The Sony news and discussion thread

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

That's a PR disaster if people are expected to shell out extra money for patches for games they already own, for a console they've just spent a huge amount of money on.

Not saying devs shouldn't be reimbursed for their hard work, they absolutely should, but Sony has made a truckload of cash from the PS4 and they should foot that bill if they want this new Pro to take off.

[Suits]

Also it seems that patches to update older games may not be free. Sony are leaving that to individual developers and publishers to decide.

The bigger players will most likely go for free updates, but smaller devs with less cash floating around would be perfectly right to expect to be paid for the work involved. An interesting one this.

I never once for a second thought that the game updates to bring the extra power of the Pro would cost, but yeah, that makes perfect sense regards time/cost for dev's to put out.

Sony will surely have to subsidise any cost, as there's no way, especially in the first few years where they can expect PSN subscribers to pay extra after already owning the game and upgrading their console.

[Alex79]

Depends how much it is really I guess, and how much of a difference it makes. If the frame rates and graphical fidelity are significant enough to warrant calling it a remaster I could easily see devs charging up to maybe £15 a game. I'm sure it'll vary wildly from one company for the next, too, as with the PS4 remasters we've had of PS3 games. They could potentially throw in DLC etc with the patch too, couldn't they, if they wanted to.

Anyone fancy playing the Resident Evil 4 Re-Re-Remaster?

Just had a thought too (it may have been mentioned already, probably has!) but I wonder if all the games they showed at E3 were actually running on PS4 Pro hardware..?

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Just had a thought too (it may have been mentioned already, probably has!) but I wonder if all the games they showed at E3 were actually running on PS4 Pro hardware..?

I wouldnt be surprised if every game trailer and screenshot you see from now on will be taken from the Pro, let alone by E3 next year.

This is one of the problems with this venture if you're an owner of the original box, and it'll be the same for Xbox gamers as it is for PlayStation ones. You may now struggle to see what a game actually looks and runs like on your console before release. Hopefully developers/publishers will be transparent if they've got nothing to hide, but it's only a matter of time before a game shows up that runs fine on the Pro but chugs on the standard console, and that fact is hidden through selective marketing.

[Alex79]

We may well be going back to the days of multiple format screen shots on the back of the box. I remember as a really young kid before really understanding about such things, being endlessly disappointed after loading a cassette on my Amstrad, having seen only the Amiga screenshots for a game.

Still, the Spectrum kids had it worse

[Alex79]

Anyone know if there are any plans to release an up to date cricket game to the PS4? I used to love the Brian Lara and EA Cricket games, but they don't seem to be coming out any more. There's Don Bradman Cricket which is from 2014, and I'd give that a go if it wasn't still £60 on the PSN store, and you can't seem to find a disc copy cheap either. I appreciate they're not the most popular types of games, but I really like them!

[ratsoalbion]

Don Bradman Cricket 17
PC/PS4/Xbox One
Funbox Media
November 18th 2016

Reviews for the series are pretty good:
http://www.gamerankings.com/browse.html ... ev=3&site=

[Alex79]

Brilliant! Thanks Leon, no idea how I didn't uncover that whilst searching, quite specifically, for Don Bradman on PS4, haha! Ace

[Jusifer]

I was listening to the Kinda funny podcast today and they talked about tge possibility of a new vita or the next portable sony console. do any of you think sony is going to make a new portable device anymore after vita? especially if the next nintendo device is going to be thos home console portable hybrid the rumours are saying it is.

[Suits]

Sony announced a few new colours for the Vita at TGS a few days ago......

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/201 ... ta-colors/

......not sure if that counts .

[Alex79]

They have had the best hardware for the last two handheld generations and completely failed to support it both times. I'd buy a new handheld from them for sure, but I don't see either the point or the attraction for most people if they're just going to give up on it.

[Craig]

I think they supported the original PSP well enough, or at least for a decent amount of time before pulling the plug. It was doing pretty well by the end in Japan, all things considered.

But as for a successor to the Vita? I can't see it happening. And a lot of people feel burned by the Vita and how quickly support was dropped.

It's still moving decent numbers in Japan, but glancing at the shelves it's an overwhelming number of Anime boob games.

[gallo_pinto]

And a lot of people feel burned by the Vita and how quickly support was dropped.

Count me in that group. I LOVE my Vita. It's my go-to platform for indie and retro games and I've put more hours into it than any system I can remember. It was worth buying a Vita just so I could play through Persona 4 Golden. But it felt like Sony was aggressively trying to give up on it. I enjoyed my time with my Vita in spite of Sony, not because of them.

Nintendo stuck with the 3DS long enough to turn that thing around. I'll buy their next portable system (seems like that's the NX). Even as a big Vita fan, I don't trust Sony enough to buy theirs.

[Jusifer]

I really like the vita but it's obvious that they made a lot of mistakes with it. like not having r2, l2, r3 and l3 buttons and using the back and front touchscreens instead. it's fine if they have a touchscreen but it should never replace real buttons.

[Alex79]

When you consider the improvements the Vita made over the PSP though, I'd definitely be excited to see what a new handheld would bring. As everyone has said though, it's about as likely to happen as Microsoft bringing out a handheld console. (Which I'd definitely buy, if it was just an "Xbox Live Arcade Mobile Console" and you could play all your XBLA and XBLIG games on - but that's just wishful thinking).

[hazeredmist]

Also it seems that patches to update older games may not be free. Sony are leaving that to individual developers and publishers to decide.

The bigger players will most likely go for free updates, but smaller devs with less cash floating around would be perfectly right to expect to be paid for the work involved. An interesting one this.

Ha!

They - and this generation if this takes off - can fuck right off if they expect me to buy a new PS4 and money on top for updates to games I already own. Nobody works for free, I get that and agree, but it's not a model I'll be getting behind as a console owner. Sorry but it's got to be more than a regular patch to expect money from your existing customers - extra content, take the route of the likes of Retro City Rampage and offer a DX version with more to play for your cash. Not just upgraded specs.

I see almost no reason to buy a PS4 Pro as a current PS4 owner who also has a 4K TV. You're not even getting fully native 4K. I also don't care about VR. Sure I'll consider one if my PS4 breaks down, but it's a meagre offering to me.

[hazeredmist]

Also to contribute to the Vita discussion - that's possibly my favourite handheld of all time. Even with Sony dropping the majority of support it continues to delight for me. I absolutely love it.

[Alex79]

Also it seems that patches to update older games may not be free. Sony are leaving that to individual developers and publishers to decide.

The bigger players will most likely go for free updates, but smaller devs with less cash floating around would be perfectly right to expect to be paid for the work involved. An interesting one this.

Ha!

They - and this generation if this takes off - can fuck right off if they expect me to buy a new PS4 and money on top for updates to games I already own. Nobody works for free, I get that and agree, but it's not a model I'll be getting behind as a console owner. Sorry but it's got to be more than a regular patch to expect money from your existing customers - extra content, take the route of the likes of Retro City Rampage and offer a DX version with more to play for your cash. Not just upgraded specs.

But they're not going to be mandatory are they. And they'll be under no obligation to even patch in PS4 Pro support. Obviously all future games will probably feature higher res etc but surely for older games it'll be a case of 'if you want it, here it is, if you don't, then don't get it'

I'm playing devil's advocate to a certain extent here, but I don't really see a problem with asking for payment for non-mandatory additional features.

[Flabyo]

Sony have supported the Vita very well... in Japan. Where it has outsold the PS4.

Everywhere else, not so much.

[Craig]

It's getting decent sales figures in Japan, but the PS4 isn't the greatest comparison; the PS4 is currently sitting on around the same install base as the WiiU. A lot of folk have moved to mobile.