The launch or fat is the ONLY one that doesn't have to do that bs sign in with the disc drive online.

Looks like I'll be lining up the fat PS5 with my fat PS2, PS3, and PS4 in that case.

IMHO the PS5 Pro reveal was a blunder.

The graphical difference is very slight and the price ($700 USD) is insane (plus, add $70 - $80 dollars for a disc drive!).

I've been thinking of picking up a discounted launch PS5, but IMO the Pro is nowhere worth the price.

Honestly, I've decided to stop using modern consoles, will just play my retro consoles and emulation. It's disheartening to see Sony and MS kill console gaming.

Hope Game Science reverses their decision on this. Im holding out for a disc version because I really just hate digital only. Pretty much the game as you with most of my games being on disc.

I think what Sarang is worried about is not that the PS5 Pro is disc-driveless since there is the option to buy the disc drive separately but if this trend holds, the PS6 or future iterations may just go purely digital. The PC gaming market already did that with Steam and is honestly one of my biggest gripes with PC gaming as a result.

Digital only is great for the devs. No second hand market so they can ensure they extract profit from every user as well as set a potential expiration date on their games so remakes/remasters can be released and sold to double/triple dip. Might want to look into the Final Fantasy VII remake series and XVI which are more action packed as well as Kingdom Hearts and Devil May Cry.

Spiderman 2 kinda does push Peter out but the problem is from a game perspective, Miles is just superior. Miles gets innate electric powers and invisibility so in terms of combat and stealth (the two main ways you engage in combat), Miles is just superior. Peter does get some extra powers later but it doesnt bridge the gap much imo. I do think one of the writers for Spiderman 2 is a Sweet Baby fan so there is some DEI which hurts the game narrative. The story is definately weaker than Spiderman 1 which is arguably the peak in the franchise so far (MM is not bad with arguably better combat imo because of the reasons I mentioned above).

Horizon Forbidden West is ok. Im playing through it now and the story itself is not that long (14 main missions total) and the cutscenes arnt bad (also skippable). There is also alot of side missions and side content so there is stuff to do. Its just kind of boring imo and the some side content really sucks. Gureilla has decent ranged combat which they definately improved in FW compared to ZD but some side stuff like racing absolutely suck.

I do wonder if we are nearing another gaming industry crash. Gaming right now is operating similar to Hollywood. Not taking risks, relying on brand names, and pushing greed over profits. Sony already took a big hit with Concord and will probably take several others since they went all in with GaaS. Although these projects havent been released yet, I wonder if studios are scrambling after the abysmal failure that was Concord.

If a crash does occur, the only ones I can see very likely to walk away are Nintendo and Valve.

Tokyo Bunny you nailed my concerns in the first paragraph on a PS6.

I am not getting FF7 Remake because it is an action RPG now. I like my FF turn based and grew up on that and feel Square has spat in my face as well as old fans doing this. I gave FFXV a pass ONLY because it started as a side game, that was the ONE exception. FFXVI won't get a pass from me and I want to create a mod SCRAPPING the entire action mechanic or FORCING it to become turn based.
I WILL be buying DMC5 very likely and Visions Of Mana. Any good Japanese exclusive recommendations you can give that need the power of PS5 and won't be on Switch?
Oh yeah I will be buying Sword and Fairy since GOG hasn't gotten it yet.
Alright I guess I will be getting the Horizon sequel then. I loved the gameplay of the first though I saw the twist coming from a MILE away.
Can you respond in my language resources thread please? I was waiting for your suggestions.

Well, the only thing that keeps me in console gaming is Sony's middling commitment to DRM-free. If Sony first party games and exclusive games all had high chances of coming to GOG, I'd forget console altogether. Was hoping I'd seen the end of consoles with PS4.

All anyone wants from Sony is a new version of Bloodborne for PS5 and, even better, a PC version of Bloodborne. All they give us is VR2, PS5 Pro and Concord (for two weeks). Go Sony!

Maybe they'll also do a re-re-re-remaster of The Last of Us for PS5Pro?

Yeah I can see that. Persona is probably the next big series that scratches that pure JRPG itch then (I tried Yakuza 7 and while its a decent JRPG, it is lacking in tools imo. Maybe they did better in 8). I cant really comment on must have PS5 games because tbh, I havent been playing the latest games. There arnt that many PS5 exclusives and they mostly rely on better graphics which a strong enough PC can replicate.

I suppose some unique games to check out would be Astro-bot and Ratchet and Clank Rift in Time. These games make heavy use of the dual sense controller's haptic feedback which is quite cool and is something that cant be replicated on PC. Astro's Playroom is free and a very short experience but quite cool and really utilizes the haptic feedback in a cool way. I wish other PS5 games would capitalize on this tech but few do (Babylon's fall kind of did but that game is already dead).

I do think this might be a potential future for console gaming to continue over PC. In terms of power, consoles cant compete. However, consoles are machines built specifically for gaming so competing through more interesting controls with better feedback and a more stable and consistent performance is key to console surviving imo. Like you can run a game at 8K 12 FPS on PC vs 4K 60 FPS on console but the game very rarely crashes on console (for first party games at least) while that is not guaranteed for PC.

Not pushing you to get Horizon FW (Im mixed on it tbh although I think its better than the first entry) so a trial would be better imo.

Ill try to check the language resources thread.

Nah, after some more investigation, the PS5 Pro is a DESASTER... sorry Sony, nope... do not execute another Concord... you had such a good spot until very recently.... and NOW messing it up so hard?

To me its clear, the PS5 Pro need to be at least +90% rasterization performance, on top of the already +200% RT performance, and the design should be the fat PS5 design with a drive inside. If this is given, then your price asked is OK... but no less than this!

So, at the current shape, the PS5 Pro i do not take serious at all... nothing i truly need... even the PS4 Pro was a better upgrade, although i did not get me one because PS4 was "done and gone" for me... the fat PS5 was finally great but not the PS5 Pro nor the new PS5 slim, i am afraid. The PS5 Pro is just a "improved slim" at a high price with almost the same traits... it is hard to imagine any console-enthusiast is going to smile instead of moan... unless while on... different... drugs.

I think, Sony and Nvidia currently simply are at a way to boosted spot, so Nvidia can ask almost any price they want and Sony can provide weak stuff with as well almost any price. I just dunno for how long the customers may find it attractive... and as soon as they stop finding it tasty... it may bite Nvidia and Sony in a rather dark spot.

Sure, AMD simply is currently "out of order", they can not provide a truly capable GPU anymore so they stopped competing with Nvidia in the performance-field... just on the value-thing, which is not hard because Nvidia got a fair share of greed.

I think, RDNA 4 may be up to 40% less efficient than Blackwell (up to 20% efficiency loss for the last generation)... which is huge if true... so, AMD can not create a high end GPU able to compete with the 5090 unless they use a 840 W AMD GPU vs. a 600 W Nvidia GPU... which is just impossible, even for the biggest freaks on earth it would be to much (the PC may kinda burn, the power bill become insane and the PSU may start to gasp). So, they stopped competing on any GPU above midrange, simply how it is... Perhaps AMD may get a bigger "jump" for RDNA 5 but this is still many years into the future and it may only affect the PS6. So, with RDNA 4 the only thing AMD can truly compete with is with its value...

With Sony not much different.... MS is "out of order" they simply can not compete anymore... Nintendo got a very own customer base focused on handheld and portable devices... which is mostly a different customer... and PC will stay PC... which is kinda Sonys "backup" in order to get even more coins. So... Sony simply was becoming lazy... i feel... not providing sufficient value anymore.

Trying to predict the future: Because AMD will stop trying to improve this "broken old design" which goes back to RDNA 2: It was broken yet kinda great vs. 3000 series, as Nvidia simply did not go "all out"... was not taking AMD to serious. However, RDNA 5 should be a complete new architecture, not a fix anymore, so i think they will move more close to Nvidia once again... perhaps as close as 20% lesser efficiency which means they could provide another flagship at that time. This will take many years so... not any time soon.

Currently, AMDs GPU is simply not impressive anymore. Even Intel... a totally newcomer to good performing GPUs... already may have a mobile GPU design which is now more efficient than AMDs offers. So, it is not Nvidia being the true rocket here... its is rather AMD currently "going pretty slow".

My recommendation is: Damage already done. The shorter term fix is simply, recreate the PS5 Pro to PS5 Pro slim (it is a slim... not wrong at all) and create another PS5 Pro which is now a fat version (the good old design) with drive included, based on the new RDNA 4 which should be able to offer around +90% more rasterization at no more than 250 W TDP, i guess... so the enthusiast may finally smile again and kinda... image is mostly repaired after.

A NEW fat PS5 is above 1000 coins now... a used one might be cheaper but you never know how well it has been treated in the past... a bit of luck required. Sony, almost blind... is simply trying to "cut down on cost" while apparently offer the customers exactly the thing the majority wants "digital only"... yet this reality might be distorted and the truth could be on a different path already...

Anyway, i dunno why this whole world has been created for the majority and why the only thing we may look out for is "more cash flow", which is heartless and tasteless and i think... in long term it might hurt us all this "radical mentality" we seem to enjoy so much.

There is a lot of confusion regarding this game. At first i was unable to regonize what series this game is actually from and then, at some point, when i found out the original name is actually "Sword and Fairy 7"... and only the english translation on next gen consoles is "Sword and Fairy: Together Forever".

For a long time i had in mind it is probably another name for "Xuan Yuang Sword 7"... as there is another 7 and it is a Chinese series as well. This game, Xuan Yuan Sword 7 is even on GoG and available on Switch. I think Xuan Yuan Sword 7 is a solid game for RPG lovers but Sword and Fairy 7 (Sword and Fairy: Together Forever) is definitely the better, more refined, game.

It is basically this "Sword and Fairy"-series, almost unknown "in the West": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Sword_and_Fairy

It can not be gotten DRM free and it surely need some capable hardware, PS5 or better... for good settings.

There was actually 2 different physical BD disc releases on PS5 in Europe, a old release (pretty buggy too) and a fresh release, including a Deluxe version. I got me this version... and i have to say... there is only 2 boxes left in my countrys biggest shop for PS5 games... so i would hurry... it can be sold out pretty quick. Not sure the situation in the US but in Europe... only a few BD copys has ever been made... it is one of the rarest PS5 BDs ever made.

Xuang Yuang Sword 7 is another series, the Xuan Yuan Sword-series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuan-Yuan_Sword , but as funny as it sounds... the most recent release is "number 7" for both games, so it can become confusing. Guess thats the reason they renamed it into "Sword and Fairy: Together Forever" on the consoles at least.

Sword and Fairy 7 (Sword and Fairy: Together Forever) surely is the "stronger title" but, just as i said, can only be gotten on Steam or console (without Switch)... however, the graphics are not weak and i would not play it without PS5 or PC at least.

Well... China is slowly starting to become "serious" with games... this is clear, as there are slowly coming more games from this location and not weak at all.

Countless of videos with nearly the same opinion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2wOn8zS8dU

I think... if Sony does not react it will become a flop... because the casuals are happy with the "cheaper" normal PS5 and the hardcore/core gamers... they will not bother upgrading it and perhaps slowly leaving this messed up "PS ecosystem". Unless there are changes... which is slowly becoming less realistic, the current path is just so strict and clear.

Amazing enough... a totally overpriced GPU, known as 4090, is selling so well... i guess many of the core gamers seems to know their destination.

I can not say what will happen with the PS6, but if it will turn out to be equal (or worse) to the current PS5 Pro incident, then i will stop playing on PS systems as soon as the timeline of the PS5 is completely over... which can be between 5 and 10 years.

Sure, i will not be able to play many "Steam games" anymore (there are almost no Sony exclusive games anymore... as they usually will move to PC some years after) but i could not care less because i already lack the time to play all my games i already own. So i will simply play my hundreds of games i already got and add the perhaps 50% or more games that are added DRM free on PC... no need for more than this anymore, at this point. The ones adding DRM or Steam only... i simply will not bother with and will finish playing my old games and other "new releases".

Some potentially good news regarding Black Myth Wukong.

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fwhy-isnt-there-a-physical-disc-copy-of-black-myth-wukong-v0-61ptcipxv9bd1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D1260%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Dac7bfb0f806442e8639d283c270129da389fb9cc

Game Science is apparently looking into making physical versions of their game on disc. Black Myth is their first global release of a console game so they dont have the produiction and distribution avenues to create a physical release yet. However, the team is actively exploring options to offer physical discs.

I hope they do a good job and dont go down the route of relying on someone like Limited Run Games to do their printing and distribution for them. These services only print limited amounts to rely on FOMO and dont operate fast enough to meet demand (how long has it been since they announced they will work on printing a physical version of Hi-Fi Rush, nevermind the fact that their actual deliveries are also incredibly slow.

Probably will look into some distribution channel in China to produce and release and this could hopefully result in Chinese devs still maintaining physical releases.

So, whats the opinion from my countrys biggest online shop and its customers?

It looks bad.... (german only, sorry)

They are not cheap if it comes to buying stuff, but they know the value of stuff... and what they want, most likely.

One of those comments: FF16 will cost 35 CHF on a BD and 80 CHF on the PSN store... so... yeah... if digital would be cheaper there is at least one good argument, but nope... this is not always the case. Actually, a lot of games i got cheaper on my BDs compared to a PSN store offer. Many digital offers, especially in my country, are ridiculously overpriced and good luck waiting for the rather rare price cuts... those discounts are not that frequently such as on Steam or GoG.