JohnLocke

Hey all,

I was wondering if anybody has been playing the Mafia Remaster (either the first game or the 3 pack)? How is the game and how does it feel as a modern title? I have not heard much about the game so wondered what people think of the title.

Thank you.

I wonder if the list of PlayStation Plus titles that are going to available at launch gives us a window into what may be getting announced/launched for PS5? A game like Fallout 4 for example, could this be a way of getting people to be interested in a Fallout 76 PS5 Edition or a Fallout 5? Seems like the games listed, especially from the first party side, have sequels announced (Ratchet and Clank for instance) and I would assume The Last of Us Part 2 gets a PS5 edition at some stage (not for free I am guessing unless things do not go so great for Sony sales wise, then they may do an upgrade path for free to encourage PS5 sales).

The pricing is interesting at any rate, I am curious how the PS5 diskless system will fare against the Xbox Series S. One seems to be cut back in other ways than just the disk drive, but I am unclear on if this is the same for the PS5 No Disk Drive edition?

@mitch659: @facelessvixen Thinking about it, I went back on selling it all. It seemed after a bit to be not the wisest of decisions. So I plan to sell some things I have not used in a while and then maybe I will feel less pressure of the "backlog mountain" and perhaps will enjoy the games a bit more. I do have other interests outside of games so it was not the 100% only I ever do, but perhaps taking a break from competitive/demanding games will help give me a fresher perspective.

I decided to go through with the sale of my consoles and games. It feels like the time for me to end my interest in this area. I have lost my patience and love of gaming and it became a bit of a chore "I must play this game because I bought it" or "I must get this new game, otherwise I am going to miss out." I am likely giving up PC gaming at this point too as even something like Football Manager I found it was becoming an unpaid job rather than something I enjoyed.

Hello all,

I am in a bit of a bind at the moment. I am feeling like I am not enjoying console gaming anymore (and perhaps have not for a long time, be it from feeling rubbish when I keep loosing online games, or winning when I get lucky because others have dropped out, to struggling to be motivated to play single player games). I am curious if anybody else has gone through this? Did you essentially clear out your consoles/games when this happened?

I am not planning to walk away from gaming forever (I will still play some titles on my PC, but as it is not a top of the line latest spec PC, I will not be able to play all the latest games, especially when the new Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 arrive and push the requirements up presumably for the top level games). Just wondered if other people had gone through this, what decisions they made, and how they feel now?

Cheers all.

@colonel_pockets: I agree. We are getting close to what is potentially the release window but have barely seen any gameplay from these consoles. That and the lack of solid information about launch date/pricing/launch window titles are contributing to my thinking these consoles will get delayed. You are likely right though, I would imagine we get more concrete information this month, it just seems like a game of who is going to blink first between Sony and Microsoft on announcing a date/price.

@monkeyking1969: I understand what you mean. I am not asking for console manufacturers to force staff to work long hours (I would advocate them treating staff fairly, both in pay and treatment outside of pay) or have 20+ games for each system at launch from their own studios. I guess my real concern is the lack of information which they are presumably expecting to sell a lot of (I feel like I saw a report on Eurogamer or BBC where Sony said they were planning to have 10 million PS5 consoles ready for launch), that is expecting a lot of faith to jump in right now given the slow speed of information. The game side perhaps I am poor memory with, as I thought Killer Instinct was a launch title with Forza 5, that is not me saying your wrong, I just really thought they were, but perhaps I am blending it all together in my mind or thinking of when I actually started using the Xbox One a lot? I don't know. Perhaps I am being too harsh, I do not expect people to work more, just would be nice to get more clarity in the presentations from all parties, not just Microsoft and Sony, but third party studios too. I mean, I have no idea what EA is doing (FIFA and Madden seem to be confirmed, and Star Wars, outside of that, I have no idea what their main studios are doing, oh and Skate) and Activision, is there even a Call of Duty due out this year?

@clagnaught: I agree. There are a lot of details in the air about what each system will offer. This is what makes me think they are not going to get released this year, there is still too much in the air regarding what these systems will offer. By the specifications, these consoles are going to be quite powerful so I would imagine quite pricey, to have so little details regarding what is on offer for what is likely going to be a steep entry fee, it seems really poor messaging or deliberate smoke and mirrors.

Seeing above that Ratchet and Clank will not be a launch title means first party wise from Sony we are looking at an expansion for Spider-Man (which admittedly, I would like to play, but it is still not a game built from the ground up for the next hardware system or one where they are creating it to push the system like launch titles of old). Microsoft seem to be offering Halo, although there has been some negative press about how the game looks visually and what the game is actually offering. I get new systems do not have great launches generally speaking (I know there have been some big hits in the past such as Mario 64, Sonic, maybe Tomb Raider?) but this launch seems like there are no games actually ready for it, or they are going to be games that are built for old hardware that will be upscaled for the new systems (such as Watch Dogs and Assassins Creed, Dirt 5, Madden, basically third party standard offerings) and the console manufacturers are potentially pushing these systems out with very little software on offer from their own studios. That seems unusual. I do not expect a new game from every studio under Sony or Microsoft umbrella, but these vague launch windows and trailers for games with no gameplay (or CGI trailers) suggest some of the games being talked about now are a long way off, leaving the question, what exactly is going to be playable on these consoles?

I would not say the lack of revolution concerns me, more what has been said about launch titles. Halo seems to be the only game first party wise for Series X? I would be happy with Forza, KI and a couple of others as was the case with Xbox One. PS5 is perhaps a bit better placed here with Ratchet and Clank alongside Spider-Man.

Hi all,

After watching the Microsoft Xbox stream yesterday, I felt I had more questions than answers regarding the next generation console cycle. So I decided to create a topic where I could see what people here were thinking, whether anybody was feeling the same or different and why.

My thoughts:

1). The messaging has been poor, especially given how much more control Sony, Microsoft et al have over their own streams now. Why do I feel like this? Well, the details have been mixed in terms of when games are due, what the games even are in some cases (vague trailers that do not really give anything other than a feel or vibe of a games setting but no details about what the game actually entails) or even a window for when the games are due. I feel this especially affects Microsoft given how much of their footage has been in engine cut scenes (or CGI footage, not really sure what to describe it as, but not actual gameplay with a HUD). Fable and State of Decay 3 especially felt pretty poor in this regard as they both feel a long way off, the Obsidian game I am more willing to be forgiving as that studio has a lot in the pipeline as it is. Forza was especially disappointing as I am a huge fan of those games, and it seems like the new one will not be a launch title? This is where I feel the messaging has been poor, because we are left with lots of questions from all the conferences about release dates, game genres or content type. The Sony messaging has been just as bad, such as with Spider-Man and the potential of a new game but then turns out to be an expansion style game (not that I am against that, but the trailer did not fit compared to how a Sony staff member describing it as an expansion pack when talking to the press later felt like a poor way to reveal what that game actually is). Even EA managed to drop the ball here, SKATE being a game I thought you could not mess up an announcement for, yet somehow EA manage to find a way to mess that up by being vague, not saying what the game title is, what platform it is going to be for, just "Hey SKATE, you want that right?"

2). These consoles are either not ready to be launched or are going to be rushed out to be first to launch. Why do I feel like this? The same issue as above, a lack of games and a timeframe for when the games are due out. I understand the whole world situation is a nightmare right now and this will impact on development of games (I am in the keep people safe, games can wait side rather than the give me all the games right now side) but we seem to have had a lot of trailers or vibe videos (as in creepy backgrounds and somebody walking along or sci fi generic soldiers walking around but no gameplay shown or possibly not even in game, just a cut scene thrown up to say we have something available). So far I think Ratchet and Clank and Halo are the only games I can think of where we have seen next generation games being ran (possible Ubisoft with Watch_dogs and Assassins Creed as well) which seems really bad given how close these consoles potentially are. It is very worrying how little gameplay we are being shown given how little time is left. If this is a dripping out gameplay and footage, then the messaging around this has been poor. Would a Nintendo Direct style once a month and a focus on one or two games and going in depth have been better? I feel that way, if the games are not ready, and, in some cases not ready for a long time then this is worrying.

3). Details are lacking. Why do I feel this way? The PS5 and Xbox Series X are supposed to be out this year, but we have no idea of when still or what price or what you will get or anything at all other than what the boxes look like. The way these systems have been presented to me feels like we are still a year off these things being ready. This feels like a general aim of what is being targeted as a first wave of information, rather than a "Here are 5 games you will want to buy with your console at launch, and here is the price and release date." Maybe I am wrong, but it feels like there is less information about these machines and what software they will offer than we have experienced in similar time frames around a new hardware cycle.

Am I excited about new consoles? Yes, as somebody who has the base unit Xbox One/PS4 I am ready for the next step up. However, it really feels like Sony and Microsoft are scrambling and playing a game with each other over who will be first to set a price/launch date or if they are waiting to be second to delay as they don't want the PR nightmare of being first to say "sorry, turns out we are not ready to launch this year".

I would love to hear what you are all thinking in this, I also welcome thoughts that do not reflect mine. I could be over thinking or missing information that would perhaps resolve some of my personal concerns or have overlooked information that answers what I have said.

Thanks.