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[Sand Dan Glokta]

Consoles mod support still doesn't come close to matching PC. This was true in the 90s too. Shockingly consoles have made virtually zero progress here. I honestly thought it would be better by now.

The problem is that most console gamers don't realize how far behind they are. You can have a dramatically better experience playing the same game on a PC due to how archaic console is. Take Skyrim for example. The little mod support it offers after all this time is a joke compared to what you can do on PC.

Even MS seems to be the realizing this and exiting the console world.

I own both consoles and PC, and despite all the Elite features that come with PC that people keep yapping on and on about, they are not going to take away the plug&play convenience factor of Consoles, ever. Its like trying to convince an apple user that a high-end android phone is objectively a better experience and cheaper (it is), but they don't care; they have to make the decision to move themselves.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

The Last Of Us was nothing more than shiny production values that appealed to a generation of latchkey kids with Daddy issues. The gameplay is clunky, broken, and uninspired. The writing and story is after-school levels of cliche fan fiction. It is one of the most overrated pieces of entertainment fiction ever conceived. It did not deserve a single accolade outside of technical presentation.

Modern gaming is absolute garbage. It is assembly line corpo greed. There is no reason to pay release day price for anything, as most games are barely worth the price at even 50% off. The industry is a soulless cashgrab machine aimed at maximizing profits at the expense of the dumbest generation or two in human history. Predatory microtransactions and monetization headline the FOMO generation and their little online egos and streams, and piecemeal out content for increasing prices. It is a joke and an insult to a once great industry that made the most engaging entertainment medium. At least the recent slate of eastern action games is attempting to make actual video games again, and a few upcoming action titles look to continue that positive trend.

 

[RickMasters]

Phil ? Is that you ?

All jokes aside he probably only stating the obvious. But I do feel subs and digital downloads and streaming will be where the industry is at in a couple years. We all seen how physical sales are shrinking in favour of digital.


And with 100 dollar games probably going to soon being the norm ar a time when people are worse off in the world just makes subs more tempting for a lot of people.

 

[Autistic_Pancake]

Western "AAA" games are utterly awful compared even to Chinese gacha games. There are exceptions that come once-in-a-decade like GTA series, Witcher 3 and some other gems, but generally speaking 90% of modern gaming is just vomit-inducing garbage made for everyone and no one at the same time.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Regularly Paying user accounts matters more than the hardware to console manufacturers in 2025 and beyond.

Regularly paying subs are treated like shit, because they're taken for granted. This is especially noticeable with PS+. Current users often don't get sales for sub extensions or they're encouraged to upgrade to a higher tier. It only matters to bring new subs by offering them good starting discounts. Being a loyal subscriber is being a sucker, it's much healthier to sub once in a while just to play a bunch of new games.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Nintendo - Overrated borning developer that makes games for girls and boys and lacks original new IP's

Halo 2 - One of the worst sequels ever made and overrated crap

Ghost of Tsushima - Overrated and graphically not that impressive either other than some nice grass effects

Shenmue - Overrated, dull and boring

Digital Gaming - Is so much better than physical games

SCUD Racer - Isn't anywhere near as good as some people make out and is in fact quite dull to play

SEGA GT 2001 - An overlooked classic with better graphics than GT3/4 and also the best racer from that period

Rise Of The Dragon - Is so much better than Snatcher

Always Online - Xbox should have had the balls to stick with their original online plans for the Xbox One

PS2 - A letdown of a console and graphically took us back in some area's like textures and screen res

Kung Fu Choas - An overlooked gem and so much better than Power Stones and is the best multi-player fighting game

Mega CD - Not only a great Add-on it also had some of the best games ever made

 

[PurePlatinum]

7th generation consoles were absolutely awful. One of the absolute worst gen's outside of present and the earliest stuff like Atari and Colleco…etc.

 

[Sand Dan Glokta]

7th generation consoles were absolutely awful. One of the absolute worst gen's outside of present and the earliest stuff like Atari and Colleco…etc.

Oof strong hot take

 

[Jurry132]

Hellblade II is a glorified walking simulator.

Is that even a hot take?

 

[phant0m]

Sega is a better publisher, hardware manufacturer and platform holder than MS has ever been.

They should still be here despite the misstep with 32X/Saturn

Homogenization across hardware and software have made gaming 1000% less interesting than it was 20 years ago.

AAA games should be $90, which I would gladly pay if it meant more games came out complete, well optimized and without MTX.

 

[Sand Dan Glokta]

Sega is a better publisher, hardware manufacturer and platform holder than MS has ever been.

They should still be here despite the misstep with 32X/Saturn

Homogenization across hardware and software have made gaming 1000% less interesting than it was 20 years ago.

AAA games should be $90, which I would gladly pay if it meant more games came out complete, well optimized and without MTX.

I agree with everything of what you said so not a hot take ha

unfortunately for your last point: In an ideal world $90 should solve the problem, but we both know the only actual solution is either long term boycotts (which 99% of gamers are too pussyshit to do) or governmental interference...

 

[Disciple of MSSP]

After getting a PC I see that consoles really are junk. Consoles set back the advancement of video games and are for poor people.

The Nintendo switch is uncomfortable as fuck and not fun to play bc of the shitty joycons. Steam deck destroys the switch.

 

[Aressa]

7th generation consoles were absolutely awful. One of the absolute worst gen's outside of present and the earliest stuff like Atari and Colleco…etc.

7th generation? Honestly, this gen has been a massive disappointment for me. It completely pushed me toward building a PC and making the Switch my primary console. If you had told me years ago that I'd be relying on a Nintendo console and a PC as my main gaming platforms, I would've laughed.

 

[Idleyes]

Fuck Sony for treating their exclusives like some kind of sacred relics that need to be guarded by an ancient order of PlayStation monks. Fuck Nintendo for hoarding their IPs like they're afraid the second Mario touches another platform he'll switch pronouns.

 

[phant0m]

Western "AAA" games are utterly awful compared even to Chinese gacha games. There are exceptions that come once-in-a-decade like GTA series, Witcher 3 and some other gems, but generally speaking 90% of modern gaming is just vomit-inducing garbage made for everyone and no one at the same time.

I think this is more true for American games than "Western" in general. In this gen, almost every western banger has come out of Europe:

• Helldivers 2 (SWE)
• Split Fiction (SWE)
• KCD2 (CZ)
• STALKER 2 (Ukraine)
• Indiana Jones (SWE)
• CP2077 (Poland)
• BG3 (Belgium)
• Deathloop (France)
• Control (Finland)
• FH5 (UK)

Outside of the mega studios like ND, Insomniac, Bungie and SSM it feels like North America really struggles to find success in producing high quality AAA product these days.

 

[Idleyes]

To truly immerse yourself in World of Warcraft, you must first accept that you can defeat a universe-devouring titan, but can't because Fluffy's raid group decided your gear score ain't worthy.

 

[Shubh_C63]

I like walled gardens. Too many options to choose from ruin my gaming experience.
There should be one or two HOT games in a month and everybody should be forced to play the same game and discuss.

 

[fastest finger]

Trophies / Achievements are pointless, meaningless trinkets. They were invented as an easy way to keep people locked in an ecosystem for digital clout.

While they insist on sticking around, you should be able to get them all by playing and completing a game normally.

Anybody that wastes their time doing ridiculous tasks and stunts that are completely unnecessary to the game in order to chase them all needs to get a life.

The worst offenders, those that seek out and buy a game just because it has "an easy platinum" should be taken out into the streets and flogged in front of their family.

 

[laynelane]

Consoles mod support still doesn't come close to matching PC. This was true in the 90s too. Shockingly consoles have made virtually zero progress here. I honestly thought it would be better by now.

The problem is that most console gamers don't realize how far behind they are. You can have a dramatically better experience playing the same game on a PC due to how archaic console is. Take Skyrim for example. The little mod support it offers after all this time is a joke compared to what you can do on PC.

Even MS seems to be the realizing this and exiting the console world.

Wouldn't it stand to reason, then, that people who really care about mods would be on PC? That was my suggestion to a friend who complained about the limited mods for Fallout 4 on PS4 - if that's what you value most, then PC is a better choice.

Personally, though, I don't have any interest in mods. I play vanilla Skyrim and enjoy it. People have different values and priorities and, for me, this focus on how other people play games has always come off as weird and a waste of time. I'm not sure what your issue is with consoles, but many people just want to play games and really don't care about "how far behind they are". That's not where their priorities lie at all.

 

[Kataploom]

Actual sales for GTAV aren't that high, they might doing some money laundering or so and game sales is the cover

 

[Long Far Gone]

Oof strong hot take

Between the Red Ring of Death, and Ken Kutaragi telling gamers to get a 2nd job or go fuck themselves, he is absolutely correct.

Many of the the actual games of the 360/PS3 generation were incredible, but the consoles themselves were diabolical.

 

[Fabieter]

Half life 2 has the worst pacing ever

Valve should finally invest heavily in games instead of being a glorified store front. Sucking out money out of the industry like crazy.

 

[BigDeadFreak]

Anyone complaining about micro transactions, DLC, loot boxes, etc. should go back and play some arcade games from the 80s and 90s. Those games were effectively pay to play. They often used input reading AI, insane difficulty spikes and broken mechanics to force you to feed coins into the machine.

Don't believe me? Get hold of the an arcade game from that era that you haven't played before and try to complete it on the default difficulty setting. Every time you lose put 30p in a tin. Tell me how much it costs you to complete the game. Then adjust for inflation to todays prices.

 

[dDoc]

Nintendo are not worth bothering with. Weak hardware and game prices stay up there for the most part.

They are also over protective of their IPs and get high on opening court cases.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

There has definitely been improvements over the years, but I feel Asian games have always been superior to non-Asian/Western games since the beginning and I don't see things changing especially in creativity, talent, gameplay and fun.

I think it's silly and even strange that modern gamers care more about things like writing and storylines over gameplay and fun. These are still "interactive video games".

People who desperately want physical games to die for an all digital generation are clueless and have no idea what they are wishing for. You are wishing away your choice and rights.

We need exclusives back. Consoles have no identity and it makes everything feel homogenized. There is no point in a new competitor bringing out a new console if it hardly any exclusives or distinctive features setting it apart. This is the main reason why I don't think Microsoft bringing out another console is a good idea. IF they have no genuine exclusives to offer, then what's the point?

 

[Sand Dan Glokta]

There has definitely been improvements over the years, but imho I ALWAYS found Asian games superior to non-Asian/Western games since the beginning and I don't see things changing especially in creativity, talent, gameplay and fun.

I think it's silly and even strange that modern gamers care more about things like writing and storylines over gameplay and fun. These are still "interactive video games".

People who desperately want physical games to die for an all digital generation are clueless and have no idea what they are wishing for. You are wishing away your choice and rights.

Sorry people, but imo we need exclusives back. Consoles have no identity and it makes everything feel homogenized. There is no point in a new competitor bringing out a new console if it hardly any exclusives or distinctive features setting it apart. This is the main reason why I don't think Microsoft bringing out another console is a good idea. IF they have no genuine exclusives to offer, then what's the point?

where's the hot take xD

 

[MacReady13]

I'll probably get more agreements that disagreements in here, but Microsoft abandoning exclusives on consoles in favour of putting their games everywhere AND prioritising Gamepass day one over selling games day 1 as a priority has ruined what was at one stage my favourite company in console gaming. Trying to make us believe that exclusives are bad and that the whole industry is moving towards what they're currently doing is a fucking disgrace. There was NOTHING wrong with gaming during the PEAK of gaming- the 360/PS3 era. Gaming was flourishing and was amazing. Greed has taken over. And the supposed need for the best graphics over gameplay has push costs out when in reality, the VAST majority of gamers don't give a fuck about 4K graphics and just want to play games and have fun (see the Switch and the amazing number of units they've sold and continue to sell).

Nintendo not going with powerful consoles/handhelds is fantastic. We need devs pushing less graphical prowess and to focus more on gameplay. It might just solve the issue of games costing far too much and taking far too long to make. Besides, 90% or more of my time on Steam is playing indie games that my 4070ti super is absolutely wasted on but my Switch would be fine playing!

During the PS3 era, Sony's 1st party games were, on the whole, exciting and fresh. Playing the original Uncharted was a revelation! The Last of Us, whilst an overrated game, was still fresh and exciting seeing something like that produced on a console. Sony completely lost their way on the PS4 with their exclusive games trying so hard to replicate the wonder and excitement of the PS3 era games but failed miserably. God of War, LOU2, Horizon etc were all major borefests for me. That continued with the PS5 (minus Returnal which was fantastic as it focused on gameplay).

And to add more to the above, Sony had far better exclusive games (either made by Sony themselves or exclusive 2nd or 3rd party) on PS2 and the original PlayStation. They had quirky games. They had original games. They took risks. Once they released Uncharted, they were on a downward spiral from there on out. The ONLY company today releasing games like they used to (for better or worse depending on your love or hatred of them) is Nintendo.

AAA Gaming today on the whole is awful. Most companies have forgotten what good gameplay is and feel like a 50-100 hour game with ray tracing and 4K graphics makes a great game. Far less focus on getting the most out of graphics and much more focus on level design and getting gameplay right and gaming will flourish again.

 

[ByWatterson]

Gaming is better than it has ever been and it's not even sort of close.

Most of those who disagree are sad sacks groping for hostile nostalgia because they're afraid of getting old and dying and want to deny young people what they themselves are so afraid of losing - a great time.

Fight me.

 

[TheMule1983]

The majority of Sony first party games are boring slogs.

Nintendo is and has always been for kids.

Microsoft's direction will be the norm in the future. I don't like the approach though and wish they gate kept their games like the others do.

JRPGs are boring and are mostly for a younger audience.

Majority of people do not care about exclusives.

 

[cormack12]

People latching onto PC gaming talk about it, as though it is the period between approximately '96 to '09.

They are the equivalent of people who still say 'Photoshop is better on macs' to people who have the most nostalgia for the golden age who know it ain't true.

 

[Chiggs]

People latching onto PC gaming talk about it, as though it is the period between approximately '96 to '09.

They are the equivalent of people who still say 'Photoshop is better on macs' to people who have the most nostalgia for the golden age who know it ain't true.

This is the cold, hard truth.

 

[Ziglax]

The whole Diablo-like genre is and has always been trash and only caters to feeble minds starved for dopamine.

 

[Sgt. Pinback]

People latching onto PC gaming talk about it, as though it is the period between approximately '96 to '09.

They are the equivalent of people who still say 'Photoshop is better on macs' to people who have the most nostalgia for the golden age who know it ain't true.

Insanely true. Modern day 'PC gamers' who buy overpriced hardware to play stuttery console ports have no fucking idea what the platform actually is.

 

[MayauMiao]

Sony's Intergalactic teaser wasn't real time, CGI made with game assets, just like Uncharted 4 first teaser.

 

[itshutton]

GTA and Red Dead games control so badly to the point of making them unplayable. Some of the most boring games of each generation.

 

[Fafalada]

Alan Wake 2 is objectively not a good looking game(and yes I'm referring to path-traced version). Especially compared to the previous game.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Jack Frost should be SEGA's mascot, way cooler than Sonic in every way.

 

[SweetTooth]

When you take all components into consideration (larger storage, better audio, better texture, less bottlenecked Ram), PS1 is more capable than N64!

Also Spyro looks better than anything on N64.

 

[RickMasters]

Regularly paying subs are treated like shit, because they're taken for granted. This is especially noticeable with PS+. Current users often don't get sales for sub extensions or they're encouraged to upgrade to a higher tier. It only matters to bring new subs by offering them good starting discounts. Being a loyal subscriber is being a sucker, it's much healthier to sub once in a while just to play a bunch of new games.

Id say those are things aimed more at PS+ than good sub services as a whole. GPU is a different beast altogether. value for money is not an issue. Im not knocking your view on subs as a whole, each to their own. but id say the same thing to you as I would say to somebody with a DVD or CD collection. Times are changing and people are consuming their entertainment in a different way than 20 years ago. it just is what it is. most people would rather subscribe for movies an music than than outright buy them... younger gamers dont care to buy games, they would rather by skins and DLC for whatever GAAS they are playing. different times man.....

 

[DerivedDataCache]

The Last of Us is the downfall of Playstation.
Maybe even the entire AAA single player industry.
Woke pretentious bullshit.

Digital Foundry should get sued for defamation by Epic. #stutterstruggle crap

 

[raduque]

Here comes some lava:

Multiplayer focused games and everything that comes with it (toxic communities, hacking, and e-sports, live services like CoD Seasons) is a pox on the industry. Multiplayer should be limited to an afterthought deathmatch and CTF modes just to check off the boxes.

The industry needs to go back to being single player focused.

 

[RPS37]

Elden Ring no fun.
Avowed big fun.

 

[Guilty_AI]

1. console warring is pathetic given how objectively superior PC gaming is

2. related, the future of gaming is PC

Keeping up with the hot takes, i actually do think the console market as a business is effectively dead.

"But PS5 and nintendo are selling bajillions of-!" thats not the point, what i mean is that the sole thing keeping the current consoles alive is brand recognition. If Sony and nintendo for some reason start fumbling their next consoles and losing costumers, there'll be no more consoles to replace them.

There's very little reason for consoles to exist today, as in machines designed both in hardware and software to be almost exclusively dedicated to gaming. This is a concept from a time when hardware power was a scarce resource, and doesn't match today's reality at all.

For anyone who doubts me, try doing a little thought experiment: if all the current console makers suddenly decide to not make consoles anymore - they'll just be game publishers - would anyone step up to fill in their shoes? If someone does, how many people do you think would buy that console? How many developers would make games for that console, and would that amount be enough? Would you get that console with an uncertain future and small library of games that might not even be good? Or would you rather get a form-factor PC that has a vast library along with the certainty that games it can play will keep being made? Heck, if sony and nintendo were to instead start making form-factor PCs a la steam deck/machine, would you rather get that, or would migrate to the brand new console made by the XY company?

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

Avowed big fun.

Finally finished it. We are going to see a lot of threads in a few years about how underrated this game is.

 

[JackHanma]

The Last Of Us was nothing more than shiny production values that appealed to a generation of latchkey kids with Daddy issues. The gameplay is clunky, broken, and uninspired. The writing and story is after-school levels of cliche fan fiction. It is one of the most overrated pieces of entertainment fiction ever conceived. It did not deserve a single accolade outside of technical presentation.

Modern gaming is absolute garbage. It is assembly line corpo greed. There is no reason to pay release day price for anything, as most games are barely worth the price at even 50% off. The industry is a soulless cashgrab machine aimed at maximizing profits at the expense of the dumbest generation or two in human history. Predatory microtransactions and monetization headline the FOMO generation and their little online egos and streams, and piecemeal out content for increasing prices. It is a joke and an insult to a once great industry that made the most engaging entertainment medium. At least the recent slate of eastern action games is attempting to make actual video games again, and a few upcoming action titles look to continue that positive trend.

You sir get a standing ovation from me. I remember getting sucked into The Last of Us hype and playing 50 percent through and just forgot about it. One of the most overrated games ever made. Your assertions about the industry as a whole are spot on. The video game industry has been on a downward spiral since "Horse Armor" and paying for subscriptions to play multiplayer on consoles... I remember back in the day on places like Team Xbox and here people were ardently defending these choices like they were part owners of the companies that made these horrendous decisions. I am looking forward to a complete collapse of the industry, from the ashes a phoenix will arise, much like the NES did back in the mid 80s.

 

[BbMajor7th]

Resident Evil 0 is actually decent; Resident Evil 4 was overrated; RE Remake has never been topped.

First person design is a redundant throwback to early 3D which should be abandoned outside the VR space. Nobody in real life walks around with their hands held up in front of them.

 

[awwr999999]

I agree with everything of what you said so not a hot take ha
unfortunately for your last point: In an ideal world $90 should solve the problem, but we both know the only actual solution is either long term boycotts (which 99% of gamers are too pussyshit to do) or governmental interference...

Raising the price only helps with the first purchase and would motivate would-be buyers to buy used.
The solution is divorcing physical disks from user licenses and ensuring that the platform/studio sell one game per user with no reselling taking away from that.
On platforms like PlayStation the licensing system needs to be unified so that owning any game means you own it on the PSN.
Boxed discs would continue on as a means of installing games and telling the console which game you want to play (PS2 style).

 

[awwr999999]

High fidelity graphics are detrimental to art style

It's because most artists sketch best at the size of a piece of paper that fits into a notebook and that fact won't ever change.

 

[eNT1TY]

Ocarina of Time is just ok, there are at least 4 better Zelda games and Majora's Mask isn't one of them.
Uncharted 2 is the only good Uncharted game; the rest range from full on sucking to just being mediocre at best.
Final Fantasy 9 is garbage.
Palworld is better than EVERY Pokemon game.
Metroid Prime (all of them) sucks and the new one will also suck while not even matching Halo Reach's graphic fidelity.
DMC3 > Ninja Gaiden Black
Outer Worlds is better than Starfield.
Mass Effect: Andromeda was mechanically a good game with frequently spectacular visuals.
The success of Fable and any other MS developed game moving forward will be determined by Play Station and/or Steam sales rather than by MS's native platforms.

 

[Sakura]

Naughty Dog's games are boring and I don't understand the popularity. I tried playing Uncharted 1 and 2. I played The Last of Us. The gameplay is average at best, the games are linear as hell, the stories feel like B tier action movies. The only good things are the production values and set pieces.
In fact I would say western AAA gaming in general has been boring as hell the past 10+ years. It feels like they just keep making the same games, but dumbed down even further, with less focus on making a fun game and more focus on making a mid tier movie "game" with pretty graphics.