Playstation 5 Console Discussion

[Julius]

Well, the new PlayStation Productions animation is very pretty to look at:

Not to be confused with PlayStation Studios ( Productions is focused on TV and film). 

[Julius]

On 26/01/2022 at 12:10 AM, Julius said:

Looks like the ability to upload gameplay clips and screenshots directly from the PlayStation 5 to the PS App is finally being rolled out.

Okay, now it's finally being rolled out 

Finally!

The end of my time spent recording my TV on Friday nights to send funny GTA clips on a group chat is nigh 

[Hero-of-Time]

More rumours about the PS+ revamp.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/02/ps5-ps4s-revamped-ps-plus-sub-allegedly-outlined-in-report

None of that sounds good at all. If true, it's very overpriced and sounds like a mess of options.

[drahkon]

Urgh, annoying.
Really hope "essential" doesn't replace PS+ as it is now. It would make it more expensive if I'm reading this right.

Fuck subscription models. The industry is going to a place I don't like. As a kid I always said: "When I'm old, I'll still play video games", but it seems like it's getting less and less likely  

[Julius]

4 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

More rumours about the PS+ revamp.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/02/ps5-ps4s-revamped-ps-plus-sub-allegedly-outlined-in-report

None of that sounds good at all. If true, it's very overpriced and sounds like a mess of options.

Man, I know it's been said before, but some of the moves Sony have made over the last few years have been increasingly concerning.

If this is true and they're pricing it higher than Game Pass and it's seemingly going to be messy to communicate what is distinct about each tier, I think it could easily be dead on arrival. I want to say you'll see annual packages to bring the cost down, but honestly, I could see that being the case for only Premium - three tiers with a number of subscription lengths could be a nightmare.

The idea of game trials is probably the neatest thing about the Premium tier, we'll finally be getting something comparable to demos again (though not quite the same, mind), but seriously: just make them available to all. I see what they're going for - the most hardcore gamers will buy into the highest tier, they'll be the most vocal online about these games through getting access to their trials, other people will want to join the conversation and so will buy into the higher tier, and so on - but it's just such a boardroom decision.

See you again in 2027 for the third iteration of PS Now I guess?  I just want easy access to older games on modern consoles, damn it! 

4 hours ago, drahkon said:

Fuck subscription models. The industry is going to a place I don't like. As a kid I always said: "When I'm old, I'll still play video games", but it seems like it's getting less and less likely  

Yep, seriously.

Game Pass, for example, is doing great, and on paper is a fantastic deal. But I think it's a lot of short-term gain coming at the cost of a lack of long-term insight:

• potential changes in game design to churn them out at a steady pace, either by making games substantially shorter or by designing them to get their hooks into you for maximum engagement (Game Pass is the Netflix of gaming, after all). There's a reason we're seeing Xbox report engagement numbers, they're absolutely tracking these things and will be learning a lot to carry forwards into the designs of their future games. 

• we've still yet to see Xbox actually consistently churn out big first party titles in the first place, so the big question for me is if they can actually match their own model in production speed and quality. 

• questions over it pushing us deeper into a hole where a digital-only future is the only future. 

And that's just a handful of the big reasons, there are plenty more. I only bring up Game Pass as a point of comparison because, let's be honest, it's the only good point of comparison for something like this right now. And by that metric, this sounds like it falls far short, overcomplicating the current offerings for online subscriptions (which shouldn't even be a thing to begin with). 

I just don't know. I'm not asking them to reprint old games, but these companies are so tone deaf to what I think people interested in older games want. Let me purchase old games and play them on my current system, damn it, even if it's digital I would much rather have that than them being locked behind a subscription. They clearly think they have some value if they're being bundled into the highest tier of the subscription model. 

I'll hold final judgement until we get an official announcement, but so far? I'm not a fan of how this appears to be shaking out. 

[Hero-of-Time]

6 hours ago, Julius said:

I just don't know. I'm not asking them to reprint old games, but these companies are so tone deaf to what I think people interested in older games want. Let me purchase old games and play them on my current system, damn it, even if it's digital I would much rather have that than them being locked behind a subscription. They clearly think they have some value if they're being bundled into the highest tier of the subscription model. 

Yup. It's annoying that Nintendo and now possibly Sony are locking their legacy games behind a subscription model. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving playing N64 games on my Switch but i'd much rather own them than rent them.

When the rumours about classic games being part of Sony's subscription service surfaced earlier in the year I was hoping I would be able to actually own them but it's looking likely that won't be the case. Also, I'm not sure why outlets are positioning this as competition to Game Pass when it seems to have more in common with Nintendo's subscription service.  

I agree with you about Game Pass and have been wary of the thing since it's inception. Just look at the chaos it's caused with the acquisition wars that are going on. These types of service need content and the only way to do that fast is to buy the competition. Had GP not been a thing then I imagine the race for content wouldn't be happening right now.

[drahkon]

8 hours ago, Julius said:

But I think it's a lot of short-term gain coming at the cost of a lack of long-term insight:

The big problem for us as consumers will be: Eventually, the price will increase. And quite drastically.

We're seeing this with DAZN in German. It's still14.99€ per month which is a pretty good price for what they're offering but it'll be increased to 29.99€ which is double and there won't be anything new to justify that price hike.

2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Had GP not been a thing then I imagine the race for content wouldn't be happening right now.

I've been wary of saying this, especially here, but you're right. In my opinion Microsoft is the cause for all this and it's annoying. They have the spending power and appear to stop at nothing to create a monopoly. In turn forcing others to spend big money for acquisitions themselves.

 

[Ronnie]

People have been saying the price will increase on Game Pass for years now. Maybe it will, but it's such an incredible deal as is, if the price does increase, it'll be a bit less incredible.

Sony's latest PS revamp sounds pretty awful, but we'll see how it turns out in reality, I expect muddled messaging as always from them. PS+ has been in dire need of a revamp for years now.

Edited February 25, 2022 by Ronnie

[Sheikah]

Urgh, annoying.
Really hope "essential" doesn't replace PS+ as it is now. It would make it more expensive if I'm reading this right.
Fuck subscription models. The industry is going to a place I don't like. As a kid I always said: "When I'm old, I'll still play video games", but it seems like it's getting less and less likely [emoji20] 

No, Essential is the same price as what Plus is now. Plus already costs 10 dollars a month if you are to pay by the month, instead of annually.

[drahkon]

7 hours ago, Sheikah said:

Plus already costs 10 dollars a month if you are to pay by the month, instead of annually.

Ah, makes sense. I never even look at the monthly prices. Thanks for the info.

[drahkon]

Anybody playing Ghostrunner? @Hero-of-Time you wanted to give it a go, I think?

Have played the first level and it's as awesome as I remember from playing it on my sister's Xbox One. Load times are snappy so you don't feel bad for too long after dying  

Will jump back in later tonight and progress some more. Gotta get used to the controls a bit, though. Had to customize them because none of the default layouts appealed to me.

[Hero-of-Time]

I've got it downloaded but not played it yet. Too busy with other games at the moment. 

[drahkon]

16 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I've got it downloaded but not played it yet. Too busy with other games at the moment. 

Fair. Can't wait to read about the 8 games you've already complete since Elden Ring  

As I mentioned I've started playing Ghostrunner. It's tough. I kinda don't want to see how difficult later levels will be  
Also started Slay the Spire again. Can't believe I don't have the Platinum, even though it's my favourite game (yes, I said Elden Ring is also on top spot, but I may have to actually demote it to #2 because that deck-building-rogue-like is too good). 

What needs to be done for the Platinum? First of all...reaching the highest difficulty (i.e. Ascension 20) and beating it.

Spoiler

Almost 120 hours for the PS4 version. 60 wins, 294 deaths. Most of which came from climbing the Ascension ranks with The Defect. I've been stuck on Ascension 18 for hours and took a break from the game for months.
Yesterday...first run with The Defect after a long time and bam. Gg, ez win.  I didn't even have a necessarily overpowered deck, I just played very well.

Spoiler

Now bosses are more difficult...

What comes after Ascension 20? Stuff like win the run without picking up relics, or with only 5 cards, or in under 20 minutes...yeah, I'll cross that bridge later  

Also: Why am I using the PS5 thread for this? Don't know, don't care, shut up.

[drahkon]

On 3/18/2022 at 10:06 AM, drahkon said:

First of all...reaching the highest difficulty (i.e. Ascension 20)

Well, that didn't take too long. I've won an Ascension 19 run. That final boss fight was a war of attrition. Lots of Frost orbs, few damage dealing cards. Pair that with a boss that heals 15 HP every turn and yeah...it took me a while to win   

One more step to the hardest challenge in Slay the Spire: Winning an Ascension 20 run.

Now what does the final difficulty add? You fight a second boss in Act 3 (the fight starts immediately after the first Act 3 boss).  

I'm ready!

[drahkon]

My my, they haven't even released a game and they're already part of the Playstation Studios family? Sony must like what they're doing with their live service game.

[Julius]

28 minutes ago, drahkon said:

My my, they haven't even released a game and they're already part of the Playstation Studios family? Sony must like what they're doing with their live service game.

Huh. 

I'm really curious to see how this turns out, it's one thing working together and then acquiring a studio as has been the case for a fair few of PlayStation's big acquisitions over recent years (Insomniac, Bluepoint, Housemarque), but acquiring a studio before it's even got a game out is massively risky. 

So, it's probably for one of, or a combination of, these reasons:

• the team's vision is something PlayStation thinks is genuinely great and they may have just clicked and work really well with PlayStation Studios as is. I'm imagining a Rian Johnson with Lucasfilm situation where they announced his trilogy before TLJ came out (hopefully this pans out a bit better). 

• they saw $$$$$ signs in their eyes and were foaming at the mouth of the microtransaction possibilities of whatever game they're working on. 

• someone else was sniffing around and PlayStation felt pressured to buy them up. 

I'd love to say it was for a combination of the first and third reason, but what we've seen with GT7's microtransactions has tainted my perspective on the direction is going in, so while I think it could be a combination of all three...I'm leaning to the second reason probably being a big factor in this. Just a hunch, and probably not what I would have said a few weeks ago before GT7, but they want 10+ live service games out by 2025, and buying a studio in the process of making one outright just means they see more of the money. 

I'm also really curious to see if Jade Raymond sticks around. She's been a great studio builder over the last however many years with Ubisoft Montreal, EA Motive, and, well, for better or worse, the disillusioned Google's Stadia Games & Entertainment corner of Google Studios, but, probably through no fault of her own, has constantly been moving on. 

Looking into her past more, it's interesting to note that she's pretty much come full circle, as she programmed at Sony and then helped create Sony Online Entertainment (now Daybreak, who are independent), who were in charge of R&D and maintaining, creating, and adding to online games like EverQuest back in the day. 

[Hero-of-Time]

Can't say I'm too fussed about this studio. The fact that the game is going to be a live service one means I'll probably never play it.

[Julius]

Today's system update:

I've either completely missed it previously in an update or they've just failed to mention it, but didn't realise that there's now an option at the bottom when you tap 'Options' on a game on the PS5 home screen which keeps it on the home screen. Either way, that's really neat. Also like the clean-up of the UI, especially with trophies on trophy pages having a pattern and colour to denote a trophy grade. 

Now give us folders you monsters 

Edited March 23, 2022 by Julius

[Julius]

THEY'VE FINALLY UPDATED THE APP TO ACCESS SCREENSHOTS AND CLIPS OVER HERE!

Finally! 

[Julius]

Looks like we're finding out what's up with Project Spartacus next week:

I'm pessimistic about the whole thing based on what we've heard from reports so far, but at this point I'm honestly just really curious to see what it actually looks like. If there's trophy support for any classic games on the service then they'll have my attention (and I'm not even really a trophy hunter, I just think that'd be super cool), otherwise...eh.

Also curious how many times we'll see this turn up in articles next week if it is revealed 

Edited March 25, 2022 by Julius

[Dcubed]

If their new first party games don't appear on day 1 of release on this service? Then it's no Game Pass competitor.  End of.

Edited March 25, 2022 by Dcubed

[drahkon]

This thread will be great next week.  

I just wanna know if the current offering will remain at its current price point @bob
And whether tier 2 will be worth it (depending on what games it'll offer and how expensive it'll be).

Edited March 25, 2022 by drahkon

[Dcubed]

Also, calling it now, the PS1, PS2 and PS3 games will be made playable via cloud streaming; not actual native hardware emulation.

Edited March 25, 2022 by Dcubed

[Happenstance]

It’s actually really interesting watching this unfold. With gamepass I’ve always felt that in the long run it couldn’t be sustained for the price they were offering it for and the compensation they’d have to be paying publishers to get games on day 1 etc and it feels like that’s possibly what we’re seeing here with Sony’s version. Feels like a battle between short term and long term planning (not sure if I’m explaining my point very well so apologies if I’m not getting it across).

Ive said before with gamepass that it’s not a service I’m all that interested in and I like to own my games so I doubt I’ll get this but as I also said before, a retro version of these services would peak my interest so I’ll be watching out for that. It was what always tempted me with PS Now.

[Hero-of-Time]

 

1 minute ago, Happenstance said:

Ive said before with gamepass that it’s not a service I’m all that interested in and I like to own my games so I doubt I’ll get this but as I also said before, a retro version of these services would peak my interest so I’ll be watching out for that. It was what always tempted me with PS Now.

This is where I stand as well. I have zero interest in a Game Pass style service and given how well Sony's first party software sells, I don't think they need one. However, the prospect of playing games from past PS consoles does interest me a great deal. 

Even when the first rumours emerged about this service it always seemed a better comparison to makes was with  what Nintendo offer with their NES/SNES/N64 services rather than what MS were offering with Game Pass.