Have you recently gone back and played classic re-releases such as the first Megaman and wondered why it is so dang hard? Well, you’re not alone...
Despite Microsoft's experience in hardware manufacturing, I don't trust it not to fumble its first gaming handheld device which may eventually lead to a successor not getting released.
Unless it has some fature that really makes it standout I don't think someone who wants a handheld will pick it when the Switch 2 is just around the corner and the Steam Deck offers a huge library with much better prices worldwide
Especially since the existing PC handhelds (Steam Deck, ROG Ally, etc) can already run Gamepass. I don't have a Steam Deck yet, but I did see Forza Horizon 5 already running pretty well on it natively, so I'd imagine most XBox exclusives on Steam would run pretty well too. The most Microsoft could do is try to brute force a more expensive, higher power handheld. I doubt it would do well if that were the case.
This has been my point. It’s too little too late, and there are too many options out now that can already do the same thing with similar or better tech, in a similar price-range. A best case scenario for them is slightly above Steam-Deck performance at $100 less, but that’s not a huge selling point for anyone who has already jumped into the handheld PC market, and people still on the fence. Or go the other route of as cheap as possible but making it a streaming only device around $199.
It would do well and reach over 1m sold just because of the Xbox branding, but their consoles are already selling less and less (by the looks of it), so I don’t see a handheld being this great savior for them.
They simply need to rebrand one of the Surface tablets into the device with dedicated controls and more gaming focused, and call it a day instead of heavily investing in a handheld
Doesn't make much sense to have a handheld that is locked down to the Xbox ecosystem when the PC handheld can run everything. I'm sure the same people that bought the Xbox fridge will give Microsoft their free money though.
Microsoft handheld Qualcomm based... you will see it next year... and you will see it sink.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that it is ending the Sony Rewards program on December 31, 2024, and as a result that date will be the last time possible to redeem points and access your account.
This is a shame. I've been using it since the start. It had a few problems and issues but overall I did end up saving a little bit over 60 dollars using this program. There was probably not enough people using it.
This is not playstation stars. Sony Rewards is a US rewards program linked to a visa credit card.
I just checked... I have 144 points at the moment. Not even enough to get a $5 PS card. I can get a $1 digital gift card to Target or home Depot though.
I thought they were been done with this, I redeem some good stuff with this in the past. Wonder how much i got its been awhile
I've gotten so many free games throughout the years w this program, this sucks. I've been with it since the beginning.
I just run a majority of my needed purchases through it and pay it off immediately instead of using cash or debit. The most recent was on Tuesday I got a $10 dlc free. It was great as long you're not borrowing out large amounts of money that you don't have.
Realistically, those weren’t free games. You could have used another cards rewards points or bought Sony products on sale and then used the savings to buy PlayStation games.
Well there was a large boost on any purchase made on PSN, so there was an incentive to use over other cards' rewards. It used to be better, then they lowered it. I forget the exact multiplier though.
I pretty much got this $10 DLC free this week just by resubbing my PS+ Premium. (On sale during Days of Play) Not a lot of other cards would give that much back
Right. I can do the same thing with my credit card rewards, but I have much more flexibility in what I can redeem those points for, including buying PS games.
i remember getting Assassin creed black flag for free with Redeeming my Points for 10 dollars when it was on sale this is very sad news.
I actually believe that was one of my first cashouts on the program! haha
I remember I had just gotten the PS4 and I used it on Black Flag or Battlefield 4 to go with it.
I'm pretty sure I remember it being Black Flag though! (Great choice, as it became my favorite AC of all time)
It should come as no surprise that Nintendo is pretty protective regarding its IP. Going after emulators, ROM hacks, and reproductions is one thing, but it looks like the firm is starting to aim its sights on something rather surprising: sheet music.
this reminds me of that nintendo facebook social media question where they asked people what their favourite nintendo song was and people posted yt links. EVERY SINGLE ONE WAS TAKEN DOWN
You want to kill a party fast just invite Nintendo. But we are talking about a company who took down pictures of a strategy guide that has never appeared in the west. You don't see Square taking down music or sheet music to Aerith's theme, Tifa's theme, June Mermaid. Memorable tunes stick with fans to great games. Nintendo games have fans that have been routed since the NES. People have Youtube vids showing how to play Zelda's lullaby on piano, violin or my favorite the harp. Nintendo taking down sheet music or those curious about a Japanese strategy guide makes Nintendo look like an asshole to those fans.
Torrent and Usenet is the way. Imagine if all these people just share game music, roms, fan remakes in that way instead of on a website. Nintendo would be so helpless and cannot do anything we all win LOL
Out of spite those people should now out put all that music in a torrent upload and share it (I will seed for them🤣) Then email Nintendo the link to it lol. Good luck taking down a torrent. Torrents and Usenet is the only way to get around anything Nintendo tries to take down because they can't. This is the way to preserve games and game music, without anyone telling you otherwise.
Yes and it's annoying. Much like movie executives think that making a movie rated pg-13 when all of it's source material is a hard R will cause more people to see the movie. This simply is not true. They never learn and I can't believe executives still get to have a say about how movies and games should go. Did you know after the TDK premier a movie executive started talking to one of the writers about what HE wanted for the next villain and he said he wanted Dicaprio as the Riddler. NO, NO, NO. Nolan's movies are not going that direction. Much can be said about games like RE or now even Dead Space. Hey I know, let's put in co-op becuase call of duty has it. But it's a horror game based on isolation and atmosphere. The executive responds with, right but now it'll be extra scary because someone is there with you. Everyone scratches head and then thanks god there is still an indy scene in videogames.
I have no problem that games are easier now, that's fine as more people will be able to play.
But when I set the difficulty to veteran, insanity, elite, superhuman etc. it should be significantly harder, and it should be hard enough that most people can't do it. All too often this is no longer the case.
I blame Achievements/Trophies. I think developers want to make it so most people can get all of them if they just play long enough.
I guess so since I bought and played more games on the XBox 360 alone than I did on the NES, SNES, N64, PS1, PS2 and XB combined.
I recommend any hardcore and/or old school gamer just starts of with the higher difficulty in games. It's just so much more fun and rewarding than doing it on normal. It extends the games life and you get more out of it.
My biggest issue with difficulty levels these days is that sometimes it's not that the AI is smarter, it's just that the game cheats. The best example of this would be games like FIFA and NHL. The higher difficulties don't make the opposing team play smarter, it's just that the puck or ball will magically go through your legs, and 50/50s don't exist since the CPU will win them all anyway, because you turned up the difficulty..
Developers need to make sure that when they are tuning difficulty levels, that they do it properly. The devs shouldn't be trying to make the game increasingly frustrating as the difficulty level goes up, they should focus on making it fun and rewarding. Everyone always brings up Dark Souls, but there is a reason for that. They did the difficulty almost perfectly. It's a hard game, but hardly unfair. You learn from the difficulty and even become a better gamer. When you kill something you feel great, and it's not because the enemy was cheap, but because you figured it out. That's how a hard difficulty setting should be.
Of course they are getting easier. The difficulty that old games have is there for a multitude of reasons. However, much of the reason for the difficulty is not really there for the sake of being difficult.
Reason 1: Old games are short. Many can be speed run in less than an hour. The difficulty was put in there to lengthen the game's play time and increase the perceived value of the title.
Reason 2: Classic video games still existed in a world where Arcade development logic was prevalent. Arcade logic focused on making games difficult to make more money. Even though this no longer needed to be done when consoles arrived, the style of gameplay had already been established. It's taken a long time for concepts like "having a finite number of lives" in games, for example, to disappear.
Reason 3: The controls and or technology and or design sucked. Let's look at good ol classic Castlevania. It's a great hard game. The hardest things about it, though, are things that modern games try to avoid because they are too cheap, or bad game design, or too limiting. Castlevania didn't let you change the direction of your jumps in mid air. That was too limiting. Castlevania also didn't let you jump while on stairs. Again, bad design and too limiting. Lastly, many hits given to Simon would magically pull his stunned body towards or into a chasm. That was too cheap. All of these things have been fixed in subsequent Castlevania games.
Difficulty in games now, mostly, is something that is not a necessity or mistake. As such, when it shows up, it can be truly special.