Playstation 5 Console Discussion

[Julius]

1 hour ago, drahkon said:

Immediately made my heart drop. Did not know it's about a young man whose father died, which resonates with me. Seems like it's a story about grief and feelings associated with it.
Might make me tear up...

Not sure if you've seen it already, but if you haven't, Abubakar Salim's speech to reveal the game at the TGAs last year was genuinely one of the highlights of the show. 

I still remember the surprise that this game looked absolutely nothing like what I expected, I think just based on some of the other wonderful games others have put out in remembrance of lost ones a lot of people were expecting something different, which I found a really wonderful reminder of how we all grieve, process, and move forwards differently. 

Anyways, hope you enjoy it and that it handles its subject well 

Edited September 13 by Julius

[drahkon]

Well, that made me tear up

It's funny, my parents kinda introduced me to gaming, too. Not by saying: "Look at this, this is cool, this is a form of art.", but rather by buying a Game Boy with Tetris for themselves
And sure enough, 5 year old drahkon hogged that little handheld and it grew into his biggest hobby.

My parents eventually bought a SNES and my dad and I played Super Mario World a lot. I still play this game every year around Christmas.
My dad got into gaming more and more, my mom as well but not as much. They both entered the Nintendo DS phase and I remember my father playing Final Fantasy III (among other games) and being completely absorbed.

He died in 2009 and I obviously remember more about him than the occasional gaming session of his, but some of my fondest memories are seeing him playing games.

I'm sure he would've loved the Switch. Same as my mom does (for her, the device is basically an Animal Crossing and various farming games machine ).

[Ashley]

10 hours ago, drahkon said:

And sure enough, 5 year old drahkon hogged that little handheld and it grew into his biggest hobby.

And yet strangely you've not enjoyed a game since 😋

[drahkon]

While waiting for The Plucky Squire I've been jumping from game to game these past few days...

Managed to complete two more episodes with The Witch in Dicey Dungeons. Hope I can finish the last two with her soon, so I can move on to other characters

Also re-installed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2. Always wanted to get the Platinum but it's a doozy. I've now collected all stat points for three pro skaters and will slowly but surely work my way through their challenges.
That's very tame, though. You need to reach level 100 which will take ages, and you need to do every single gap in the game. Gonna be a long one. TITLE OF MY SEX TAPE.

Been also playing MLB The Show 24 without really going for any trophies. It's actually quite enjoyable. I don't particularly enjoy watching baseball but playing a videogame based on it is fun Might look up the trophies soon and see what they're like. I assume there will be a myriad of online trophies which will rule out the trophy hunt for this particular game.

 

And in PSVita news: Started playing Resogun and after finishing up Nex Machina, the muscle memory is completely gone. Got my ass kicked during the final boss on Experienced. Guess the Veteran run will have to wait a little longer.

Edited September 14 by drahkon

[Julius]

Digital Foundry's deep dive on the PS5 Pro footage is up and ready for our consumption:

Looking forward to seeing what their thoughts are, but it's a long one! 

[Julius]

Per the ESRB, the long-rumoured Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (we first got word of this way back in October 2022) - native PS5, with all the bells and whistles that brings - has now been listed. 

Got to imagine there's a good chance that this might be ready for the launch of the Pro as a showcase? Game already looked great on PS4 Pro, apparently it's great on PS5 as it is, so I imagine the same game on PS5 Pro will be one of the stronger early showcases. 

 

Us: man, I'm really hoping PlayStation announce some big new first-party releases soon.

Meanwhile, PlayStation:

Edited September 18 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

Yeah, this remastering stint they are on is getting tiresome.

[Hero-of-Time]

Grubb doubles down on a State of Play happening next week and mentions another remastered game.

Quote

Also reconfirms that the State of Play is happening next Tuesday September 24th earlier in the video.

The "less exciting" remaster could be the PC port of TLOU Part 2 Remastered which has reportedly been finished for a while. Or could be another first-party game with a PC version that they haven't brought forward to PS5 yet like God of War or Days Gone.

Be hilarious if Nintendo drop a Switch 2 Direct the same week.

[Julius]

7 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Grubb doubles down on a State of Play happening next week and mentions another remastered game.

Quote

Also reconfirms that the State of Play is happening next Tuesday September 24th earlier in the video.

The "less exciting" remaster could be the PC port of TLOU Part 2 Remastered which has reportedly been finished for a while. Or could be another first-party game with a PC version that they haven't brought forward to PS5 yet like God of War or Days Gone.

 

That other remastered game – there's got to be a pretty big chance that it's that Gravity Rush 2 remaster that was doing the rounds some while ago, right? I think the Gravity Rush film (don't get me started) got that teaser trailer at CES at the start of the year, I don't know why they'd remaster 2 instead of the first game (which, I mean, yes has already been remastered, but also, that was going from handheld to console?) but it sounds dumb enough that I believe it to be real. 

I struggle to see it being Days Gone just because of how Bend got shifted off the IP and onto something new, unless it's not them? But would seem a massive slap in the face either way. 

I'm praying it's not God of War, I know these projects can be solid for onboarding new hires but I don't want Sony Santa Monica wasting time the same way I feel Naughty Dog has been – and I'm saying this as someone who got all the ND remasters/remakes. 

If not Gravity Rush 2 I'm fully expecting something totally left field and equally/more stupid, like a remaster of Detroit: Become Human (seems like that could be a Pro showpiece). 

If it's a Shadow of the Colossus sort of facelift I'd argue that an ICO "remaster" in the same way would probably be considered less exciting, just because it's not that flashy. Okay I don't think it'll be this and I'm not expecting or even hoping for it, but I think it's the next remaster that I actually want, so I'm going to start manifesting. 

It won't be Bloodborne. That's either 2025 or PS6 launch. Bleh. 

I'm also curious if Horizon gets like a really solid block here then? There's the LEGO game, this Horizon Zero Dawn remaster, but the same leak way back when - and we've seen leaked footage of it if I'm remembering right - also mentioned that multiplayer Horizon game. It's a State of Play so I'm trying to keep my expectations in check, but if there's a first-party block, maybe it's those three games? 

16 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Be hilarious if Nintendo drop a Switch 2 Direct the same week. 

Do it the same day just a few hours later, shadow-dropped out of the blue, and we have a deal 

If there's any truth to a Switch successor announcement next week and this State of Play dropping next week, next week is going to be STACKED in all the best ways. Those two events + TGS? It could be the best week of gaming news since pre-COVID E3s were a thing. 

[drahkon]

On 9/14/2024 at 12:54 PM, drahkon said:

Managed to complete two more episodes with The Witch in Dicey Dungeons. Hope I can finish the last two with her soon, so I can move on to other characters

And I did

Managed to win the Hard Mode Bonus Round with The Inventor, too. Now I got the, in my opinion, two most annoying characters done

Gonna play through the episodes with The Jester next. I don't particularly like that character either...

Edited September 19 by drahkon

[Happenstance]

 

[Hero-of-Time]

I don't need it but I want it.

[Julius]

12 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I don't need it but I want it.

Urgh, same. 

This has sold me on wanting a Pro more than ever before, apparently only 12.3k units being produced for the Pro performance the PS Blog: 

No announced plans for the plates to be sold separately and so the consoles will seemingly be the only way to get them.

Screw you Sony

In for a DualSense, maybe in for a DualSense Edge too (been thinking about picking one up anyways with how the first two DualSenses I had, my original white ones, went and got stick drift before I sent them to a farm). Not in for an Edge because I have no interest in having one but MAN it looks so much better in this colourway! 

I can't be in for a Pro or Slim, I just can't.

Which means as much as I want it... 

 

DAMN IT NINTENDO ANNOUNCE SWITCH 2 NOW SO I DON'T NEED TO KEEP LOOKING AT THIS THING

Edited September 19 by Julius

[Julius]

Just realised pre-orders are going up the same day as the pre-orders for the standard Pro on September 26th.

This is from the 30th anniversary blog post:

Quote

In regions where direct.playstation.com* is available, players with a PlayStation Network account can pre-order the following PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection products exclusively from PlayStation starting September 26. In regions where direct.playstation.com isn't available, pre-orders begin starting September 26 at participating retailers.

And this is from the standard Pro's blog post:

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PS5 Pro will launch on November 7, 2024 and will be available at participating retailers and directly from PlayStation at direct.playstation.com. Preorders will begin on September 26, 2024.

Lol, good luck to anyone trying to nab one because the traffic was already going to be horrendous that day, now it just sounds like it's going to be an absolute living nightmare. 

Edited September 19 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

I hate that the standard PS5 is the digital only model.  Probably try to nab a Dual Sense and leave it at that.

[Ike]

The box art for these are great.

Might get an Edge.

That USB cable is hilarious though (in a good way) as well.

[Julius]

6 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I hate that the standard PS5 is the digital only model.  Probably try to nab a Dual Sense and leave it at that.

Same  I might grab at least two DualSense controllers so I have one to keep in the box and one to use. 

I was thinking for a moment I could trade my base PS5 in and upgrade but, eh, I'd feel like I'm betraying my launch experience a bit to do that  the digital version does come with a disc drive cover, though, so if you had a disc drive you'd be able to make it match? 

Reading into it more: the Pro bundle is a £1k+ investment before we factor in the limited availability and mark-up it'll get from that.

It has the Pro (£700), DualSense (£70), DualSense Edge (£210), vertical stand (£25), disc drive cover (no idea how much this would be), you'll want a disc drive to make use of the cover which is hilariously still being sold separately (£100), and there's the collectible stuff. 

Mental. 

 

@Ike those boxes you've posted are sexy as hell and me and my wallet hate you right now

Edited September 19 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

Sounds like Days Gone is going to be the rumoured remastered game.

 

 

[Hero-of-Time]

Also...

 

Sigh.

 

[Will]

That 30th anniversary hardware looks so good. I really wanted the PS4 they did but couldn’t get one and even though none of this stuff would be on my to-buy list I really want all of it. I’ll probably log in when it all goes available and just see if I can get something then.

[Julius]

3 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Sounds like Days Gone is going to be the rumoured remastered game.

 

sigh

"Happy 30th celebrations, PlayStation Nation. To commemorate the occasion, here are all the games which convinced you to buy a PS4 and gave you confidence in graduating on to a PS5, or convinced you of our lineup's strength to begin with if you're new to the family – again! That's right, you can buy it all again! What greater celebration of PlayStation could there be than to give us all of your money? What do you mean the PS5 can play PS4 games through backwards compatibility? Don't be silly! We played Y O U"

*ahem*

This reeks the same way as Astro Bot closing off the May State of Play – awesome reveal, this game wasn't talked up to their own investors and Japan Studio was shuttered with Team Asobi surgically removed and made a full studio. 

They wouldn't greenlight a Days Gone sequel but are happy to cash in on a show/movie/whatever it is now and a remaster. 

I actually had plans with friends to play Days Gone next month – was going to order it tomorrow, in fact (it's pay day). We've been talking about it for months. Guess I'll wait and see what this remaster is all about and when it's dropping, but I imagine I just pick it up on PS4 and play it that way 

Again: I'm not really against remasters, if it gets them some easy money it makes sense, hopefully while they shore up first-party for the second half of this gen and deliver. It just kind of sucks. 

3 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Also...

 

Sigh.

Edited September 19 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

It's not looking good for the Concord team.

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It's been two weeks since Sony announced it was taking the unprecedented step of unreleasing Concord and almost as long since the ill-fated, sci-fi hero shooter was officially taken offline. In the time since, Kotaku understands that developers at Firewalk Studios have been in limbo about their future as they await Sony's decision about what comes next for Concord and the team.

Whatever ends up happening, game director Ryan Ellis will not be at the helm. Formerly at Bungie where he served as creative director on Destiny 2, Ellis left in 2017 to lead development on what would eventually become Concord. He told staff at Firewalk last week that he would be stepping down from his game director role and move into a support role instead, according to three sources familiar with the change.

"Ryan deeply believed in that project and bringing players together through the joy in it," said one former developer, who said he felt Ellis had poured a great deal of himself into the game, leading to a ton of stress. "Regardless of there being things that could have been done differently throughout development...he's a good human, and full of heart."

Sources told Kotaku that Ellis was too emotional to speak at points during a post-launch studio-wide meeting after it had become clear that the game was bombing. In a September 3 PlayStation Blog post announcing Concord's removal from store shelves, Ellis wrote, "aspects of the game and our initial launch didn't land the way we'd intended." He added that the team would "explore options, including those that will better reach our players" and work to "determine the best path ahead."

But for many within the studio, it's still not clear what will come next, three sources told Kotaku. They are pessimistic Concord will return, and some have been asked to explore pitches for something completely different that Firewalk, which is currently around 150-170 employees, might work on next. Speculation among some staff has also included whether the studio could be used as co-development on one of Sony's myriad other first-party projects currently in production.

Others, however, feel like mass layoffs will be the most likely result of Concord's failure, including the possible shutdown of the entire studio, which sources tell Kotaku is one of the more expensive studios in the PlayStation portfolio on a per-head basis. Some developers are updating their resumes and portfolios, a few have already preemptively exited the studio, and others are waiting to see what a potential severance package will look like before deciding what to do next.

 

[Glen-i]

Yeahhhh. I don't think anyone is surprised by that.

You'd think this would make people think twice about trying to chase that long unobtainable Fortnite money, but...

[drahkon]

*reads through all the negativity here*

On 9/19/2024 at 8:07 AM, drahkon said:

Dicey Dungeons

Final boss defeated, all Hard Mode Episodes done.
Now there are only a few miscellaneous trophies left (like stacking a total of 30 Poison on an enemy at once or inflicting 5 or more Freeze in a single turn).
Something for next week as I'm busy until Monday.

[Hero-of-Time]

2 hours ago, drahkon said:

*reads through all the negativity here* 

Have some more.

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Concord went offline earlier this month just two weeks after it came out, with Sony deciding to refund everyone who purchased copies of the game (which wasn’t too many people, according to estimates), in what is surely one of the biggest, most high-profile failures we’ve ever seen for PlayStation’s first-party portfolio. Now, more information on the doomed project has seemingly emerged, shedding light on the astronomical budget the game was developed on. 

As per Last Stand Media founder Colin Moriarty, Concord had a budget of about $400 million, with “most” of it being spent by Sony, making it the biggest ever first-party PlayStation release in terms of budget. In comparison, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 had budget of $315 million, while The Last of Us Part 2 and Horizon Forbidden West both had $200 million budgets each. Moriarty claimed on a recent episode of the Sacred Symbols podcast that he was told about the same by a developer who worked on the game. 

Allegedly, by the time Concord entered the alpha stage of development, which was in early 2023, about $200 million had already been spent on the game. The game was, however, in “a laughable shape” at this point (around the time it was announced in May last year), with work not having been done on major elements of the game like onboarding and monetization.

Significant work also had to be outsourced to external studios. To get the game to an acceptable level of quality, Sony decided to spend another $200 million on it at this point. Moriarty goes on to claim that the total figure of $400 million also does not include the money that it cost for Sony to acquire Concord developer Firewalk Studios, which happened in April last year.

As per Moriarty, Concord’s development was plagued with issues of “toxic positivity”, which meant negative feedback on the game was ignored, with PlayStation higher-ups – specifically, current co-CEO of PlayStation, Hermen Hulst – believing the game had the potential to be a massive success for the company, maybe even on the level of something like Star Wars. Allegedly, the game was internally referred to as “the future of PlayStation”.

Prior to Concord being shut down, reports claimed that the game had managed to sell just 25,000 units upon release. Since the game was pulled offline, Sony has made no announcement regarding its future, or the future of Firewalk.

As per a recent report, Concord’s director, Ryan Ellis, has stepped down from his role following the game’s shuttering.

Colin has a lot of developer contacts, especially inside PS studios and so I wouldn't be surprised if all of this is true.

Positioning it as the future of the brand, investing so heavily in it, all the while not reading the signs that a flop was on the cards, is just staggering. They seem desperate and hellbent on having a cashcow. No wonder they are throwing remasters out left and right. They need to recoup all of that lost money.