A PS4 Thread: Because You Had to Play "Knack"

josh you seem to be extremely interested in the relative prices and values of videogames, in general! it's fine, i'm just saying you're off the bell curve in terms of how much you think about this.

the best way to play good games at low prices is

a) play older games for current system. there are tons of really good game that are a few years old and are now down to $20 or so. this is more true for systems like PS4 that have a larger catalog and have been around for a while.
b) buy an older system (xbox 360, ps2, many good options here) - the games are cheap, there are tons of good ones and you can work your way through lists of the best games released for the system, you can buy lots on ebay for cheap, etc
b) play free games. either for a console or on your computer. there is a lot of good free shit. if every game is a ratio of fun / cost, your fun ratio will be beyond time and space and/or destroy the universe if you divide by 0

or like NA said, buy the witcher 3. you can play it every day for the next several months without completing it. and by the time you do, cyberpunk 2077 will be out, and you can spend all of 2019-2025 playing it. it's worth $60, it's worth $150. it is arguably worth $15000

i am way in the minority here but i thought Witcher 3 was not much fun at all. gave it a good 25 hours or so and dropped it.

maybe it was because i had come to it after a Souls/Bloodborne game and the combat just felt clunky as hell. and story driven games just aren't my bag i've come to find.

ha we are opposites. i put the difficulty down to easy to get past a hard part and ended up leaving it there because i just wanted to explore and have fun and enjoy the story and side missions, not master combat techniques.

xpost Ha, it's just that I have been burned before when it comes to things that can be accumulated. I will think, wow, this is supposed to be awesome and the price is great! And then I find out the price I paid was average or overpriced, and I start seeing it for less money everywhere,and I feel like a sucker. In the end, $20, $15, neither is terribly expensive, but given the choice I would rather pay $5 less.

for me though it is less the relative value of games in the case of the PlayStation and more specific games I want, then trying to figure out the price they're worth, when I have encountered a wide range of prices for the same item.

another related thought experience: would you rather pay a small bit more for something with twice as much content, which is a good value, even you are unlikely ever to play all the contact? my heart says yes even though my brain knows better.

content not contact

I actually pay attention to the sale prices a lot. In terms of what's on sale, I don't see anything that hasn't been on sale a couple times already this year. There are some games that only go on sale maybe once or twice a year ... some Japanese companies have sales much more infrequently ... I waited a pretty long time for Persona 5 to go on sale even a little bit.

I think the usual timeline is that games are slightly on sale before they're released, then they're regular price for a long time. Then maybe there's a Christmas sale, and then they don't go on sale for quite some time.

EA games are constantly on sale. Ubisoft games go on sale a lot.

Another thing to note is that when you look at New Releases, you'll sometimes see older games at the top. I think that means that they're establishing a new price point. So what was a 59.99 game is now a 39.99 game. For me that's as good as it going on sale ... they're not going to reduce the price again after setting the new price point.

I hope everyone grabbed Xcom 2 for free this month. :)

Josh: i'm with you on obsessively maximizing dollar value out of video game purchases, but (I'm guessing) you're probably at the point where you straight up don't have the time to play that many games. i have an insane backlog (seriously, hundreds of games, not even counting Steam) going back years because I've spent so much time buying cheap games, because you can get so much playtime for relatively speaking, very very little money. (especially compared to pretty much every other hobby including comic books, music, movies, TV...)

in short dun worry about it. the sales come, the sales go. if you don't need to play every brand new game, you never need to worry about value. (um less we're talking about Nintendo, sales are less common. but they still happen!)

and PSN has sales literally every week, you'll get a slightly better discount with PS+ (which you should get for the free games and multiplayer access anyway)
the flash sales are roughly once a month but no special discount for PS+ members

p.s. cheapassgamer.com and slickdeals.net

i'm with you on obsessively maximizing dollar value out of video game purchases, but (I'm guessing) you're probably at the point where you straight up don't have the time to play that many games.

Lol, totally. In my defense, I bought the PS4 specially to play a small handful of time consuming games. The compulsive part of me just wants to buy that handful of games and have them, well, handy.

Here's a FPS question for you all. I'd never played a FPS before I bought Doom for Switch. Gyro aim has been super helpful, to the extent that I can't imagine being able to aim and shoot without it. My question is: am I able to accurately aim and shoot without it? Sometimes I forget that people are playing these games on PC, or with mouse/keyboard support, but are FPS games playable just aiming with dual analog sticks? Seems super hard, and Fortnite on Switch has underscored that, but is it just another thing to get used to that will eventually become second nature? I specifically skipped Wolfenstein on the Switch since I presumed the presentation, price and play would be better on the PS4, but i just occurred to me that means/meant sacrificing gyro controls.

Yeah it's fine, just needs a bit of getting used to. Console games also tend to have a little bit of aim assist to make up for not being quite as accurate as a mouse.

I'm absolutely awful at FPS games.

The only ones I can play are slower paced ones like Fallout and Skyrim.

That's sort of what I was wondering. Doom is as aggressive and fast paced as it gets, so I can't really imagine getting good at aiming with the sticks after being spoiled by the gyro on Switch. (Then again, sometimes even the gyro throws me off.) I suppose it's possible, I'll see. But other shooters are apparently a tad slower and more methodical (like, I guess, Fallout). And then you get to Fortnite, which, on the Switch, I find hard to play, because I am playing against homebound semi-pros with mouse and keyboard rigs who can pick me off with ease while I struggle to aim, and am seemingly unable to hit anything even when I have the upper hand. It's hard for me to tell if that is because 1) I am not good 2) aiming with analog sticks is hard and, afaict, there is no aim assist or 3) I am simply playing against people much, much better than me. (This last is a given, regardless.) And this is all in a pretty janky environment, anyway.

I'd probably go with #3.

If you're just a casual player, unless the FPS has some pretty good matching system, you're going to be up against people who probably play the game 8+ hours every day.

apart from Rocket League i have never been good at online games. the deck is stacked - you are playing against people that can commit full time to playing these games. when i was a teenager i played hella videogames daily, i was a DOOM (og game) monster, and if there was global multiplayer i would have probably wrecked.

if it makes you feel any better after playing (and losing) Fortnight on Switch i ended up downloading for Steam and playing with M+K. in around a dozen matches i still have not made a single kill or survived a match.

this is where the crafting mechanic really shines, i can be a complete loser and still have fun for most of the match running around and, for instance, coming across a pack of teammates all destroying a cop car.

i'm not gonna keep harping on witcher 3, i promise, but it's down to $20 new at all the big stores and will last you for months. easily my favorite ps4 game (based on pretty limited experience)

xpost I have played Fortnite only a handful of times, relatively speaking, and always almost absent-mindedly. The other day I tried a match first thing in morning, and was shot in the first 30 seconds of the game. So I thought, what the hell? Then I've realized they had changed it from the 50 vs 50 format to every man for himself or whatever. My bad. I did see that they introduced a playground mode or something like that, just for people to goof around in and learn the mechanics.

oh, also regarding Fortnite. I watched a stream of a dude who almost successfully won a match with no weapons, just playing hundred percent defensively. And it really does come down to how fast and how creatively you can build shit to defend yourself. the people who can build fast, and build up, and quickly build a bunker around them, let alone replace destroyed walls, those people have the biggest advantage.

It's not an unbeatable advantage though. I can't build at all, or shoot very well, but I've won one game and placed top 3 in lots of others by playing a kind of stealth mode, just plotting good safe routes through the map and making sure that if you are forced into combat, you position yourself so that you at least get a good shot or two at them before they see you.

So what is this PS+ nonsense? You need a monthly subscription if you want to play anything online? Fair enough, don't think I care about that. And you get a couple of free games a month, but ... you lose them if you cancel your subscription? Eh.

it's like $50 a year for multiplayer + the games. that's a cup of coffee a month. it's a good value. also, cloud saves

($50 on discount which happens fairly often)

you lose them if you cancel your subscription

If you restart your subscription later your access is restored fwiw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urbLIyd-VsQ

I don’t understand it, but I am excited by it.

I bought a Slim yesterday! It's set to arrive today, and my first purchase is probably going to be Hellblade (the game concept intrigues me, what can I say, and Raycevick big-upped it). After that, I'm less sure: the Uncharted collection then Uncharted 4, because Naughty Dog?

I think the one must-have is a good story narrative experience.

Josh, have you played Horizon Zero Dawn yet?

uncharted 4 is super dope

I waited until after Prime Day (which sucked and was broken) to see if a PS4 went on sale before I opened mine. It didn't so I will, but not until I get back from a trip. There were a handful of very specific titles I wanted to get for the PS4, and so far I have picked most of them up super-cheap. Dark Souls Remastered, Bloodbourne, Last of Us remastered. Uncharted 4 I haven't bought yet, but I did get the collection of the other Uncharteds, which I'd want to play first, and I haven't gotten the Wolfensteins (or rebought Doom), but I'll get there eventually. (Same with God of War when the price drops or more used copies appear). Horizon Zero Dawn wasn't originally on my short list, but I bought it when it dropped to $10 at Best Buy, because I had heard good things and, come on, $10!

The Slim supports Bluetooth -- but not Bluetooth audio? Weird! I see that there are dongles to connect Bluetooth headphones (I have a pair of Beats), but the reviews say that they're not reliable. Anybody have ideas?

yeh I have a set of Sony bluetooth headphones and they do not work with the PS4.
also a xbox gamepad that does not work with windows 10 (although you can use a PS4 controller with some fannying around wtf?)
bluetooth is a mess.

if you apply the standard formula for shitty technologies

(amount of people using a technology) x (terribleness of a technology)

bluetooth is objectively the worst technology of all time

Some kinda sale:

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/grid/STORE-MSF77008-ATTACKOFBBSALEGG/1?direction=asc&sort=name

Tempted to see if FPSes still make me motion sick to see what the Bioshock fuss is about.

Also argh at all the stuff I bought recently included above.

Definitely a solid price for God of War. Uncharteds are also bargain-priced. This is digital only right? Do any of you have a preference of digital vs. physical? Does it matter? In terms of speed or stability?

It's PSN, so yeah, digital-only.

Karl's diss of GOW has kept me from checking it out, tbh, so let it be known: ILG is a real-world influencer!

Considering Persona 5 though.

I have no real preference b/w digital vs. physical, though I'd guess that physical, which requires reading via an optical disc, can be more prone to mechanical failure and is thus theoretically less stable.

Oh man, don’t let me stop you Lee! I’m a weirdo with games, and my opinions aren’t even logically consistent. Tons of people like GOW. For the record I also dislike uncharted and last of us, both beloved franchises

O_O

With a TLOU opinion like that, you should work in the Trump admin!!

There’s a hiring freeze right now but maybe I can mention it in the supplementary materials section of my usajobs.com application!

octoris?

now that's a word i don't like to hear

I ended up getting:

God of War
Uncharted Lost Legacy (thinking of returning the this)
Persona 5

Can you "return" a digital purchase?

Sekiro, that Samurai/stealth distant cousin to Dark Souls, was just announced for I think next spring, which means (I assume) another couple of years for the PS4, til maybe late 2019 or 2020. Which makes me feel good for buying one now.

PS4 has at least 3 more years, probably 4-5 for Japanese games

Tempted to see if FPSes still make me motion sick to see what the Bioshock fuss is about.

I get that with a lot of FPSes like Call of Duty etc but was absolutely fine with the Bioshock games as they're a lot less frantic (see also Fallout/Skyrim).

Bloodborne Complete Edition is $12 right now. But, as someone who never got into Witcher and isn't interested in exploring open worlds, would I enjoy this game?

It isn't really open world. More action than RPG.

i have never played it, but i always kind of imagined it as dark souls with guns?