Game News 2.0

Zero-Cool

Lulu "Sony is the First of Us when it comes to games".

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120334516#Comment_120334516

I thought you were making a really really **** joke but she actual said that.

Start the Rapture please.

The Raging Bile Duct

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120333782#Comment_120333782

Seen that being quoted hat looks like very selective statistics on display by Microsoft to make them out to be the underdog. Gamepass doesn't solely operate on the xbox Isn't the grand plan for Xbox and Gamepass to move beyond consoles?

The Raging Bile Duct

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120334220#Comment_120334220

That's a great post. Good to be able to read the actual document.

I was exaggerating. I don't know what the percentages are but there's no doubt about it Sony control the overwhelming majority of the console market. Xbox are actually 3rd behind Nintendo.

marcbrophy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120336583#Comment_120336583

And would remain 3rd with the Activision deal!

It's amazing that the regulators don't see that Sony ARE the monopoly that they are trying to stop Microsoft from becoming!

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120339698#Comment_120339698

The relative number of consoles sold isn't that relevant, the regulators aren't there to help one console catch up on another, that's not their job. They aren't there to represent Sony or Nintendo or Microsoft. They're there to represent consumers. And the biggest third party publisher in existence, which has published games on all platforms for decades, suddenly being gobbled up and made to operate for the good of one console manufacturer only is indisputably a bad thing for consumers. The fact that that console is owned by a minority only serves to exacerbate the fact that this would be a bad thing for the majority of consumers.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120339909#Comment_120339909

This is the narrative being controlled by Sony. The fact that xbox manufacture consoles has nothing to do with it. Sony are applying their own antiquated business model to the deal. Xbox has not been a console manufaturer in years. They happen to manufacture consoles, but that is not the same. They report subscription numbers to their share holders, not console sales numbers.

This acquisition is actually about mobile gaming. But of course you.can jist say they are lying and really what they want is more console sales. I mean where do you even start refuting arguments like that. "We're not lying". "Prove it"

Proving a negative means: proving the non - existence of that for which no evidence of any kind exists

johnny_ultimate

Ah come on now, Microsoft is clearly a console manufacturer! I have little sympathy for Sony's arguments (they are, after all, a company with only self-interest and profit in mind), but it's preposterous to suggest Microsoft is not in the console business when they have two next-gen consoles lining shop shelves.

Varik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120340362#Comment_120340362

MS don't report console sales numbers as it doesn't make them look good they report the numbers that do. Sony didn't report the number for the first part of the PS3s life for the same reason, and then when the PS3 did pass the 360 it switched.

Sony have a tiny presence in the mobile gaming, this is about console market for them.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120340382#Comment_120340382

OK yes, it's more accurate to say their business model has moved on from console sales. They are stuck with selling consoles until streaming becomes main stream.

My point is with regards to this acquisition it is about the future, a console-less or in the sort/middle term a less console targeted business and more about mobile gaming and streaming.

It's not about increasing console sales numbers. It's about increasing subscription numbers.

On that point though, about having 2 consoles on the market. Their top selling console by far is the S which is not about console sales. It's a gateway to game pass. They even tried taking it further and having an nVidia shield type streaming client "console". I'm not sure if that is still in development, I think I read its been canned. Probably because it would compete with the Series S which a consumer is always going to pick ahead of a straight out streaming client box.

I think this puts the "xbox doesnt have games" argument to bed.

Some of you have probably seen this on reddit. 5 of the top 10 most wish listed games on Steam are coming to game pass day 1 and a number of them not yet announced for game pass will most likely be there (sequels of games on game pass).

1. Starfield

3. Party Animals

4. Silksong

6. Stalker 2

9. Ark 2

Others that most likely will be on game pass:

7. Frost punk 2

10. Hades 2

Potential-Monke

It's not Xbox doesn't have games. Xbox doesn't have many good first party games like Sony does. That's the argument I hear, and I think it's right when you compare first party titles and reception. But again, it's all personal choice. From those games you listed, only 2 interest me (Hades 2 and Silksong). I think it's best to have both consoles if possible! Even with all my spare time, I don't have enough time to try everything, which is why I appear to be far more selective these days, even though I've more choice than I've ever had.

TitianGerm

What good first party games has Sony released in the last 5 years that's not open world?

I can only think of Returnal, Ratchet and Clank and Demon Souls.

God of War is semi open world so could also include that. Astro isn't really a game rather a tech demo.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120350809#Comment_120350809

Yeah that's what I said earlier, if people were saying Xbox studios doesn't have a great games it would be fair enough I can see the argument there.

It's saying "The Xbox" has no games that grates on me. That's not playing with words, most people mean the console has no games when they say that.

Personally I've had a never ending stream of games to enjoy. I see it as a great machine to play games on. Especially if the game has cross save where I can choose to play on PC or hit the couch depending on how sore my hole is after a days work sitting at the desk.

I've had absolutely no desire to pick up a PS5 for their open world exclusives. It's just such a jaded format and anything that is absolutely must have ill wait for on PC (which so far GoW is the only one worth picking up imo). There is no advantage to picking them up early on PS5 other than getting caught up in the hype.

Anyway, wow sorry been a while I've got into a console wars argument!

I'm building a new PC next month anyway, so soon I can say both consoles are sh!te 🤣

The Raging Bile Duct

Is any of this really gaming news? Also, aren't we all getting a bit long in the tooth to be feeling the need to defend billion dollar corporations based on the consoles we bought?

Penn

Reports on Twitter that a PS5 Pro is in development with likely release late 2024. Pretty much to be expected anyway.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120357587#Comment_120357587

Can't help feeling it's going to be a hard sell. The PS5, and Series X which is almost identical performance wise, are the first consoles I've ever owned where there are just no glaring flaws. Games load super quick, everything looks great, frame rates are never an issue. There's the odd game here and there with perf problems but it's usually a product of poor development and it's not common. On top of that the consoles are completely silent at all times, updates background download at very high speed (obv depends on your broadband, but my consoles max mine out, where previous ones didn't), storage is easily upgradeable if you want to and everything just works.

The world isn't converting to 8k TVs any time soon and short of that it's hard to see a need for a whole lot more power unless we see a sudden leap in what developers are trying to achieve (and dev cycles are already more than long enough)

I'd say there'd be a bigger market for a PS5 slim than a PS5 Pro.

johnny_ultimate

I'd be very curious what a 'Pro' console looks like if it comes to fruition. Obviously there's room for improvements around things like ray-tracing performance, but given console and hardware prices are going up rather than down this generation, surely a beefed-up model would come with a very hefty price tag unless there's a pretty significant change in the next year or so. €550 is already a lot for a console, so again unless that's going to fall soon a Pro console would surely cost closer to €700... which is an awful lot of money for a mid-gen console refresh. Also, based on the situation in PC hardware, it's clear mass adoption of / interest in ray-tracing is still a ways off (if, indeed, it ever takes off the way Nvidia wants), so it'd likely need more substantial graphical horsepower or substantially increased storage to be widely appealing.

Even the Switch's 'premium' late-gen refresh only managed an upgraded screen. I'm skeptical for now, but hey we'll see what another year of games brings - maybe then there'll be a more obvious need for a refresh. At the moment, it seems somewhat redundant.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120357710#Comment_120357710

I think they're still planning on making a new PS5 model with detachable disk drive. But yeah, a PS5 Pro certainly seems like diminshing returns in terms of graphics and/or speed, with the only likely benefit to be ray-tracing performance. Maybe 2TB internal SSD too.

pixelburp

The first trailer popped up of Heart Machine's follow-up to (the rather excellent) Hyper Light Drifter; a kickstarter I threw some shekels at, and what feels like aeons ago.

https://youtu.be/bCQb-m0RaG0

Grumpypants

I'd expect a much bigger hard drive. They have dropped dramatically in price. And aim for actually getting 4k 120fps.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120357717#Comment_120357717

Path tracing is the way forward. Graphics will definitely go that way. The issue with ray tracing currently is two fold. Rasterised graphics have gotten so good that there's very little to differentiate between ray tracing and good rasterisation. And the performance hit for such little improvement to graphical fidelity just isn't worth it. Some ray traced renderers just look awful as well. The RE engine I found looks kind of ropey with some very low res reflections. It's going to be a while before the hardware is really there and with resolutions increasing, the load for ray tracing increases exponentially.

Potential-Monke

I'll be upgrading. I was happy with the 4 Pro, and I'd be more interested to see if it reduces or preferably eliminates coil whine. Sound wise, the SX wins over the PS5 only because of the coil while.

Probably target 4K/120RT. I'll hopefully have upgraded the TV by then!

SuperBowserWorld

Yep, I'd be happy they just removed the coil whine and fan noise. Or just give up the hardware race and support XBox (isn't this pretty much the same as PC development) 😁

I don't think there will be 4K 120 FPS RT until next generation. Although Spiderman remastered has a crazy RT performance mode with high frame rates IIRC.

Also, they really haven't made the most of current gen yet ...

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120359104#Comment_120359104

How much do you think something that will do native 4K, 120FPS and Raytracing will cost?

Grumpypants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120359104#Comment_120359104

Day one for me. Sucker for any new hardware.

CatInABox

I really can't see any mid life refresh this generation. The only reason it was viable last gen was because they started out with gimped CPUs in the first place, which is definitely not a problem this time around. I can definitely see a console refresh, a PS5 slim (or an xbox series X er....S? ), maybe with a die shrink, but not a full upgrade like the pro.

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120359165#Comment_120359165

Absolutely no idea. PS4 was €400 on release, Pro was €400 on release. So PS5 was €550 on release, 3+ years later the Pro is probably going to be the same or a bit more.

Retr0gamer

I've a feeling it will be ken kutaragi telling people to get a second job expensive.