howdy

Happy belated holidays! I didn't realize it had been so long since I logged on here. Guess I have a lot of updating to do. Hope you and the kids have had a fantastic 2023 so far!

Congrats on the PS5! I still haven't tried to get one. I think Demon's Souls is the only exclusive I need to play. I would definitely check out Astro's Playroom as well, but it seems like everything else is still coming out on the PS4.

Congrats on the new position, but hopefully you can find some free time soon. I too am well below my annual quota for finishing games. Find some time to enjoy that new PS5 soon!

That is bad news on the PS5 controller. About once a month, I have to spray my Joycons with electronic contact cleaner just to make them usable. I am on my third PS4 controller, the most I have gone through on a system. Guess they really don't make them like they used to.

Vampyr doesn't sound like that much fun to me. Guess I'm not missing out by skipping. The mechanic does sound interesting though, kind of like how you can go non-lethal in Deus Ex, but it is so much harder than just killing. I only add games that look interesting to me, but there have been several already this year. I am actually making an effort to finish up PS+ titles right now. After what Sony is doing with the Vita store, I just don't trust that they won't pull them or discontinue downloads or something anti-consumer like that.

I liked Spider Man quite a lot. Really loved swinging through the city. The combat is weird for me - just like the Arkham games in that sometimes, I am in the zone and put together massive combos, but the next fight I will just suck so bad. I have no idea why. Plague Tale is a game I have thought about picking up. Keep thinking that eventually, it will be in the $10 range and I will get it. I actually haven't purchased a game in quite some time. I think the pandemic is propping up prices. Speaking of prices, retro game prices are through the roof. I see a used copy of Silent Hill 2 goes for $70-$100 these days. I swear it was around $10 just a couple of years ago.

Yeah, I haven't been following the launch issues with the new systems closely either. I will wait to do my research until I am closer to buying. More storage would certainly be nice. I am hoping for the same thing.

I should have added Vampyr but never did as I doubt I will ever get to it. Should have done it anyway as it doesn't hurt to add it to the library. If you plan on playing Beyond: Two Souls, I recommend you do so prior to Detroit. I liked Beyond, but Detroit is much better IMO and I could see it hard to go back. Not sure if I will play them anytime soon (or ever), but both January PS4 PS Plus games are worth an add for me.

Glad to hear everyone is well there. We have been well too. I worry about the post holidays spike, but I think my kids are ready to go back to school. Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year.

Only a few days into Spider Man but really enjoying it so far. I know I told you I planned on getting to it sometime this year, but didn't think I would cut it this close. Haha.

Hopefully you waited a while on the PS5. Sounds like there are issues with at least some launch models. As long as the S could play the games I want, it would be fine for me.

I still subscribe to PS+, but I'm not sure why. I think the last game I played from it was Edith Finch a year and a half ago. They have had a pretty good selection recently. I just already own everything I am interested in. Yeah, Gamepass sounds like a good deal. Once Microsoft starts putting out games, I may check it out but their launch line up for the Series is non-existent so far.

Hope You and your family are all doing well!

We know all the prices and dates now. I told my wife not to get me a PS5 for Christmas. I will likely wait at least a year before I jump in unless we see something like Persona 6 announced and then you can disregard everything I said about waiting. I am not a tech guy, but based on power, price, and games; the PS5 digital is likely the one for me. I like that it is identical in specs to the disc-based version. I do like the price of the Series S, but wonder if it will fall behind in a couple of years. I have no clue though. I haven't played on PC for years and doubt I will ever go back.

I played and quite enjoyed Mafia II on the 360. The story and characters are quite good. A bunch of Japanese games I am interested in start coming out next week starting with 13 Sentinels.

I used to do that with PS Plus and found that I was playing a bunch of stuff I never would have bothered with if it wasn't included. I found a few gems, but decided my time would be better spent with stuff I was truly excited for. Gamepass would probably drop me in that dark hole again. Haha.

That is high praise for RDR2. I really should get to it soon.

Revision for the big news - looks like I may have to pick up an Xbox Series console after all if Bethesda ever releases The Elder Scrolls VI or Fallout 5. Good news for Microsoft, bad news for my bank account.

I definitely plan on getting to Spider-Man soon, though will probably mix it up a bit after Horizon and go with a JRPG or something. I think howlongtobeat has the completion time not much over 30 hours.

Sony and Microsoft keep playing this massive game of chicken. I will wait, but for those that want to preorder, I imagine patience is running thin. I watch a few Youtube channels that go over all of these rumors from insiders, and it is getting a bit crazy with the speculation.

I like Horizon quite a bit. It sticks to the Assassins Creed formula pretty close. The world is way more interesting visually, but a bit emptier when it comes to things to do. I played through on hard and there is a surprising learning curve to the combat. I feel much more like a killing machine now, but in the beginning I struggled. The story is really cool as well - definitely recommended. I too put off playing my most anticipated games for some reason. Red Dead 2 is still in my backlog!

I watched as well. I am intrigued by Avowed and Fable, but I really know nothing about the games beyond they are coming out and a general setting. I think with Microsoft announcing you won't need to upgrade consoles for a year or two in order to play Micosoft Studios games, it is safe to assume we won't see either until Holiday 2021 at the earliest - guessing 2022 is more likely. Other than that, I agree that Everwild and Medium look interesting. I think Medium had the "console launch exclusive" moniker attached so guessing it will eventually come to PS5.

All-in-all, I thought the showcase was good, but not as good as the PS5 event. Nothing there convinced me I needed a Series X. Fable and Avowed have that potential, I just need more info.

I certainly like the look of the disk version on the stand more than the digital version. I may go all digital though if it is a lot cheaper.

The only systems I currently have hooked up are the PS4 and Switch so I will have a lot less rearranging than you. Haha. I am tempted as well but when I have been an early adopter in the past, I tend to neglect the previous gen systems. I have too much in the backlog for that. Hellblade 2 does look good and Microsoft also has Obsidian plus the long rumored Fable reboot. Maybe an Xbox is in my future...my distant future. That is true that the big games tend to get next gen versions. It is hit or miss with smaller titles like JRPG's though so unfortunately, I'm not done buying yet.