After the excellent AC Origins taking the franchise in a fresh new direction with top quality graphics, AC Odyssey was an obvious purchase for me because it takes what was great about AC Origins and builds on it with a deeper RPG system, more exploration and makes better use of the ship content. The only thing holding me back was the price. The Odyssey Gold Edition was £10 more expensive than the Origins Gold Edition so I smelt a greedy rat and was going to delay purchase until the price drops.
But just like the FC5 Gold Edition, Ubisoft know how to over deliver in order to create a very tempting offer. The FC5 Gold Edition gave us the excellent main game, the incredible map editor, 3 awesome DLC packs and FC3 remastered free. They have just done it again with the AC Odyssey Gold Edition. You get the massive main game, 2 large DLC packs split into 3 episodes each, random free stuff sprinkled in over time and AC3 remastered free with all its DLC. Damn ...the higher price is now justified and a no brainer purchase for me.
The weak Tomb Raider can now wait until the price comes down. Especially after the trick they played on me with the last game, taking a corrupt bribe from MS to deny their fans for a whole year. I just can't relate to Lara's weird new eyes. Why do they keep changing her appearance all the time. Is it insecurity? It's like those wanting to change their PSN ID because they couldn't do it properly the first time. Be who you are and be proud of it. Consistency earns respect. The characters of Uncharted remained proudly the same as the polygon count rose, so that you bonded and related to them like real people.
With RDR2 on the horizon, Tomb Raider is going to be pushed right to the back but the dev deserves it.
Why is it so important to you for MS to sell more software and make lots of money. We are not measuring dicks here. None of that goes to you, so it does not affect you as a console gamer. You are a console gamer I assume because this news benefits PS4 console gamers, not PC gamers.
The Windows OS is a captive audience. Every PC you buy has it installed and everyone just upgrades it because they are familiar with it. The only way to avoid it is to build your own PC and instal Linux, or replace Windows with Linux, or buy a Mac.
Playstation is not a captive audience. Sony have to fight the competition up front for every sale, and when they win, the gamers benefit. A large user base means that devs earn more off game sales for that platform so they can spend more time polishing the games for that platform. The gamers benefit with better games.
MS earning more money does not benefit xbox console gamers. MS want to earn money via a captive audience like their OS. Xbox is not a captive audience. It fights the competition the same as Playstation. The MS long term vision is to drop xbox and lock all gaming behind a Windows paywall, with streamed games accessed via a subscription from any device. That's a captive audience and it does not benefit the gamer on any platform because MS would have total control to do whgatever they want.
Competition is good for the consumer, so don't go singing the praises for something based on a captive audience.
Fall 2019 would be ideal to get a head start on MS who would have to cut into the XB1X lifespan. Fall 2020 is more likely when relying on AMD to deliver the chips at the right price. Fall 2021 would be fatal. Yes Sony would have the more powerful console using the latest tech at a lower price, but MS would get a head start and Sony would be playing catch up like the 360 era. Time will tell.
Crossplay is just a stick for haters to hurt Sony. Gamers needs to realise that Sony's duty is to support it's own customers, not the customers of its competitors. Sony need to continue making masterpiece quality games and support them via the traditional walled garden, where you pay to access them. No cross play free loaders or porting exclusives to other platforms.
Yes there are encouraging signs, but even Sony have resorted to such tactics in the past. Horizon Zero Dawn, God Of War, Detroit Become Human and The Shadow of the Colossus remake etc are all shining lights that give us hope that Sony have realised what is in their best interest for a sustainable future.
True, but you can only con people for so long, then they wise up and revolt by moving to another pastime. Short term greed kills the golden goose. It's just like fishing. Obviously you make more money by catching every fish in sight, but if you don't think of the future, you will eventually have no fish to catch. Greed needs to be tempered with some common sense in order to maintain a sustainable business going forward. The people willing to rip us off don't care about the future of gaming, they just want to make a huge profit then retire. Totally selfish short term greed. Gamers need to wise up and not buy their stuff in order to protect gaming.
Sony are not the worst offender, but they have seriously let us down in the past with multiplayer loot box pay to win weapons in Uncharted 4 and pay to win car micro-transactions in Gran Turismo Sport. It needs to stop right now, because gamers know they are being ripped off by so called 'services'. These services simply shorten the game, subtracting gameplay to reduce the value for money. Fools who pay to rush to the end are not proper gamers. If gaming is a chore, they shouldn't buy the games. They are just ruining it for the real gamers.
I blacklisted EA forever after I bought Rory McIlroy PGA TOUR full price at launch. The game was a disgrace with very little content. It was obvious they intended to rip us off with micro-transactions to buy more golfers and courses. Everyone protested and then they gave us a few free courses as compensation but the damage was done.
Then we have Ubisoft having success with the awesome AC Origins, so they get greedy and raise the price for AC Odyssey. It will be a great game but I have kicked into the long grass until the price comes down, because I refuse to fund greed.
I'm guessing everyone was downloading the huge No Man's Sky Next 10GB update. That's a lot of data to shift all at once with everyone eager to try it out.
The bracelet rumour might not be as cut an dry as everyone makes out. What do lovers do. They give each other matching bracelets to form an intimate bond. People do it with rings. I think they just gave each other matching bracelets and Ellie is wearing hers in memory of Dina who may be dead. But I doubt it's Dina's bracelet. Joel wore a gift from his daughter in memory. It wasn't his daughters watch.
I really hope Dina is not the NPC partner. I would prefer someone a little more unique. A lesbian partner is not unique because it was already done in the Left Behind DLC. It would be a disaster if Neil starts to get repetitive. Once he starts to get repetitive, that's a sign his creativity is drying up.
AC Odyssey looks like it's maintaining the quality of AC Origins so I'm going to buy it eventually, but not at launch because Ubisoft are getting greedy again. The AC Origins Gold Edition was £70, but the AC Odyssey Gold Edition is £80. £10 extra because they feel they have regained market share after the success of AC Origins.
I will buy it when the price matches AC Origins because I feel that was perfect value for money. Hype is not going to sucker me in on this one with Ubisoft getting up to their old tricks. They are pricing the product and haven't even told us what is inside the season pass. I don't buy blind with my fingers crossed.
justerthought's comments