Well, disappointed isn’t a strong enough word. I was going to pick up a Series X at launch but Halo Infinite was 99% of the reason why. I’ll still be getting the PS5 at launch unless they delay Spider-Man Miles, but until there’s a compelling game that warrants the XBSX purchase, it just doesn’t make sense. The XB1X is, aside from the SSD, good enough for now I guess.
I think this is a huge mistake for MS. Halo is the only compelling 1st party franchise they have and it could have propelled a lot of Series X sales in the crucial first few quarters. This probably will end up being a holiday 2021 launch now...
It cracks me up when people talk about how many PS2s were sold, because they broke all the time and just about every serious gamer had to buy at LEAST 2 of them just to keep playing their games when the first one broke. Personally I went through 4 of them because I gamed entirely too much and the DVD players in those systems were apparently made with cheap plastic gears.
The interesting thing about the PS4 is that while I bought 2 original PS4s for different rooms, and then later a PS4 Pro for yet another room, ALL 3 of those systems are still working great. To me, this indicates that the PS4 is much more successful than the PS2, but of course, it skews the overall sales numbers.
As for me personally, I'm getting a PS5 and an XBox Series X, maybe not both on launch day, but definitely within the first 6 months of launch. They both look amazing and I'll be able to get at least something for my XBox Series X and PS4 Pro towards each of those systems. There's just no way I'm sitting out The Last of US 2 or Halo Infinite. Together they should cost about the same as a 2080 TI graphics card but it looks to me like both consoles should deliver almost as good 4k gaming experience.
This is great - I love guides from people who have finished a game I’m just starting that have a “If I’d only known this when I started” vibe to them. I don’t have time for multiple playthroughs so if I miss an opportunity to enjoy something it’s generally gone forever. Thanks for this!
In all honesty, I think I'm at least partially responsible for the PS2 selling so many units. Those things broke like crazy and I personally bought 6 of them (4 replacement units over the years!). Thankfully they started making the units much more reliable starting with the PS3. I can't have been the only one...
I was using my PS4 Pro for about 95% of my gaming when I bought an XB1X last year, mainly to play Read Dead Redemption in preparation for the sequel. I was BLOWN AWAY at that 8 year old game completely revived in 4K and a silky smooth frame rate. Since then, every time there’s been a 3rd party offering I find myself getting the XBox version of the game. It’s just all around better. Sony still completely dominates with first party games and I’ll always have a PlayStation as long as they keep putting out games like GoW and Spider-Man, but the power-gap between these two machines is extremely noticeable and for games like RDR2, CoD 4, BF5, Anthem and The Division 2, my money went to MS not Sony’s camp.
The Backwards Compatibility and Game Pass give the system a lot more variety than Sony, even if MS exclusives have been worthless for the last few years (except Forza Horizons... wow). For $10/month I have access to Way more games than I have time to play, and a lot of them are top-notch (like the new Tomb Raider games) not just old one-off games. Seems to be much better value than PsNow, which I had for a few months then cancelled. I really think the Games-As-A-Service model (let’s hope they don’t call it GAAS) is the future. It’s also one more reason digital is the only horse in the race at this point.
@Xristophoros: I hope you're right about the expansion/patch. I don't need a story mode just a really solid offline experience against AI racers. That said, I'm intrigued by the sportsmanship rating and in fact if it works out the whole reason I don't like playing online may go away. I've been burned by 13yr old "smack talk" and bunny hopping players so much in online games that it just ruins the fun for me. Playing with comparably skilled AND comparably sportsman-like drivers may end up being fun, I've just never experienced any online game that's balanced in both skill and playstyle.
@Xristophoros:I agree that they went for an MMO market on this, but since this is the first GT on PS4 they should have played to the masses not the niche. It would be like Microsoft release Forza Horizon but not Forza. There's nothing wrong with Forza Horizon, but it's less mainstream than Forza for sure. If they had simply made something like Forza on the PS4, I would have bought it. Fun single player, fun customization, great damage, weather controls, and decent online play and they would have sold at least one more copy (to me). Especially with PSVR support - novelty or not it's definitely intriguing to "sit in the car".
The problem with targetting a "few million" people (and you're right, they'll sell 2-3 million just because it's GT) is that they won't recover a AAA investment budget. Look at the series sales history they need to get back to the GT5 sales numbers and if they don't we may not see another GT because they can't afford to make it! That would be a real shame because they're obviously very talented, but investors only want to see profit, and in the greed for online microtransactions they may have completely missed the mark on this game by not selling enough copies up front. I hope I'm wrong.
I figured it was going to be just "pretty good" when I learned they had a review embargo. To me, that's what a review embargo will always mean: "we don't think we're going to get good reviews so we're going to embargo them and hope for more pre-orders." That's why I will never pre-order another Ubisoft game or any other game that prevents players from getting critic feedback before launch.
I'm glad the game doesn't totally stink though. I loved GT3 and wanted essentially a PS4 version, so I won't be buying GT Sport unless they fix/remove this online FIA nonsense, maybe add some more car models, etc. (or if there's just a really good sale at some point). There are too many amazing games either just released or about to be released to waste money on "good" games right now. GT is finally on next-gen hardware and that in itself is a good thing.
@RyanBurnsRed: because Skyrim is a 3rd party, remastered game coming out on Switch. If they dialed down the resolution and textures I think the full FF XV could run at 900p docked and 720p handheld. The draw distance already isn't great but they could scale it back a little too.
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