Console & Gaming Thread

[THEV1LL4N]

I would love to get the PS5 but I just have other priorities right now that I can't justify getting a new console and games for it. So when I do get my TV, I'll connect up the PS4 and actually use that for whenever I want to game. I aim to play GTA V, Shenmue I and II and most importantly Sonic Mania which I purchased ages ago but still haven't played (same for Shenmue). And then I would like to get the Crash and Spyro remasters, Crash 4, which will be accessible for everyone to join in and play, and the Spider-Man games will be cool.

I am interested in Stadia as it is constantly improving and will help me with the minimalist look. I would like to mount the TV up on the wall above a new fireplace if possible, so a physical console probably won't work in this space.

 

[dilla]

Yea, I don't game like I used to as well so I'm gonna wait til next year plus my backlog is crazzzzzzy and Cyberpunk 2077. If I was you I'd go with Series S and gamepass. Tis a solid deal do the point I don't know how they're gonna make profits lol.

I prefer physical copy of games so I'm gonna have to shell out $500 plus tax smh.

Yeah, I keep flip flopping on going the One S or Series S route. On the one hand, the One S is cheaper and since I'm more casual, I can just get the used discs. But on the other hand, I heard that physical games still need some data installed on the HDD and people make it seem like it loses its purpose at that point with the amount of storage space it takes vs digital. Also, waiting to get in to the next gen consoles long enough might keep me occupied for a few years until they get their mid cycle refreshes with better hardware. Maybe storage will be cheaper then, too.

Someone made an argument that a digital version won't have you worrying about the disc scratching or breaking or just simply not working after a few years but I can't say I've played a game from older generations recently. Unless the used games I got from Gamestop for the 360 a few months back count. Those were scratched a bit but they're also 10+ years old. But work fine. So I don't know.

I have a PS5 pre-ordered and an Xbox series S. I'm not a gamer much, but my son wants the PS5. I'll probably cancel the Xbox for now

Probably comes down to what his friends have and play on. If they're all PS guys then he's going to want to play with them

 

[Da_Funk]

I will get the Xbox at some point, simply because I prefer the controller. Unfortunately I spend so little time gaming these days. I will probably wait a while to pick one up, could care less about having one right off the bat

 

[yak pac fatal]

Yeah, I keep flip flopping on going the One S or Series S route. On the one hand, the One S is cheaper and since I'm more casual, I can just get the used discs. But on the other hand, I heard that physical games still need some data installed on the HDD and people make it seem like it loses its purpose at that point with the amount of storage space it takes vs digital. Also, waiting to get in to the next gen consoles long enough might keep me occupied for a few years until they get their mid cycle refreshes with better hardware. Maybe storage will be cheaper then, too.

Someone made an argument that a digital version won't have you worrying about the disc scratching or breaking or just simply not working after a few years but I can't say I've played a game from older generations recently. Unless the used games I got from Gamestop for the 360 a few months back count. Those were scratched a bit but they're also 10+ years old. But work fine. So I don't know.



Probably comes down to what his friends have and play on. If they're all PS guys then he's going to want to play with them

I don't think this coming gen they'll have the mid cycle upgrades. I don't think those upgraded consoles made enough of a difference for sells for them to do it again.

LOL, what a poor argument point that is. If you're a grown ass man or woman the chances if you scratching a disc to the point of no return are slim to none. Over the summer I bought a few PS1 and PS2, scratched up but they work without a single issue. The only pluses for digital are that it's convenient and you can account share the content, which is cool.

I don't know how true it is, but I read MS is getting rid of Xbox Live and game pass will replace it.

 

[dilla]

I don't think this coming gen they'll have the mid cycle upgrades. I don't think those upgraded consoles made enough of a difference for sells for them to do it again.

LOL, what a poor argument point that is. If you're a grown ass man or woman the chances if you scratching a disc to the point of no return are slim to none. Over the summer I bought a few PS1 and PS2, scratched up but they work without a single issue. The only pluses for digital are that it's convenient and you can account share the content, which is cool.

I don't know how true it is, but I read MS is getting rid of Xbox Live and game pass will replace it.

For the mid cycle upgrade, are you saying the performance didn't make a difference or the sales of those consoles didn't make a difference? I think most people I see on forums have the S or X either on their own or after upgrading from the OG One from 2013. Could be wrong but it seems that way. Like for PS4, do more people own the launch console or the Slim/Pro models?

And for the discs, I meant just over time they degrade. But yeah, I think most cases of discs breaking and getting scratched are abuse or misuse and I've never broken a disc. I have scratched one though. I kicked my PS2 when I lost a close race in Gran Turismo when I was like ten lol. Got a white scuff on the disc.

I heard the same about Live and Gamepass. Also heard people say it wasn't true that Live was going free, but it should. Because games that are normally free to play still require Live on Xbox but PS4 users and Switch users still don't need to pay for online to play them.

I do still think MS starts charging more for GP though because so many people are using it. The conversion rate right now is pretty absurd since I can get there years of GPU for like $181 if I buy all the Live at once and convert it to GPU. Which is basically less than the cost of one game per year for three years.

Have you looked into xCloud or whatever it's called to stream games on your phone or tablet? I like that MS is doing that.

 

[Pittsey]

I am interested in Stadia as it is constantly improving and will help me with the minimalist look. I would like to mount the TV up on the wall above a new fireplace if possible, so a physical console probably won't work in this space.

You just run the cabling to a different space hidden out of the way

 

[yak pac fatal]

For the mid cycle upgrade, are you saying the performance didn't make a difference or the sales of those consoles didn't make a difference? I think most people I see on forums have the S or X either on their own or after upgrading from the OG One from 2013. Could be wrong but it seems that way. Like for PS4, do more people own the launch console or the Slim/Pro models?

And for the discs, I meant just over time they degrade. But yeah, I think most cases of discs breaking and getting scratched are abuse or misuse and I've never broken a disc. I have scratched one though. I kicked my PS2 when I lost a close race in Gran Turismo when I was like ten lol. Got a white scuff on the disc.

I heard the same about Live and Gamepass. Also heard people say it wasn't true that Live was going free, but it should. Because games that are normally free to play still require Live on Xbox but PS4 users and Switch users still don't need to pay for online to play them.

I do still think MS starts charging more for GP though because so many people are using it. The conversion rate right now is pretty absurd since I can get there years of GPU for like $181 if I buy all the Live at once and convert it to GPU. Which is basically less than the cost of one game per year for three years.

Have you looked into xCloud or whatever it's called to stream games on your phone or tablet? I like that MS is doing that.

From technical aspect, yes, the mid cycle consoles are better than the originals but I don't think either Pro or One X sold enough for them to do that again. I remember reading the slim versions sold way better.

I agree with ya, the online should be free. I was disappointed when PS4 made it mandatory. It's easy money for them. Game pass is such a great deal, I honestly don't know how they're gonna recoup the profits they'd make from now $70 games. For juggernaut titles, the first month or 2 sales are important with the constant increase in development budget. I'm curious to see the numbers.

I haven't looked much into xCloud but the little bit I remember hearing about it, def seems cool. MS said fuck it we're not gonna beat Sony console sales and chose the netflix, game any where on anything route which is great for consumers.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

You just run the cabling to a different space hidden out of the way

I'll be looking at options. Got a few things that I want to renovate around the house before I set any tech up due to design/space (I may or may not go for a TV unit). Either way, I've got a project on my hands.

 

[dilla]

From technical aspect, yes, the mid cycle consoles are better than the originals but I don't think either Pro or One X sold enough for them to do that again. I remember reading the slim versions sold way better.

I agree with ya, the online should be free. I was disappointed when PS4 made it mandatory. It's easy money for them. Game pass is such a great deal, I honestly don't know how they're gonna recoup the profits they'd make from now $70 games. For juggernaut titles, the first month or 2 sales are important with the constant increase in development budget. I'm curious to see the numbers.

I haven't looked much into xCloud but the little bit I remember hearing about it, def seems cool. MS said fuck it we're not gonna beat Sony console sales and chose the netflix, game any where on anything route which is great for consumers.

Yeah, it's all about turning Xbox in to a service now and getting that service in to the hands of people using the devices they already own, whether its an Xbox or an Android phone/tablet, or even a PC. I've heard some people say that the Gamepass model is the future of gaming. I think all three gaming companies have found their place and have started competing with each other less and less in the past decade. Sony seems to be focused on the "Traditional" gaming experience with consoles and has a ton of developers under its wings to make exclusive stuff. MS is trying to make game streaming a thing and on many different devices that they don't even make. Sort of like Android and the number of phone OEMs that use it on their hardware. And Nintendo screwed up with the Wii U after the Wii was such a success and the Switch is just kicking ass now as a home console as well as a handheld. I'm not big on the games it has; they're just not my style. Or they're less polished ports of PS4 and One games, but the Switch is still breaking sales records left and right and it's projected to still be the best selling console during the Holidays this year despite the next-gen consoles being released. So people are buying the Switch, it just doesn't have the type of games I like to play, aside from the main Nintendo titles like Mario and stuff. A lot of it looks like anime stuff and I guess those are the people keeping Nintendo afloat right now lol. Weabs. But the console itself is pretty amazing and versatile where you can pick it up and go play somewhere and come home and dock it and continue playing. So Nintendo has that going for them.

As far as Gamepass goes, I don't know what the deal is with new releases. I thought only games published by MS were going to be on Gamepass on day-one. I didn't know that third party developers were also planning on doing the same, even if it was just for a few titles and not all of them. I also didn't know Series games were going to be $70. I know some PS5 first party titles will be $70 but I didn't know MS was doing the same. That would suck if the standard price changed again. I guess it does over time since I remember PSX games being $40, PS2 games being $50 and from the PS3 until today, new games are regularly $60. Another $10 isn't surprising but it's annoying and makes me wonder if it just keeps on going up from there. One game with a few DLCs will be over $100 now. I don't think anyone knows how MS is going to making this profitable. Well, I think a lot of us have an idea of how, but it involves a price increase. A steep one, at that. But people look like they're they're pretending it's not an option in the very near future. Could be next Spring that MS simply takes away the $1 conversion deal and next Holidays makes it a $20 a month subscription.

 

[Casey]

So I bought an Oculus Quest 2. It's coming on Tuesday. Looking forward to jumping into the VR space.

 

[yak pac fatal]

Yeah, it's all about turning Xbox in to a service now and getting that service in to the hands of people using the devices they already own, whether its an Xbox or an Android phone/tablet, or even a PC. I've heard some people say that the Gamepass model is the future of gaming. I think all three gaming companies have found their place and have started competing with each other less and less in the past decade. Sony seems to be focused on the "Traditional" gaming experience with consoles and has a ton of developers under its wings to make exclusive stuff. MS is trying to make game streaming a thing and on many different devices that they don't even make. Sort of like Android and the number of phone OEMs that use it on their hardware. And Nintendo screwed up with the Wii U after the Wii was such a success and the Switch is just kicking ass now as a home console as well as a handheld. I'm not big on the games it has; they're just not my style. Or they're less polished ports of PS4 and One games, but the Switch is still breaking sales records left and right and it's projected to still be the best selling console during the Holidays this year despite the next-gen consoles being released. So people are buying the Switch, it just doesn't have the type of games I like to play, aside from the main Nintendo titles like Mario and stuff. A lot of it looks like anime stuff and I guess those are the people keeping Nintendo afloat right now lol. Weabs. But the console itself is pretty amazing and versatile where you can pick it up and go play somewhere and come home and dock it and continue playing. So Nintendo has that going for them.

As far as Gamepass goes, I don't know what the deal is with new releases. I thought only games published by MS were going to be on Gamepass on day-one. I didn't know that third party developers were also planning on doing the same, even if it was just for a few titles and not all of them. I also didn't know Series games were going to be $70. I know some PS5 first party titles will be $70 but I didn't know MS was doing the same. That would suck if the standard price changed again. I guess it does over time since I remember PSX games being $40, PS2 games being $50 and from the PS3 until today, new games are regularly $60. Another $10 isn't surprising but it's annoying and makes me wonder if it just keeps on going up from there. One game with a few DLCs will be over $100 now. I don't think anyone knows how MS is going to making this profitable. Well, I think a lot of us have an idea of how, but it involves a price increase. A steep one, at that. But people look like they're they're pretending it's not an option in the very near future. Could be next Spring that MS simply takes away the $1 conversion deal and next Holidays makes it a $20 a month subscription.

It's weird, not all games are gonna be $70 at least out the game. Funny, 2k21 was the first to announce that their game is gonna be $70 due to development cost when all their game is a roster update and cheesy, cheap storyline for my player. I'm not for $70 price tag at all. Games are riddled with micro-transactions and devs cut out content and sell it as DLC.

COD has micro-transactions and season pass and it's not even free to play so you made end dropping over $130. MK11 is bad too.

 

[dilla]

It's weird, not all games are gonna be $70 at least out the game. Funny, 2k21 was the first to announce that their game is gonna be $70 due to development cost when all their game is a roster update and cheesy, cheap storyline for my player. I'm not for $70 price tag at all. Games are riddled with micro-transactions and devs cut out content and sell it as DLC.

COD has micro-transactions and season pass and it's not even free to play so you made end dropping over $130. MK11 is bad too.

Yeah, in-game purchases are the worst. I thought it was bad back in the 360 days when "new maps" were released for COD or Halo, but today it looks like it got a lot worse. I think the sports games finally reached the tipping point this year where there are a lot of people mad about the 2K1 and Madden situation. Even though they've been doing it for years but this year seemed to be the point where people spoke up en masse and the companies at least got the hint. Whether they do something about it, that's a different story.

I just read a few headlines on Twitter about the Series S and, man, now it's really starting to show its true colors. Not that I had plans to get Yakuza, even though Masta raves about it, but I read that it run at 900p on a Series S. That was a few weeks ago but today I saw that DMC5 won't have ray-tracing on the SS. I feel like the more we learn about the SS, the more "downstream" the gamer spectrum it keeps moving towards real casual players or people that don't care about graphics and just want next-gen games.

Or maybe we had too high hopes about a $299 machine and misunderstood it all. I don't know the technical stuff behind developing a game but I understood it to mean that the SS would always do 1440p at 120hz and that was fine with me. I can sacrifice resolution in place of that smooth 120 hz and accept that it's part of owning a cheaper console at the entry-level price point. But to straight up omit ray-tracing? I get it comes down to the developers but getting mad at devs isn't going to change the fact that they're releasing a game that's going to play a lot like a One X, if not worse. Then what's the point of getting the SS right now? Just stock to a One X for a few years or get the SX.

Someone proposed that the SS won't be around for too long; that in two or three years, it gets scrapped and either re-done or just straight up dropped and the SX goes cheaper. And maybe a more powerful console replaces the SX. I don't know but the first thing everyone went ga-ga over was the $299 price tag. Now the details roll in from developers and it starts to make sense why it's $299 and might not be a bargain for most people.

We'll see what other devs do but there were always rumblings on Twitter since the SS leaked that it would "hold back" the other consoles because it was that less of a capable console. Maybe they were right. I don't think I'd be OK with 1080 at 120hz on a next gen console, either, unless it has every other feature the SX and PS5 gets, like ray-tracing.

@masta247 said it earlier that the SS was way too underpowered but this bad? 900p/60? No tray tracing? If more devs say the same about the SS' capabilities or just simply released a tard version of the SX/PS5 version, it might be time to look at the SX or the PS5 Digital. Gamepass be damned, the SS looks more and more like a One S Plus, not even a One X.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

@Casey what are your thoughts on the PS5 and Google Stadia?

How is the new Chromecast? Will you be trying out Stadia on that when it is available?

I tried the 64-player Pac-Man demo on Stadia using a laptop the other day and it was good.

There are going to be so many options going forward. Even Chromebooks are getting in on the gaming space with Stadia, Steam and Nvidia all developing for Chromebooks now (and potential Ryzen Chromebooks on the horizon).

 

[dilla]

I hope this ages well and it really does stay at a similar price point for the future:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1321544723958505473

That's one of the big concerns if GP continues to take off the way it has so far.

 

[yak pac fatal]

I hope this ages well and it really does stay at a similar price point for the future:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1321544723958505473

That's one of the big concerns if GP continues to take off the way it has so far.

Interesting. I expect a price hike during after year 2 of XSX life cycle.

 

[dilla]

Interesting. I expect a price hike during after year 2 of XSX life cycle.

I do too. I actually expected one by mid-2021, to be honest. Once there are more Series consoles in homes and a good bit more people try and buy Gamepass, MS bumps up the prices and then a year from now announces more developers and their work being available on GP.

But maybe 2 years from now is a more realistic time frame. I really don't expect this tweet/quote to age well by that time but I also think most people will understand or forget about his quote and just accept it.

 

[Casey]

@Casey what are your thoughts on the PS5 and Google Stadia?

How is the new Chromecast? Will you be trying out Stadia on that when it is available?

I'll buy a PS5 next year. None of the launch titles are grabbing me so I don't see the need to upgrade my PS4 right now. Plus, I have two more games left to play on my PS4 which will get me to the end of this year, Streets of Rage 4 and then Yakuza : Like A Dragon which comes out in a week or two.

New Chromecast is amazing. Big upgrade to my smart TV.

I'm not super interested in Stadia. Between PS4 and my new Oculus Quest 2 (which is amazing) all my gaming needs are covered.

 

[dilla]

I finished DMC4 a few weeks back after getting a handful of game for cheap just before quarantine started. Then I just stopped playing the, but then picked right back up about a month and a half ago. Finished it and started on Sleeping Dogs. Enjoying that a good bit.

After being away from gaming for an entire generation of consoles, it feels like a lot of the top games fall in to two categories or "types" of games: one is a solo character RPG like The Witcher or Borderlands or the Elder Scrolls series or Fallout, and the other is an open world game, like GTA, Sleeping Dogs, Watch Dogs, etc.

Is it just me or were games a bit more diverse during the PS2 and PS3 era? I felt like popular games included platformers and racing games as well as shooters, but now I get the sense that every big name game is either a GTA-clone or some sort of RPG with a main character that you level up and get items/equipment for. Turn based RPGs are all but dead. The only shooter I see people going nuts for is some variation of the yearly-release of COD. Racing sims like Gran Turismo and Forza look to be the only big name racing sims and they release once every 3-5 years, it seems. Wasn't Killzone a big multiplayer shooter? Medal of Honor? I know the NFS series is coming back so that fills the racing sim void a little bit. But maybe I'm not looking hard enough? What happened to party games, like Fuzion Frenzy? I know that's an OG Xbox title and it's actually a very popular game on Gamepass but there doesn't seem to be another game like it in quite some time. At least not on the Xbox or PS; I know Nintendo has Mario Party and a few other games meant for multiplayer on one console.

So is it just me? Are all the top games that I saw on sites like IGN and Gamespot just a bunch of cookie-cutter titles that follow one of two styles of game play, open world or RPG?

 

[yak pac fatal]

I finished DMC4 a few weeks back after getting a handful of game for cheap just before quarantine started. Then I just stopped playing the, but then picked right back up about a month and a half ago. Finished it and started on Sleeping Dogs. Enjoying that a good bit.

After being away from gaming for an entire generation of consoles, it feels like a lot of the top games fall in to two categories or "types" of games: one is a solo character RPG like The Witcher or Borderlands or the Elder Scrolls series or Fallout, and the other is an open world game, like GTA, Sleeping Dogs, Watch Dogs, etc.

Is it just me or were games a bit more diverse during the PS2 and PS3 era? I felt like popular games included platformers and racing games as well as shooters, but now I get the sense that every big name game is either a GTA-clone or some sort of RPG with a main character that you level up and get items/equipment for. Turn based RPGs are all but dead. The only shooter I see people going nuts for is some variation of the yearly-release of COD. Racing sims like Gran Turismo and Forza look to be the only big name racing sims and they release once every 3-5 years, it seems. Wasn't Killzone a big multiplayer shooter? Medal of Honor? I know the NFS series is coming back so that fills the racing sim void a little bit. But maybe I'm not looking hard enough? What happened to party games, like Fuzion Frenzy? I know that's an OG Xbox title and it's actually a very popular game on Gamepass but there doesn't seem to be another game like it in quite some time. At least not on the Xbox or PS; I know Nintendo has Mario Party and a few other games meant for multiplayer on one console.

So is it just me? Are all the top games that I saw on sites like IGN and Gamespot just a bunch of cookie-cutter titles that follow one of two styles of game play, open world or RPG?

Agreed with the bolded parts. I feel like the PS4/X1X gen didn't hit its stride til 2017 when Horizon Zero Dawn got released but overall underwhelming compared to the previous gen. My friend and I kept calling this gen the remaster gen for the longest. Nothing but re-releases the first few years. PS3/360 brought in so many new franchises like Arkham series, Uncharted, Mass Effect, Infamous, Bioshock, Dead Space and so on.

 

[dilla]

Agreed with the bolded parts. I feel like the PS4/X1X gen didn't hit its stride til 2017 when Horizon Zero Dawn got released but overall underwhelming compared to the previous gen. My friend and I kept calling this gen the remaster gen for the longest. Nothing but re-releases the first few years. PS3/360 brought in so many new franchises like Arkham series, Uncharted, Mass Effect, Infamous, Bioshock, Dead Space and so on.

Yeah, that's another point. This gen seemed to be a lot of sequels to what was successful from the previous gen. That's aside from the fact whatever was a new IP/series this gen seemed to just copy off of the style of game that was big last gen or even the gen before that with the PS2 and Xbox. GTA was such a unique series, especially when it got big with 3 and San Andreas and Vice City. Now a lot of the games play just like that. Like Crackdown. Add that to list from my previous post of an open-world game that just has you running around doing missions.

Don't get me wrong, these games are fun but that's because I'm just getting back in to gaming. Had I followed all 7 years of this current gen, I could see myself getting bored after the fifth different game that had the same style of gameplay. Even a different story or setting wouldn't be enough to BS myself in to playing it.

That's why Gamepass for Microsoft doesn't excite me too much; it looks like it's a lot of the same games, just a different cover.