Jaxx420

I could use the words a load of b.... But I can't finish that sentence here.

A load of Piers Morgan as he talks it anyway would that work? 😂

@IOI I think @Banjo- meant more that she has nothing better to do now which is probably accurate rather than the wider marketing problem or lack of.

@Wadeinca1 Doom is multiplat and very mainstream so no surprise there. But I will be surprised if I see South of Midnight on the side of a bus. Let's see.

Are we not almost at the point where these aren't headline articles now?

The metrics are there. MS know how much money is being made moving titles over I'm not sure it's big news anymore.

@Banjo- As much as they should I don't see South of Midnight and Clair Obscur getting the same marketing push as the others sadly.

Hopefully I am wrong.

Do my eyes deceive me. Xbox actually aggressively marketing a game again? That's twice now seen Indy on the sides of buses (in UK) glad to see their marketing team finally making some effort.

@Fiendish-Beaver @OldGamer999 @Ricky-Spanish I am a Man Utd fan my fiancée is a Leeds Utd fan as is her whole family. I am sure you can imagine how much banter I had to endure this weekend 😂

@BacklogBrad Second this. This early access nonsense is a really bad trend.

Isn't limited to Xbox but it does make the whole "Play it Day One on Game Pass" a little bit of an exaggeration.

@Cakefish in the grand scheme of the releases at that time maybe made the cut. Depends how they are measuring it..

For example Palword if they are counting Game Pass downloads as a seller. If not I'd be more surprised that's in there than the two you mentioned.

@TeiGekiLord Steady on lad. I said I can't really say they wouldn't. Not that it's a fact they would. And MS certainly aren't my favourite publisher 😂 far from it.

Remember. Sucker Punch, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games for example were all acquisitions originally.

Microsoft have just gone to another extreme because they have the money to.

@YeyoFairy Ultimately if they wind down on Xbox as a standalone ecosystem and put Game Pass on other platforms. That's where the numbers will come from.

Whether they go down that road time will tell.

@Cikajovazmaj I think Phil stopped being "in charge" a while back.

I see the hyperbole train has left the station already in the comments 😂

For better or worse they are doing no different than let's say Apple or Amazon if they were in the same market. Big tech spend their way to being big tech.

But to be honest if Sony had the same spending power to do it I can't really say they wouldn't have done exactly the same thing. They have been buying studios rather than publishers as that is all they can do within their means.

Outside of this the online alone post launch over time is absolutely going to almost print money.

This is going to be a huge one for Rockstar but as someone who doesn't really bother with online I just hope they nail the single player campaign again.

Why do I now look at that and think it's going to change to a 2d plat like Moon Studios games were. Weird.

Obviously won't be that given the dev time but stranger things have happened.

@LogicStrikesAgain Your username is very apt in summing up your view on it. Lol.

@Sol4ris It's nuts because call me an old fuddy duddy but I can't understand why the console warrior mentality still exists. Maybe during the days of Sega Vs Nintendo when it was really aggressive but not now. Just enjoy gaming.

Social Media brings out the nutters though eh.

Oh dear the usual spats going on again.

I'm never a fan of so much coverage of something from the other side that isn't directly impacting this side (Pushsquare are just as bad when they need clicks) but I can understand the relevance to Xbox in letting their owners know this isn't a full acquisition.

That said even if it had been I strongly doubt anything would have gone exclusive. FromSoftware's titles sell well enough on PS there wouldn't have been much benefit making them exclusive. Would have made them far more money staying multiplat.

I have to be honest. If they came out and said Fable is coming to PS5. I may very well not replace my broken Series X.

Before anyone gets their fur up and comes at me. I was in the queue for the OG Xbox at launch. But Fable was my go to game. That goes to PS5 I am honestly not sure if I wouldn't downsize my setup .

@Banjo- Nailed it mate with the last line. I question how long it will take Nintendo will take to join the multiplat party. No doubt it will be later with the way Switch is selling.

I think the core exclusives for the platform lets take Xbox. Halo Gears etc will stay that way. Which means I'll have to replace the Series X my cats knackered to play the next Fable and that pains me but still. I think the core franchises that define the brand will stay that way.

@RadioHedgeFund Sense of scale here is difficult imo. The Devs decided Edinburgh was significant for Scotland. Wanted a rural location for England picked the Cotswolds.

I get that the Lakes would have made more sense to make the map work but it's a massive area for England wanted it represented. You do that sense of scale is nearly impossible to get right. Overall I think they did a good job with the map.

Series S has been a huge seller so the lack of demand does not surprise me.

@Ricky-Spanish You have to remember the games you are quoting are made by Japanese studios who have a love for platform games with that art style. Sonic and Mario games try to keep their appeal to gamers who were there during their inception all of whom are adults now.

Team Asobi pretty much were fully open about taking inspiration from those games so of course it's going to have a similar theme.

Rather than being for kids it's more of a "gamers of all ages thing"

@Banjo- Appreciate that mate.

@Darylb88 All sites are targeted on driving engagement though.

If we start looking at all reviews as are they being honest or just looking for hits at what point do we stop trusting journalist reviews altogether?

@Banjo- Completely agree and I didn't like the response to your comments fyi that wasn't appropriate.

But dig a little bit deeper beyond the mainstream reviews (Reddit and other forums for example) main takeaway seems to be "engaging but flawed experience" which is perhaps what it is but some sites have gone one end and this reviewer has gone to the other extreme.

I have not yet played it myself but I figured there was always going to be differing opinions with it being first person for example. The review roundups so to speak may not paint the whole picture.

@awp69 it was a general reply to your comment apologies I didn't mean to come off as I was saying you personally were saying the reviewer was wrong.

But those sites have been known to be thrown back at reviewers before and they aren't the best examples.

I have seen some over YouTube and independent sites praising it that makes me think this simply just wasn't to the reviewers taste in this instance. Hence I agree with your point the other 40 sites reviewing it can't be trash.

@awp69 Not saying they are trash. But how many reviews have we seen where those three are used as examples to push back on reviews they don't agree with? Quite a few.

Yet those same sites had form for constantly giving mainstream games (mostly annual releases) good scores where they didn't have much change from the previous release. It's not that they are trash but from the 40ish or so sites as you quote. They aren't the examples to measure from.

In all likelihood this is probably a good game overall and it didn't fit into the reviewers tastes. But this should be absolutely fine. PJ should be able to give his honest view not have a load of comments throwing back very mainstream sites giving a higher score and telling him he's wrong.

I'm sceptical as it isn't the first time one of Geoff's events has had too much hype behind it that it can't deliver but fingers crossed it does.

@dskatter @somnambulance take one glance at their comment history easy to discern who the fanboy in the room is. Take it with a pinch of salt.

Well this thread got messy really quickly didn't it?

Reviews are subjective. And absolutely should stay that way. If a reviewer doesn't like a game doesn't fit with their taste etc they should be able to give their honest opinion based on their view. And that's exactly how we should read it, as their personal view and opinion. Whether we like it/agree with it or we don't.

But honestly. Those pushing backing on it using Eurogamer IGN and Gamespot scores as examples of subjective reviewing. Give your heads a wobble.

@K1LLEGAL more likely to be due to an online element. If they are delaying review code on games due to PS5 announcements then Nadella really has lost his way. I cant see that being it.

If I'm being honest. I am more nostalgic for the launch of the original Xbox.

The disruptor.

Sega had more or less cast themselves out with disastrous marketing on the Dreamcast. Sony was killing it with PS2. Nintendo was gearing things up with GameCube. All set for a 2 console gamefest.

In swoops Xbox.

Hardware ahead of it's time. Well tuned online gaming service. All the a Listers drafted in for the marketing push. Demo machines in gaming stores that had massive queues on a weekend to sample it.

That's the one I remember most. This article almost lists what I hated most about the Series X launch. Rather than the pezazz of the original it was just a bunch of execs spinning hype for me. Much prefer when the original came in.

@Fiendish-Beaver I second this. When (whether some like it whether they don't) the Playstation brand is that strong and their install base so high. If you are Microsoft why not put the games on there offset costs and more than likely make a massive profit in the process.

Console Wars are long dead and have been since the early 2000s tbh. All about what drives profit now. With certain games they may already have offset spend so putting them on another platform almost printing money at that stage.

@BacklogBrad sad thing is I'd argue keeping up yearly releases is only a good idea if the quality can still be maintained pumping them out annually. But reality is it makes that much money I doubt it'd come into the equation. EA certainly don't care with FIFA lol

@Banjo- Yeah on the main menu just gives the option to switch between Sonic and Shadow campaigns.

I have this preordered so let's see but I am worried this could go either way. Be really good or ridiculously bad and there won't be a happy medium.

@Banjo- Censoring aside though. The added Shadow campaign is awesome and worth a go from what I have played of it so far.

It's gonna be one of those isn't it. If you have played Generations to death previously it'll be hard to justify the upgrade I guess. I had a gift card to use so didn't drop cash on it but I am enjoying the Shadow content immensely.

@NEStalgia them reorder buttons what was it they called them Amazon Dash? Disaster of an idea that was.

Reviews will always be subjective. I actually like that a reviewer isn't tempted to go against the grain and gives their honest view on something even if it's not what people may want to hear about their favourite game.

@NEStalgia GTA is on another level in that respect though. I can't really think of another IP that would come close to hitting the sort of numbers they generate.

My opinion and I stress opinion before I get jumped as it appears very heated in here right now 😂

I think it's a simple Sony put resources in and aided development so it released quicker. So subsequently through a contract or otherwise came to PS first.

If I am right then like a lot in this thread agree that Sony and GS staying silent on the issue does not help.

Similarly though if it is the case then MS publicly saying it's otherwise is really bad PR.

Ubisoft are about to suffer the same fate with Xdefiant. Live service games are such a gamble for every one that can take off (Palword a good example) Another like Concord can tank massively and quickly.

Why I'm hoping Astro Bot will be a hit, not just for Playstation but enough to prove there is still a market for the classic old school single player experiences a lot of gamers still go for.

Blockbuster experience is a bit of a loose term though, hard to define.

@yohn777 the way you have outlined it I think the special case here could be the developer setting the price ironically.

More often than not publishers will finance a lot of development costs in agreement for taking massive cuts of the sale profit and subsequent royalties. In those situations they'll want to drive that by setting the RRP and DLC pricing.

Like the increase of game pricing from 59.99 to 69.99. so much uproar and who has been coming out and trying to sell the increase to us as being a consequence of rising costs? The publishers.

I will say my original post was opinion however if you have a link that shows I'm barking up the wrong tree I'll correct myself and go back to my little corner lol.

On the hollibobs in Menorca right now but it's pre installed for when I get back. Loved Everybody's gone to the rapture so am sure I will enjoy this.

If and a big if, if it is 2025 you'll be talking Fall 2025 at the earliest I think.

Those slating the studio for the physical pricing etc. Anger misdirected. The publisher will be setting that nonsense. Given who the publisher is, it is not a surprise.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the Dev has very much involvement in setting the RRP. So I don't think Remedy are the issue there.

@Medic_alert it did appear at least from what I saw to have an objective compass marker on the top of the screen a ala FFVII Rebirth or 75% of the recent Assassin's Creed games etc. So I think it is open to an extent.

They killed it. I was hoping to see a little bit more of Fable considering it's out next year but I think that was own personal over expectation. I imagine they'll hold a direct earlier next year for those releases.

@somnambulance they'll have one eye on release date announcements for other third party big bitters and time them accordingly I think.