Videogame News

[Flabyo]

So I just checked my digital FFVII pre order was downloading (it was) I thought I'd check on my Last Of Us 2 one.

It has completely vanished from the store which is weird obviously as I've paid up £60 already.

Sony have said that at some point today they should start refunding people who digitally pre-ordered lou2.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

This is massively suspect right?

It certainly signals that the game is not coming out any time soon. Like not in the next few months, and probably a lot longer. To actually cancel pre-orders - literally giving back guaranteed sales of your product at full RRP with no margin taken from a third party seller - is a massive commercial decision for any business to make.

I mean good on Sony to some extent. If they don't feel they're going to have a product available to sell any time soon, then its a very pro-consumer move to give people their money back at a time when many could really do with that £60 in their bank account.

But still, I can't believe that's actually the reason, or certainly the only one. Companies take pre-orders for games way, way out from release, often before they have firm release dates, so even if TLOU2 was 6 months away, I don't see why they would cancel pre-orders.

There's been talk of them switching it to PS5, which I thought was bullshit, but it is starting to make sense if you do a bit of conspiracy theorising. One reason you might halt pre-orders of TLOU2 on PS4, and refund those who have already purchased, is if the game is no longer coming out on PS4!

To stretch even further, let's say that one or two of their first party exclusives for the PS5 launch line-up are now not going to be ready because of the current situation, leaving it looking a bit anaemic. But you've got TLOU2 basically in the can, and about 6-8 months to port it, or even just QA test the hell out of PS4 version to make sure it's running without fault on the PS5, and just release that in a PS5 box.

Have I gone off the deep end there?!

[Magical_Isopod]

Why on Earth would one pre-order digitally in a world where Cooking Mama: Cookstar exists (or rather, doesn't)?

[Flabyo]

There’s going to be some ‘reading the room’ going on here too. Fans of the first game or the genre will likely buy it whenever you release it, but that’s not going to be the bulk of the sales you’re hoping for.

So: a game about the horrors of life after a global pandemic.

Not going to sell well. Certainly not now, probably not even by the end of the year.

Given that it sounds like there’s been some development hell and resultant crunch with it as well... why not punt it out a year and have it on ps5 only. Spruce up the visuals, make it a big ps5 exclusive.

They will have looked at everything on hand: how much more will it cost to get it to market this quarter versus how much they’d expect sales to be depressed by the global situation. And then made a call.

Remember that movie studios make calls like this all the time, only they don’t tend to tell you they’re making a movie three years before they plan to release it all that often.

[KSubzero1000]

In a shocking turn of events, I actually agree with Señor Gregstrum on this one!

There's definitely something fishy going on with TLoU2, and I think the theory of it being refurbished as a PS5 launch title is making a lot of sense at the moment. The only caveat to that is: why couldn't it be a cross-gen game at least? Although the answer to that is: probably to boost the PS5 early adopter numbers. Big Corp gotta Big Corp.

[Flabyo]

Why on Earth would one pre-order digitally in a world where Cooking Mama: Cookstar exists (or rather, doesn't)?

Sony tend to give you extra freebies like dlc passes, themes, soundtracks etc...

Even with those I tend to wait until release week before I do it, assuming I even want the extras.

[KSubzero1000]

Paying for a product that isn't even available to buy (let alone the fact that it doesn't even exist yet), doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me in general. You're not actually purchasing anything other than vague promises.

That's not how transactions are supposed to work imo, it completely skews the entire dynamic in favor of the seller.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

In a shocking turn of events, I actually agree with Señor Gregstrum on this one!

Yes! BFFs from here on out KSub!

[DomsBeard]

I always preorder digitally with my Christmas vouchers so bought FFVII and TLOU2 with that, I like knowing I have it all bought and paid for.

Xbox are weird as they don't take the money for digital preorders till a week before release so they did themselves out of £50 for Resi 3 so I bought physical instead six weeks ago.

[DomsBeard]

I always preorder digitally with my Christmas vouchers so bought FFVII and TLOU2 with that, I like knowing I have it all bought and paid for.

Xbox are weird as they don't take the money for digital preorders till a week before release so they did themselves out of £50 for Resi 3 so I bought physical instead six weeks ago.

Just had my money for TLOU2 just plonked in my account with no email notification, bizarre.

[KSubzero1000]

Looks like the Easter Bunny just left some droppings for me in the garden.

Moving to Antarctica if true.

[James]

Do they not have Easter in Antartica, KSubzero1000?

[KSubzero1000]

To their credit, I don't think emperor penguins are too big on pagan rituals. Besides, their two-month frozen group hug sounds a tad more fun than what I currently imagine this "project" to end up as.

[FemalePheromones]

So it appears that RE4 will be the next remake from Capcom.

I don't think I can be the only one that's disappointed. Code Veronica and Dino Crisis are much more in need of remakes considering they are older games and I would absolutely love to see them in the RE engine.

[KSubzero1000]

I wouldn't go so far as to claim that they are in "need" of any remake considering the approach Capcom is talking with them, but I agree that both CVX and DC would be much better candidates if they really want to continue in that direction.

[FemalePheromones]

Really I don't think they even need to remake just bring the series back but with the core gameplay of the recent RE remakes.

[Stanshall]

Looks like the Easter Bunny just left some droppings for me in the garden.

When I saw M-Two, I wooped with excitement, assuming it was just poor journalism and I thought that an M2 remake of RE4 would be amazing. Then I read it and was like...why the fuck would anyone set up a dev team called M-Two?!

And for that reason alone, I shall boycott this grotesque bastard of a release.

[KSubzero1000]

Yep, I thought of that as well. What a clever name for a development studio! Surely nobody has ever thought of that one befor-...

Great sign of things to come if they can't even get that right.


PS: I'm gonna torture myself for at least a few years now, aren't I?

[Flabyo]

Hey, I’m the one around here that says all remakes are bad! (While currently playing and really enjoying the ff7 one)

Resident Evil is one of my blind spots really. I played and owned the first two on the ps1, played a bit of the third borrowed from a friend, for some reason I bought code Veronica and barely played it. Not played another at all. I don’t know what it is about the series that does nothing for me. I guess we all have at least one series like that.

[FemalePheromones]

Hey, I’m the one around here that says all remakes are bad! (While currently playing and really enjoying the ff7 one)

Resident Evil is one of my blind spots really. I played and owned the first two on the ps1, played a bit of the third borrowed from a friend, for some reason I bought code Veronica and barely played it. Not played another at all. I don’t know what it is about the series that does nothing for me. I guess we all have at least one series like that.

To each their own. If it didn't click with you then so be it. I'm sure you've enjoyed plenty of other series. Not everyone has to like everything.