The Tuesday letters page hopes that the PS5 Pro will make 60fps the standard, as one reader is concerned about the future of PlatinumGames.
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Power controlling the ruler
So, Sony's unusual behavior even extends to their hiring process now? I don’t know how long we’re going to have this non-gaming bean counter as the PlayStation chief but I’m sure it’ll be too long, whatever it is.
I do wonder how much impact these leaders actually have. There’s been a lot of valid complaints about Phil Spencer lately, but it seems to me that it’s the Microsoft chief, Satya Nadella, who’s calling the shots. It's him who initially expressed dislike for exclusives and he would've had to be the one who approved the Activision Blizzard buyout.
I don’t know who the top executive is at Sony, but I think there’s a very good chance that Jim Ryan was pushed out, rather than left voluntarily. The timing around everything that's happening right now is just too strange. The only question for me is whether he was ousted for pushing for live service games or just for not getting them made fast enough. Somehow, I get the feeling it’ll be a while till we find out.
Gossman
Hiring now
I’m sure the interview process for being the chief of PlayStation must be pretty lengthy but could they really not find anyone to take over before Jim Ryan departed? It’s been six months since he announced he’s leaving and I'm sure he informed Sony before it became public knowledge.
It just adds to the impression that Microsoft and Sony are in disarray at the moment and don’t know what they’re doing, which is not a good look for anyone thinking of spending money on their hardware. Maybe they couldn’t find anyone that was willing to take on a daunting responsibility like this.
I hope someone trustworthy and convincing can be found soon though, because having some soulless suit in charge, who keeps emphasizing growth and being multiformat, is not doing anything to convince me PlayStation is on the right track.
Lobo
Minimum standard
The requirements for being categorized as using ‘Enhanced’ mode for PS5 Pro seem quite ambiguous but in theory I am in favor of them. It has taken far too long for 60fps to become a standard and while 30fps can be acceptable in some cases you really should be aiming for 60fps as the minimum for any action game.
It makes such a difference and yet we've spent the last two generations fixating on resolution, which has far less impact. Better late than never and all that but I hope this isn’t just a passing trend but something that remains as a basic requirement from now on.
Ishi
Shadow launch
The one thing that surprises me most about these Xbox multiformat releases is how little they’re being advertised. I’ve seen almost no new reviews, no marketing from Microsoft, and even the Nintendo Direct that had the first two barely mentioned Pentiment.
I know none of them are massive games, not even Sea Of Thieves, but if these are experiments they’re not really… experimenting very much with them.
If they release Starfield and Indiana Jones on the PlayStation 5, they need to let people know about it because I can't remember the last time I saw an Xbox ad online or on TV.
Focus
Peaking early
Considering its size, it's strange that Russia has so few famous video games or developers. They had Tetris from the beginning, but then not much else. As far as I know, they like the same basic games as everyone else, and one part of the country is right next to Japan, so it's surprising that they haven't achieved more.
There are bigger complaints against them now, but it's also strange how this is the second time Putin has talked about a big new plan for video games. big new plan for video games. Maybe he's a secret gamer. That would make sense considering how toxic and unpleasant many online players are.
Lothra
Remaking remakes
I really think a new Resident Evil 1 remake is the most likely next one to come. 5 and 6 don't make much sense on many levels, especially because they're not very good and not many people like them.
I understand the argument of waiting for the next gen, which is a strong possibility, but who knows when that will actually be and will the graphics really be that much better? The law of diminishing returns is in full effect at this point, and I doubt there'd be any major leap forward until a good few years after launch, which means looking at 2028 or later.
By that point, the momentum Capcom has at the moment is going to have sagged, especially if they waste their time with lesser games in the meantime.
The big question is how to do it though. They surely wouldn't go with fixed camera angles, but if they didn't, how would they distinguish it from the other games? Especially as the whole game world was much smaller and more narrow than the sequels. It's a difficult set of decisions, and I'm very interested to see what they'll do.
Kada
Drifting apart
Regarding Benjamin's problem with the Xbox controller. A new update in the Device section allows you to recalibrate the controller to fix and compensate for the drift.
Sadly all big companies seem to have gotten rid of actually talking to someone, to save money but also making it difficult to sort any problem… all the best.
TWO MACKS
Disappointment as standard
I will not get personal in response to the Reader's Feature regarding the launch of Dragon's Dogma 2. In general though, this does seem to be an ever increasing issue with the level of entitlement and impatience of some more vocal gamers.
To be clear, I have now played Dragon's Dogma 2 for over 50 hours and my experience breakdown as follows:
70% Smooth, fun and challenging.
20% Design decisions I have not seen before and that I have had to learn. (I didn't play the first one.)
10% Some non-game breaking bugs and performance issues.
0% Use of microtransactions. I am sure they are there, but I have not seen them or needed to use them.
The reader states they skipped the entire opening and character to rush to see what the performance was like. How do they know that skipping large parts of the opening and character build didn’t somehow affect performance? I am sure it didn’t, but stranger things have happened.
We should remember that games like Dragon’s Dogma 2 have many different parts and systems that will be almost impossible to test properly until they are released. Also, all products, including games, have faults when they are released, just like how new cars and houses can have faults, and even a popular brand of ice cream had to be recalled this week due to 'metal parts in the mix'!
Fixing the issues in the game is much more complicated and time consuming than a game fixing patch. They even come to you to fix it! If the reader had been less eager to be offended and more patient, then he would have received the patch that fixed almost all the issues he mentioned. To me, that's good customer service. It took me six months to get my car fixed!
We also need to think about the developers and designers who are currently facing job cuts almost every day. Writing negative reviews based on impatience and unrealistic expectations doesn't help anyone in the long run.
While the reader waits for his refund, the rest of us are enjoying the game he wanted to love so much.
James
GC: It's not impossible to test properly until release. Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is an even more complex game and has almost no bugs, because Nintendo set aside a whole year for testing and polishing. a whole year for testing and polishing.
Inbox also-rans
I have nothing important to add to the discussion, but I would like to say that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is great. I love how fun it is and the amount of content is amazing. Well done Square Enix.
Oscar
I'm getting worried that it's been a very long time since we've heard from PlatinumGames. They didn't even post a lame April Fool like they usually do. Which I guess confirms that Hideki Kamiya was behind all of that.
Trepsils
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