially fun for those who liked Starwdew Valley.

Surely if they say you don't need to grind, it's the opposite of tedious? I get you like to do it to become OP, but any game that actually needs grinding (I'm recalling Dragon Quest VIII here) has fundamentally flawed game design.

Yeah, Dark Alliance was fun to play co-op back in the day. It's a shame they charged a lot for the recent port/remaster though. Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 though were brilliant though, and I really enjoyed Divinity 2, so I expect this will be great.

You know as they say, snitches get stitches.

Of course they're going to say that... apart from the many times they have said they're disappointed with sales? That doesn't make any sense, does it? You can't expect the game to sell as well as titles sold multiplatform or on systems with many more millions of consoles out there. They're right - the attach rate is really good. And remember that they've been paid off for it being exclusive, so that will have offset the cost of lost sales from it being exclusive.

Just to come back to this...posted on Eurogamer today: Square-Enix, who are famously always disappointed with sales performance, are happy here, giving all the reasons we told you why they were good sales.

The CMA were the only ones who did their job. Anyone who wants or cheers on huge industry mergers like this is sick, quite frankly.

Millions will now lose access to new releases of lots of game series (look at what happened to Bethesda titles upon acquisition, before which all their titles were multiplatform). Not sure why you are only focusing on one game series when they own lots of others. On the subject of COD though, it now has a 10 year agreement so in 10 years we will be in a worse place than we are now. The new platforms to gain COD for the next 10 years like Switch are at most nice to have, certainly not the place most existing COD gamers would choose to play first. It's a box ticking exercise so that they can argue they're putting it on more platforms, and it certainly helped them push the deal through; but all the while people are ignoring the fact that in 10 years this series can go exclusive. 10 years is will mean this will likely happen next generation! Microsoft gamers will also no doubt see their Game Pass subscriptions go up, while ABK releases take the place of other titles that might have made it to Game Pass. So it's not like it's even a win for Microsoft gamers - they could play ABK games before, after all.

The customers don't benefit, and that's what this should be about. Giant industry mergers are always bad for the consumer.

Speak for yourself, the dated quotes make it for me.

Well the Adam Sandler quote has aged like fine wine.

Wow, this is more unexpected than a funny Adam Sandler film.