mellotronrules

honestly i didn't find this surprising. it truly sucks for those who don't have access due to a lack of PSN- but Sony isn't porting games because it's the right thing to do- they're doing it because there are specific business motivations. expanding and capturing data via PSN is clearly very high priority- so where ever that effort is currently blocked, i wouldn't expect their ports to be available (officially).

i don't know what's going on with those countries that don't have PSN (whether it's local tax, currency, government or ROI issues)- but businesses tend to go where there's money to be made, and avoid those where (in their perception) it isn't worth the effort. it kinda reminds me of efforts to expand broadband in the USA- there are just some regions that will never get broadband if it's left to business to figure it out, because they'll never get a return that (in their eyes) is worth it.

hopefully some of this heat they're catching motivates Sony to reevaluate their PSN availability and expand where possible- but i don't think we live in a universe where a large corporation expands into a new market without wanting to 'own' their users.

i can recall setting a mental reminder to purchase some version of an Xbox once Hellblade 2 was announced. going into this past holiday season, i still thought that was going to happen. i thought for sure by the time that game dropped the current gen library of Xbox exclusives would be robust and differentiated enough to justify Hellblade 2 as the thing that got me in the door, and then i'd catch up on everything i'd missed. but honestly, despite wanting to support Ninja Theory on day 1- i think the only reasonable move is to wait and see how this all shakes out. i'm not fully confident Ninja Theory itself survives the year- and i don't think any amount of purchases prevents that. what an utterly depressing thought.

-

to armchair quarterback the present situation a bit- Xbox has no farm system, and it drives me fucking crazy. i know it's reductive and an oversimplification- but it really feels like they're utterly unwilling to burn cash attracting, developing, and retaining talent- and would much rather buy their way out of problems. i don't think Sony are saints in this regard (they've been trending towards shutting down many of their homegrown studios), and Nintendo are inert (for better or worse)- but the Xbox brand just can't get it together with farming and fully supporting their in-house projects.

i don't know if that's a function of poor leadership, or being attached to Microsoft (a company with too much money that doesn't need its games to be good to survive)- but it really feels like this is a hard one to come back from.

while i'm glad those with legit grievances appear to have those ameliorated (folks losing access to something they've purchased is completely unacceptable); i'm kinda walking away from this situation wanting to shower off a layer of vicarious ick (i don't play helldivers; let alone any multiplayer games to speak of).

Sony fucked up, but it's not like mandatory PSN logins are going anywhere- they'll just be more strategic (if they have any sense of market survival).

and for reasons i can't quite articulate- i just hate this review-bomb shit. it feels like mob justice for what's often a subset of a subset, even if the outcomes occasionally benefit the legitemately aggrieved.

@ben_h: from what i understand the bottom for podcast ads has really fallen out, so i think a lot of networks are pushing broader programmatic buys to cast a wider net.

the tech seems pretty braindead though. being in the nyc area sometimes they just decide all my ads should be a single repeated ad in Spanish (which, fair enough by demographics in nyc but i neither speak Spanish nor listen to any Spanish podcasts)

and then once in a blue moon the algorithm really freaks out and tries to sell me Toyotas based out of Tulsa or the like.

it's very rarely i get the more offensive political ads- but it's a shock every time i do (it's a lot of "who let this nutjob near a microphone?")

yeah, i get some real garbage from programmatic ads.

kinda feels like they're poisoning the well with this stuff- my 'skip 30 seconds ahead' reflexes have never been sharper.

welp, on the other side of it now. i think my back of the box quote for my time with DD2 would be:

"usually fun; never profound."

this is probably the strongest 7.9 out of 10 i've ever played. i'm really glad i took the plunge- the 3rd person perspective and combat has me second-guessing any residual affection i might have had for Elder Scrolls, and there's a 20hrs-ish sweet spot where everything was clicking in a super compelling way. we also love a freely swappable class system.

in the long run- the game stopped showing me new things sooner than i hoped, the narrative held the emotional space of an absentee father (when it tried to show up i cared it wasn't there), and for all the talk of profound 'friction' it kinda just felt out of 2006 (as opposed to interesting).

ultimately a good time (if not an incredible one); though i've never felt more certain that every person on this planet wants something different from open world games (there is no platonic ideal). for every person wishing Atreus or Aloy had a mute button there's me begging my pawns to move past the obsession with MATERIALS. and likewise it's neat we need to take in the scenery, but jesus christ are these carts made out of styrofoam? and couldn't this late game quest bouncing between diametric opposite cities have been an email?

yeah, they got me!

DD has been that game/franchise i've never played despite my circle of favorite critics constantly singing its praises. and i'll be honest, from this place of self- admitted deep ignorance- i'm not sure i 'get it.'

i don't mean this to come off the wrong way (this is very much an intangible matter of taste), but i still kinda don't get it with the lead up to DD2 (nothing about the promo material/period has stood out as particularly remarkable). HOWEVER- i'm happy to admit when i've been a fool (this has happened plenty of times before with bands/music i don't 'get' the buzz with, but after spending time with i do a full 180)...

...and so i've purchased DD2 and i'm going to give it a fair-shake. i need to understand what this thing is for my own peace of mind, hah. also i'm generally interested to see an alternate approach to fantasy mechanics/systems.

i was going to post Rebirth as joke (since I have neither played it nor overwhelming nostalgia for the franchise; i played FF7 OG in 97 and Remake last year- i like [not love] them both fwiw)- but since yall brought it up-

it's probably the most 'your mileage will vary' game on the planet. there are valid takes in every direction- but it feels like that game demands you have a personal relationship and/or history with FF7 to have the experience devs intended. and that feels like it could be a real double-edged sword. i'm seeing a whole lot of 'this is the greatest thing ever' and 'it's pretty good? i guess?' and never the twain shall meet.

nah, it'll come out (eventually).

yeah, a bit difficult to make a clean rec given the crossgen nature of this era. but i really did love Returnal and Baldur's Gate 3.