Hero-of-Time

From the investor meeting.

Like a Dragon/Yakuza series releasing this year on Amazon Prime. It's gonna be hard to top the narratives that occur in the games but I'll certainly give it a watch.

Yeah, guess it may not be related to these numbers then.

Geoff gave a Q&A the other day about what will and won't be there at this years SGF. Basically just trying to keep people's expectations in check.

Yeah, the pricing on this is going to be tricky. Ratchet and Clank is probably the closest comparison that can be made and that launched at £60-£70. However, that is also a well established franchise that has a decent sized fan base. If it does launch at a premium price (£60+) then I'll be giving it a miss until it is cheaper. I've said a few times now that I can't justify splashing that amount of cash on a single game. Given the size of my backlog, I'm more than happy to wait for games to reduce in price to what I find an acceptable level.

I noticed it was running pretty badly again yesterday evening. I checked the guest amount at the time and the number was 400+.

Full Story Yet another story of the high street retailer having a hard time making ends meet. I was reading Sky News this morning and there was a story about how a few other retailers are struggling, one of which is B&Q. The Grainger Games story doesn't really surprise me. Over the last year they have started filling their shops with POP! figures, comics and other random merchindise, as well as accepting phones and tablets as trade-ins. They've pretty much turned into game, expect their games are stupidly priced....yet.

Bah. Was hoping he would take over from Southgate.

I'll watch it, have zero hopes for England and continue to criticise Southgate and his team selection/tactics.

Yeah, because it's easier to create randomly generated levels than ones that we'll balanced and are handcrafted.

I figured I would create this for those who are looking to play online. This will stop invites and session times getting lost in the main thread.

The enjoyment in Souls games usually comes from a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. In my previous job, I was working with a couple of lads who were both 21 years old. Neither had played a Souls game before but both got caught up in the Elden Ring hype and bought it launch. Liam quit early on as he kept dying and didn't want to put in the effort, he also lost a fair bit of cash because he bought it digitally. Cal on the otherhand kept at it and was coming into work each day excited to tell everyone how he beat this section or defeated that boss. Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with what Liam done but you can see the appeal of these types of games when you look at the reaction of Cal and the buzz he was getting off it. Very few console games push back at players these days. I will say though that the Souls games aren't a patch on difficulty and fairness when it comes to comparing NES era games. Those were Souls games before Souls was even a thing. Being sent right back to the start of a game is far worse than just respawning at the nearest bonfire.

Of course you do. They want that sweet, sweet data from you. I may use my work email.

Only 200? Rookie.

Had a quick Google and it looks like TNT aren't streaming it free on YouTube for everyone. So, no, it ain't free this year, which is hilarious considering it's being played over here.

Depends if they have it streaming for free. When BT had the rights the final was streamed live on YouTube for everyone to watch. I'm not sure if TNT Sports are as generous. Hoping for an upset but can see Madrid bringing hone the trophy again. I sat and watched the Lionesses game last night against France. They look so far removed from the team that they were a couple of years ago. I can't see them having the same amount of success in up and coming tournaments that they have in recent years.

I think the lives system is simply a throwback/holdover from the arcades where games were designed to eat up your money. This system was then ported over to home consoles and stuck around for a very long time. Personally, I don't mind them. It adds a challenge to the game. Yes, it can be punishing at times but it also encourages the player to do better and learn how to play a game in a more successful way. I think back to when I was a kid and completed things like Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and Nemesis on my C64 or countless NES games. These games required repetition, memorisation and concentration in order to see the end, otherwise you would be sent back to the beginning. I couldn't imagine a lot of today's younger generation putting up with that. I think a lot of it is that people these says want instant gratification and if it requires a bit of effort they will simply move on. There is a wealth of choice out there now and so it's easy to move on to something different.

Didn't think you would take to it. I love them both, which is surprising considering my hatred towards cats. You are right though, it is a very basic formula.

Not really. If this was the first time they done it then fair enough but it's a common theme in the games. I'm looking for something like they done with the 25th anniversary, with limited edition consoles, controllers etc.

Just realised that there was nothing in the SoP about celebrating the 30th anniversary of PlayStation. I wonder if they are actually gonna do anything for it?

I've recently been feeling nostalgic for the PS2 (this was before the Days of Play announcement) and was searching ebay and found this bundle of games, which arrived today. Moto GP was also included but I didn't want it and put it straight in the trash. I've a lot of fond memories from these games, although I never did play any of the SSX series and so that will be a new experience for me. GT3 is what I started playing this evening. It was a pure nostalgia hit when I watched the intro. Of course, my starting car was the Mazda MX-5. Just like old times. I won the Sunday Cup and will probably grind it out a few more times in order to get credits to tune the car. I'll probably dabble with a bit of Timesplitters and Tekken Tag over the weekend.

Yeah, looks to be a bit of a bust. As expected, there's only Astro Bot that appealed to me. There's also Monster Hunter but it's still ages away and the fact that it's gone full OW means I'm pretty meh about it anyway.

This looks spectacular. It's exactly the kind of stuff I want to see from Sony. Happy to see that the series still has cameos from other PlayStation IP. Both Astro Bot games are up their with Nintendo's platforming games and so I have high hopes for this latest entry.