How is Sony supposed to sell us PS3 nostalgia when it’s been cannibalizing the system for years?
Sony announced its latest effort to combat Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass—but found itself relying on game libraries it’s been plundering for a decade
Games Features PS3
Every Friday, A.V. Club staffers kick off our weekly open thread for the discussion of gaming plans and recent gaming glories, but of course, the real action is down in the comments, where we invite you to answer our eternal question: What Are You Playing This Weekend?
The quiet, confident dominance of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass has been a hell of a thing to behold over the last few years. Where its rivals at Nintendo and Sony have dipped into nostalgia and their back catalogues to lure players into multiplayer-supporting subscription services, Microsoft has adopted the oddly revolutionary tact of… giving players a whole bunch of new games to play, for a simple price tag of $15 a month.*
(*And here is where I acknowledge the total lack of permanence and ownership these services confer on subscribers, a state of affairs that thoroughly infuses pretty much every rent-to-never-own aspect of streaming culture. All hail physical media, etc., etc.)
Sony finally took a swing at correcting this lopsided state of affairs earlier this week, announcing an update/Brundlefly-ification of its two existing subscription services, the multiplayer-focused PlayStation Plus, and games subscription service PlayStation Now. (The fact that you also got a few “free” games a month for PlayStation Plus underscores how confusing differentiating between these two services has been over the years.) Starting later this year, the two services will be smooshed into a single one… which will then operate at three different tiers of pricing and content availability, because whoops, all confusings.
When looking at what Sony is using to lure people into going for the priciest plan being offered—the $18 a month PlayStation Plus Premium—it turns out that we find them relying on… nostalgia and their back catalogue, shock of shocks. Specifically, the new Premium service will differentiate from mere “Extra” ($15 a month) by adding an as-yet-unenumerated catalogue of games from the company’s entire library, stretching back to the PlayStation 1, and including the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and handheld PSP. (That’s in addition to the “up to 400” more modern games that will available through both plans, quality decidedly TBD.)
Now, look: I am not immune to the lure of the nostalgic—even nostalgia for the relatively anemic Sony catalogue. I could launch into a whole rant right now about the company’s persistent inability to keep the car combat-focused Twisted Metal franchise a going concern in the modern online era, which is just baffling because it would be so goddamn easy to… Ahem.
Point is: I do get it, and I do feel some anticipation for diving back into the greats (and not so greats) of the PS1, PS2, and PSP eras. (Y’all are going to get some Godhand in there, right? We’re all clear that you need to get Godhand in there?) But when it comes to the PlayStation 3—a console generation I skipped, admittedly—I have to ask: What is Sony going to sell to people here, that they haven’t already made available through a decade of dedicated autocannibalization of the console’s library?
The new PSPlus has already been criticized for its handling of the PS3 library, since, unlike the other generations, PS3 titles will only work via internet-demanding cloud streaming. The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 can’t handle the emulation, apparently—which was always the reason Sony’s given for taking the PS3 catalogue and determinedly remastering, and then re-selling, every single major exclusive hit the console ever had. Which was a perfectly viable business strategy, until they needed to use the PS3 as a sort of digital anglerfish’s lure, and were left with… what? Puppeteer? A mid-tier Yakuza title? Fat goddamn Princess?
With the noted exception of Metal Gear Solid 4—a game that has remained trapped in very loquacious amber ever since new PS3s stopped being shipped to the U.S. in 2016—almost every major other PS3 title has now been either re-released, or (in the case of a game like Infamous) so aggressively recreated in sequels as to make this latest sop to backwards compatibility feel completely extraneous. Hey, kids: Who wants to play The Last Of Us?!
The end result is that Sony’s attempts to “make a Game Pass” remain a Walter White-style half-measure: Nowhere near as exciting as Game Pass itself, while lacking the blunt self-confidence of Nintendo’s whole “Fuck your Mother 3, play Eliminator Boat Duel and like it” attitude towards its own history. It’s a mess, which is exactly where the company’s subscription offerings were a week ago before they made all this noise.
That being said: Get a new Twisted Metal game, Sony, and maybe we can talk.
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This article is embarrassingly out of touch. How much did Microsoft pay for this laughably ignorant and hyperbolic hit piece?🙄
So no Tunic for me alas, at least not for now- I didn’t realize it was a timed console exclusive, and the only way to run it on my Mac would involve upgrading the OS to a version that can’t run half my Steam library. I’ll have to wait.Fortunately there’s Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which is delightful. Chill and breezy and exceedingly cute- I already know I’m going to have to try and save every single Waddle Dee even though that’s probably gonna drive me crazy. Just a lovely time. Oh yeah and Elden Ring. I’m feeling this too, obviously for different reasons. So far I’ve managed to beat a couple of minor dungeon bosses, find a lot of weird areas and traps, and be ambushed by giant bears. What I’m liking about this is the feeling of the world- enemies feel more like they have a purpose beyond killing you in specific, though they will kill you if given the opportunity. Little factions seem to exist everywhere. I feel more emboldened to try dumb shit because of the game’s structure, too. It all feels a lot like old CRPGs like Ultima and the like, where you’re free to run around the world but you don’t have a lot of information.
I’m old (52) but I still own a PS3 and in fact that’s the latest console I own. I really don’t see the improvements the PS4 and PS5 were supposed to bring, If I get a new console it will likely be a Steam Deck once Valve gets around to fulfilling their preorders.
It’s way more incremental than earlier generation gaps alright. I think there’s also an element of, a lot of the genres that are popular right now kinda solidified their formula in the PS3/360 generation, so AAA games don’t really look much different.The main thing that stood out to me on the PS4 was how much better dynamic lighting/shadows looked, but it was dramatic enough to wow me 😛
Get an eye exam buddyGames are A LOT bigger and richer in content. Textures are multiple times more detailed, view distances, lighting everything is so much richer and more detailed. I can go on for a while, but you get the point I am 48
Load times. That’s where the best improvement is, in my opinion. I haven’t played a PS5 as of yet, but the jump from PS3 to PS4 is fantastic. It’s why I originally even got a PS4 even though there wasn’t really any games for it. The load times in DC Universe Online were brutal on a PS3.There was someone in my guild in Final Fantasy 14 that played on a PS3. It would take them minutes to load into a crowded area, and then they’d not even see all the people because the system couldn’t process it. How anyone could’ve played FF14 on a PS3 is beyond me.
I have PS3, PS4 and PS5. The load time reduction on PS5 is even greater than PS4 from PS3. Loading Skyrim on PS5 takes a few seconds. You load a ton in that game so it helps a lot. I looked for numbers out of cuiosity and PS4 Pro took 15.20 seconds to achieve the same load PS5 did in 2.65 seconds. That was per Digital Foundry. Even something as fast as XBSX took 4.22 seconds, highlighting how fast PS5 is. Of course speed was something Sony specifically targeted with PS5 while XBSX has its own advantages. Not looking to imply anything other than PS5 speed jump is awesome!
I think the jump from PS3 to PS5 will be significantly different. I’m on Xbox with the Series X. The load times are lighting fast. It takes me 20 seconds to get into Forza Horizon 5. My Xbox One took me two minutes to load into Forza Horizon 4. Lighting, shadows, water and fire effects look better as well.
The PS5 more than justifies its existence on framerates alone. Sure, a lot of PS3 games still look pretty good, particularly in a snapshot, but anyone who thinks going from 30fps to 60fps (or more if you have a very new TV) is no big deal probably has the vision of a mole; once you’re used to the upgrade, going back to 30 is like playing under a strobe light. When I go to play PS4 games from my backlog that are locked at 30 frames (e.g. Prey), I find I get such a headache that I have to quit within five minutes.
Load times and frame rates made huge leaps in the PS3/Xbox 360 to PS5/Series X in general, but I just went from a One X to a Series X. Even though it’s only a half-generation, the difference was stark (even if I’ve only played Cyberpunk and Stellaris thus far).
Do you remember owning a PS2?
We just stay a bit behind the new gear, like it was just a few years ago we picked up a PS4Pro (so ~4 years after the original release), that had a 1TB SSD swapped out for the OEM HDD, it’s pretty quick, totally quiet, has decent improvements over the PS4, notably better than the PS3, and we got it for way less than 1/2 price retail (and it was basically new).Plus it has a massive library of games, and most are pretty inexpensive (we got the two Last of Us games, remastered for PS4 for like $10-15 each, hahahah, and they lasted us around 2 years of gaming at our current “gaming rate” :D)
I have the PS3 also still, and I agree that the step from a PS2 to Ps3 is probably more noticeable than PS3 to PS4 or even PS5. Because the PS3 has a hard disk and HD resolution, those were big jumps from before. Framrates and loadtimes and textures get better of course from now on, but nothing as fundamentally big as skipping slow optical drives for HDD’s is quite in sight for a while yet.Red Dead Redemption is still fun, and I have MGS 4 loaded onto it but haven’t played it yet so that awaits…
I then switched to “living room PC” since Steam and controller support has gotten good enough for it to be a great console alternative (albeit costly to build).
I was going to purchase Elden Ring earlier this week and give it a shot. I never really give those games a chance and figured I may as well. But right before I got it, I realized that I actually own Bloodborne. My brother gave it to me many moons ago. I played it for a couple days before throwing in the towel.Well, I started it again, running back into the same troubles that made me give it up the first time. Dying and then dying again trying to retrieve my echos, making me lose em. Or I get the boss down to a sliver of health and then bum rush the guy, thinking I can kill him before he kills me. It never works.But I pressed on and made progress and, I have to say, that I’m actually enjoying the game. I beat the next beast earlier this week, and have worked at it a few times each day since. I think I can make a weekend out of playing it. I may even git gud.Funny thing was my PS trophies for the game. As it stands, it looks like it took me over 5 years to beat the next beast. It made me laugh seeing it.
Outside of side-content, the toughest point in Bloodborne is the early part. Once you get past Gascoigne the game really opens up.Which is to say, congrats on getting over the hump!
What’s crazy is, my save file no longer existed so I had to start over. It wasn’t a big deal, as I had no clue where I left off, but I had beaten Gascoigne the first time playing. This time it took me days to finally beat him, as I kept getting worse the longer I fought him.I resorted to echo farming one small section so I could level up a few times.
That sucks. At least it was a bit of a refresher 😛
He’s a tough nut to crack alright, I’ve never managed to beat him without the music box.
Good job, hunter! BSB was probably the tougher early-game boss for me, for whatever reason. Mind you, Gasciogne is still a pain (the first phase is a good primer for future Hunter bosses), but he doesn’t freak me out like BSB.You may know/gleaned many (or all) of these, but, if you’ll indulge me, I have a few tips for the new Hunter:Learn how to gun-parry: Young man, Dark Souls-style parries got you down? Wish you could parry an enemy before they get in striking range? Wish no more! With the gun-parry, you just have to shoot them at the right moment (toss a few more shots out if you’re not sure!), wait for the slump and the sound, and then close the distance with a quick-step to deliver the Visceral. You can practice on those brick trolls; they hit hard, but the attack they use the most is sloooow.Be agressive, B-E Agressive!: Hit ‘em fast! You might get a bit of your health back if you’re quick enough! (Mind you, this only applies to damage you just took, not wounds you tookIf you hit a wall, reconsider your strategy: Is it a boss giving you trouble? Study its move-set and exploit its weaknesses. Is it an environmental hazard giving you grief? Prioritize your threats, seek cover if needed, and look for a safe haven.Be at peace with the occasional loss of echoes: It may be a little or it may be a substantial chunk, but it happens to every the most hardened vets. Quit and take a break if you’re feeling salty and come back ready to kick ass. Addendum: The one enemy that steals your insight can go to hell. It’s not that hard to avoid its insight-stealing attack, but it will occasionally get the best of you and pull off its grab.Don’t be afraid to look up stuff/call for help: The SoulsBorne games owe a lot to their community and Bloodborne is no exception. Yes, this is the same community that will throw the occasional invader your way, but the good definitely outweighs the trolls (not to imply all invaders are trolls, but the Venn diagram does overlap). Addendum, DLC-related: If you should decide to take the plunge and pick up the DLC, you should know that, in true FromSoft fashion, the method of accessing the DLC area is not obvious. There’s probably a way to figure it out just through playing the game, but save yourself the headache. Also of note: it’s probably best saved for end-game, as it houses some of the toughest combat gauntlets/bosses.
I played Bloodborne, got stuck on Gascoigne, and put it down in a hug. Elden Ring is 1000000x better; you’re literally NEVER stuck anywhere. Want to go fuck around in the high level area? Go nuts! Want to get waaaaay overleveled to make Margit a walk in the park? Have at it! The game doesn’t care, which makes it so good
You actually beat the hardest optional boss so you’re good to go to beat the game now if you can best that.
I had the same problem when i first played. The game in the first area before you unlock a shortcut dumps shielded enemies, ranged enemies, large enemies, hidden enemies, groups of enemies, and dogs on you. It absolutely tries to shit on you before you can make any progress.I came back a few years later and proceeded to two shot or better every boss up until the final one once I got over that hump. Also helps I gave up on the parry system because the blunderbuss is trash for parrying any fast attacks, heh. Mastering the timing of dodges in Bloodbourne will 100% translate into success in Elden Ring (although ER can be pretty shield friendly).
Fuck yeah, bring on the Godhand. I’d buy it again on psn if the ps4 store had it. Instead I have to dust off my ps3 and play it there, so I can kick some ass into the milkyway!
You’re coming at this from the angle that the only PS3 games people would bother with are its exclusives, but for anyone who doesn’t have an XBox kicking around, there’s also a generation’s worth of cross-platform titles.This week I’ve been continuing my Warrior Within playthrough, on, ironically, the PS3. It was a lot of fun when I started, but as I played it just got jankier and jankier – the low point still being the horrible sound issues this port has. I’m on the final boss now, and after that I think I’ll take a break and replay Dark Souls 2 or something.
Speaking as someone who has been XBox-only since the 360, I am really looking forward to the highlights of ten years’ missed exclusives.
I’ll sign up for whatever Playstation service gives me Legend of Dragoon
And here is where I acknowledge the total lack of permanence and ownership these services confer on subscribersI used to take this as a negative, but after looking through a library of nearly 1,000 games in my GOG Galaxy app the other day, there was nothing I really wanted to play. With these services I can play something I maybe haven’t before and if I’m still playing it when it leaves the service, it’s easy enough to buy it.
“and if I’m still playing it when it leaves the service, it’s easy enough to buy it.”Except when it isn’t because the games are streaming-only, as these retro titles are.It’s not streaming services themselves that are the issue, it’s when they’re the only option.
Delisting always sucks, no matter the medium, but at least everyone but the games industry* has some sort of archive in place. They can pretend like emulation sites/emulators are the problem, but at least, it’s an attempt at archival. Big game publishers only care about their old games when it’s time to exploit your nostalgia for money or milk a retro game for a new franchise. The platform holders (console makers or game services) only care if it can attract people to its subscription service.*This is the part where I realize that if any of the streaming video services (ex: Netflix, Hulu, and even Youtube Red) decide to delist any of their original content, it would just be gone until they decided to list it again. You may have made fun of Quibi, but they’ll have the last laugh!
It’s not all of their stuff, but a lot of Netflix and Hulu’s stuff are on DVD/Blu-ray.
I’m going to continue to make headway on Forbidden West this weekend if it kills me. I want it off my plate so I can get to the free Returnal DLC, which I am so so so fucking pumped for.
And then next month, AS WE ALL KNOW AND ARE EXCITED FOR, there’s The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe which I have, ironically (or not?), no choice but to play.
When Stanley came to a store page, he chose “Purchase.”
Wait…what are you doing, Stanley? Are you setting up a VPN? Stanley, this is untoward! Thousands of people worked on this product, Stanley! Including myself, and I need a new boat, the old one is…well it’s still perfectly fine, but I NEED a second one!
You know, in December my PS+ and Nintendo subs were cancelled because I had to replace the credit card they were billed against after I lost it. ANYWAY, that was several months ago and I haven’t bothered to reactivate either. I’ve just been playing single player games and enjoying the far more relaxing gameplay in older titles like Battlefield 1 and Ace Combat 7, playing missions over and over. It’s way more fun for me than the constant frustration of not having the skills to match other players who spent far more hours with these games.
On the docket for this weekend: more Kirby and the Forgotten Land and ANNO: Mutationem.I’ve only completed the first world so far in Kirby, but so far it’s proving to be a delight. It’s not exactly a difficult game, but I think the demo didn’t do it justice: the levels they selected for the demo were laughably easy, whereas the game proper features a gentle challenge. It’s a bit easier than what I’d want, even for an all-ages game, but I do like that it encourages exploration and experimentation. The detail in the worlds is incredible, and it’s fun to mess with Kirby’s abilities and discover new ones. It’s a solid title, and I’m glad I bought it.ANNO: Mutationem continues to be an interesting experience. It’s a bit clunky and doesn’t control all that well, but its world is so well realized that I want to get lost in it forever. I can see the seams showing a bit, but the core of the game still intrigues me.
It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these. Beat Guardians of the Galaxy a few weeks ago. As someone who read the source material before the first movie came out (particularly the Abnett & Lanning run on GotG), it was clear the developers did their homework….which sometimes worked against carrying-over concepts from the MCU films (Drax in particular). While the “Huddle Up” concept never really worked for me, playing cheesy 80s music over fight sequences turned out fun (…because I am an old). Took awhile before I found character skins I could actually like, but better late than never.Anyone know how differently things play out depending on your choices in-game? I haven’t gone to YouTube to investigate that particular wormhole yet (a la Mass Effect 2/3), but given the game prompts you on plot points (a la Telltale’s Walking Dead games: “The Worldmind will remember that”) I was left wondering what the payoff would have been had I guessed better answers with Cosmo.Still on the daily grind with Genshin Impact & Overwatch (which just announced an Anniversary remix thingy – new skins! – as they gradually drip out new announcements on the path to OW2). I’ve also started playing Dragon Warrior XI on my PS5, when I have long enough time intervals to play for a few hours on-end. That game starts super slow….which was not helped by my switching from 2D to 3D at the first opportunity, only to learn I had to replay all the story beats from the intro over again. Way to make one of the fun features of your game turn into something I don’t particularly want to do again! It’s not getting it’s hooks into me quite as easily as 9 did on the DS, but I’ll stick with it and see how it goes.
The last Sony console I owned was a PS2, so I’ve got a couple full generations worth of games I haven’t played. It all sounds very tempting, but I have so many game to go through on PC and Switch as it is, and my god, I just looked at Amazon prices for the PS3 through PS5, and fucking how? Then again, I just looked up the Dreamcast, and also, fucking how?You know what? I’m good with my decade-later ports to PC and Switch, and if something as stupid as Tap Ninja can hold my attention for more than a week, why am I looking for excuses to spend money? Tap Ninja is yet another idle/clicker. It does the thing idle/clickers do. Number goes up, allowing you to buy upgrades that makes number go up. They introduce a second number that modifies how fast first number goes up, and upgrades that augment how much influence second number has on first number. Two weeks later you realize you’ve lost control of your life and consider whether this was ever fun, or if it’s just streamlined progress addiction. Then you uninstall and it’s back to the games that actually resemble games.Twelve cities into Cook, Serve, Delicious 3!?, the game has actually started getting challenging, demanding I choose my menus very carefully and exploit every trick in the book to ensure customers don’t walk out the moment I’ve failed to serve their okonomiyaki 15 seconds after they’ve ordered it. Wait, why am I serving okonomiyaki? I should know better than this! Still, I feel like the game doesn’t expect me to type/react/process recipes any faster than I have been all game; more and more, this is a game where I’m being asked to modify settings until I’ve found the most reasonable version of a challenge under a variety of constraints. At this point I’m waiting to see if the final section of the game introduces a whole new set of mechanics to put a pleasantly tricky spin on the whole game loop up until now, or if they’re just going to go all-in on bullshit difficulty and guarantee I burn out before I finish.And community interest in a Saturday Tabletop Simulator session has hit 15 people, meaning we’re possibly going to need 3 different games going at once to seat everyone. Which means I might need to spend a little bit of time directing traffic at the beginning, but I’m more likely to put together a full 6-player game of Everdell without leaving people who want to play something lighter behind. I’m also excited to see the other tables make their own game choices and hopefully start spreading games that I didn’t introduce to the community. As much as I’ve been excited to see other people excited for games of Everdell, Flash Point, and Gizmos, I don’t want to feel like I have an iron grip on the community’s game selections. But if I left two tables to their own devices and everybody settled on Everdell? You know, that’d be its own flavor of cool.
So I was finally able to get 100% completion in Horizon Forbidden West thanks to patches! While there are still some documents to find and items to upgrade, the game says I’ve done it all, so that was nice to finish!
I’ve also jumped heavily into Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. I’ve never played a Borderlands game, so the experience is new to me. While the gameplay is fun enough, this game is carried HARD by the story and the world and the setting. It has me rolling in laughter often, and there are also the nice sentimental beats in some quests and the interactions between the party members. It also has a ton of stuff to explore for if you’re someone who likes to explore every corner of maps, and has entire sections of the game devoted entirely to side quests. I’m very pleasantly surprised by this game and looking forward to continuing on with it. Also, Ashly Burch is like a GOAT at this point, I can never believe Aloy and Tina are the same person.
Lastly, Vampire Survivors continues to update all the time, so I have some achievements to get there. For such a repetitive loop, it’s always so satisfying.
Then PS3 in my house has retained its status as an entertainment fixture. Part of it is because it’s the first Blu-ray player we bought and there’s still no reason to replace it (for the handful of times per year we watch physical media). The other reason is because my interest in the system was to get games I knew I would be playing over and over again. To this day I’m still playing Capcom’s Dungeons and Dragons arcade games as well as Konami’s X-Men. Double Dragon Neon only recently got a rerelease, but I’ve been playing it this whole time. The surprise hit for me, though? Metal Gear Solid Revengeance.Really, I do appreciate that Sony is trying to do what it can to make old games accessible again. Thing is, I’d be convinced to move on to newer systems if they could crack true backward compatibility so I can continue playing my PSX-3 discs on an actual system AND if they made decent remotes for when my family wants to use the Blu-ray player.
I’ve long entertained the idea of building a Raspberry Pi in order to play some of the latter day Capcom brawlers, and the D&D games top that list
Pretty similar in exactly why I haven’t got rid of my PS3 – it’s just a reliable blu-ray player, and it’s relatively easy to watch any other movies via USB (for non-streaming/out of print films, films with subtitles added, etc)I wish all what, Three big video game companies did a better/acceptable job at backwards compatibility, catalog availability, etc., but that just doesn’t seem like something they ever will Want to do. Oh well – guess I’ll just hook up any smartphone from the past decade to a tv to play around 90% of any company’s catalog
Can’t you watch movies over the LAN on PS3? Maybe it runs Plex, I can’t remember.
But I bet it can’t play 4K blu ray
The games I’m most interested in are the old multi-platform games like Fallout New Vegas that I never got around to playing and never saw “remasters.” Since I loathe playing games on PC, I’d be all over that. Even though I know those Bethesda games are incredibly janky on console vs the fan-patched PC versions. Same deal with the MGS HD collections – I’ve still never played anything past 1 and have always been curious. Everyone talks about 4, but 2, 3, and peacewalker aren’t available on last gen systems, either. I might even replay the silent hill games in the HD form even though I know I’d be extremely bothered by the voice recasting in 3.However, I certainly don’t care enough to pay the highest-tier cost for the privilege. If they had the option of ONLY old games I’d take it. I don’t give a rip about the gamepass PS4 and on service since I already own pretty much everything on the system I have any interest in thanks to years and years of heavy discounts.I might check out the original version of Demon’s Souls if that was included, just cause I never played it and saw enough people saying the remaster felt totally different atmosphere-wise. I’m sure it’s worse thanks to sadistic quality-of-life downgrades like no remote deposits to item storage and no ring that makes you walk at normal speed in swamps, but, I’d at least try it out.
Eh, that works for me. I was a PSNow subscriber already.
Let’s see. This week, I have been continuing to play the Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster. First thing I did was get the Warp Cube and talk to the relevant people, where mention was made of a familiar recurring NPC (who didn’t exist back when FFI came out originally) Anyone with that secured, it was off to the flying fortress to face the Fiend of the Air and claim that crystal:
Mission accomplished. Which means that I now have all four crystals lit, and so really only have the endgame dungeon to worry about. Haven’t gotten there yet for two reasons, firstly. I’m still trying to trigger the Death Machine/Warmech to appear in the flying fortress for achievement grinding purposes. Also, I missed some treasure chests in Mount Gulg, so time to go back there:
That done, I needed a change of scenery and fired up Final Fantasy XIV:
Welp. Yes, I’m towards the end of the Shadowbringers expansion. In fact, I’ve been playing the heck out of the Shadowbringers storyline, which was mostly dealing with the final Lightwarden up in the Mount Gulg dungeon as part of the penultimate trial.With that done, it was time to head under the sea to The Tempest. Naturally, while everything’s better down where it’s wetter this was home to the Very Definitely Final Dungeon of the Shadowbringers expansion and the Big Bad thereof. I didn’t screencap that, but here’s documentation of my victory: I also returned to the will of the ridiculous Hildibrand Manderville sidequests. Those are all finished, and I earned the /mmambo emote which means my character can also do this dance:
Finally escaping from the worlds of Square Enix, I fired up World of Warplanes for the first time. I have played quite a lot of World of Tanks, so was expecting the grind and was also expecting to struggle mightily at the low levels. I got given my first mission tutorial task:
As I had done in World of Tanks, I went with my heritage and promptly selected the only Tier I United Kingdom option. One quick battle later, where World of Warplanes feels much smoother than it’s Tank equivalent, I had apparently done pretty well: When I’m done with work, I might grind a few more sorties towards Tier II. I’m also going to finally get around to the second case of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney – Justice for All at some point this weekend.
Does it not matter, or does it suck that there isn’t a great way to access the old games besides streaming? Also, if the PS catalogue is anemic, then what is Xbox’s, a black hole?Sony often gets stuck in it’s Japanese way of doing things and/or isn’t great about getting in sync with it’s consumers. But I’ve been saying and will continue to say that Game Pass is an insane thing to exist, created by an American company with endless checkbooks and the motivation of a last place console. I understand why the mainstream can’t understand why everyone else can’t just DO Game Pass exactly like it’s even remotely that easy.Sony should do better. I know they spent a crazy amount on a game streaming company and it’s tech, but I don’t think anyone anywhere is satisfied with streaming being a primary or only way to play games. Are people being a bit unfair in their expectations, yes, but Sony is not helping their cause because they just can’t go all the way with much of anything.
I have so many PS3 games on my PSN account that I can’t play anymore. RDR, PAIN and Puppeteer for example. I don’t collect consoles either. So I’m not gonna own a PS3 in 2022. I was naive when the PS4 was about to launch. I honestly thought back then that our PS3 games would migrate to the PS4. Maybe I was ahead of my time?
I have PSplus membership because once a year I play multiplayer Star Wars games but mostly I like my online saves cuz I’m OCD that my PS4Pro will one day randomly explode or whatever. and I got to play Final Fantasy VII Remake for Free so, worth it. Waiting for another good game to come through PSplus eventually though.
Phew, count me happy that i have no idea what this playstation kerfluffle is all about. hope it works out for all involved
I just finished Tunic. I hated the slow, unresponsive, and often unfair combat so much that my opinion soured on the game as a whole. The sense of wonder and discovery while exploring the world and solving puzzles was great, but combat was so infuriating that halfway through I got fed up and played in invincible mode the rest of the way. (I’m not afraid of difficult games if the combat is responsive and fair—Cuphead is my go-to example.)I’ve since moved on to Final Fantasy XIII. I’m only 90 minutes in, but I’m already unimpressed. So far, combat has been nothing but spamming Auto-Battle with the occasional potion for healing. Only getting to control 1 character, healing in full after each battle, and having no experience system are all baffling design choices to me. So far, I haven’t made 1 meaningful decision, nor have I felt any satisfaction from winning a battle. A friend of mine loves the combat system in this game, but warned me it’s essentially a 30-hour tutorial to get there. So far though, it feels like a massive step back from FFXII’s combat, which may be my favorite in the series so far. I wonder how much of my patience I’ll give this game before I say “screw it”.
Eh, there was a trilogy of Ratchet & Clank titles stuck on Ps3, along with stuff like Sly Cooper’s 4th game, the first two Infamous games, MGS4 as you noted, and the God of War Ps2 ports that didn’t make it to Ps4. I just… don’t think anyone should pay extra to play streaming versions of those games. Hold out for quality emulation (or set sail if you’d prefer) instead.
Besides Red Dead Redemption I have almost no nostalgia or even memory of the system the way I do for all the other ones, even PS4 which I still use.
Why didn’t my purchased PS3 digital games migrate to PS4 and then PS5? Microsoft did that with Xbox. You suck Sony!
All I want is for my wife and I to be able to play “Champions of Norath” on a system newer than a PS2. None of the wireless controllers for that system work well, and running cords for controllers isn’t an option.
Come on, Sony. It’s an Everquest game. It’s your OWN IP. Make it happen, already.