Astro Bot - 9/10 GS, 94 MC + Digital Foundry verdict!

Devs are not more motivated to make a better game because of the exclusive label. Exclusives are solely in the benefit of the platform holder. Games compete with games. Exclusives compete with non exclusives. Successful games generate money to continue making more successful games. By your own admission, consoles have no reason to exist outside of serving the interest of the platform holder. Why would gamers be trying to defend something like that?

This game has looked great since it was first revealed. I'll definitely pick this up on PC

The owners of the second party or in-house studio are motivated to insure quality because they have a useless piece of hardware to sell. Funding may be extended farther than from a third party. I highly doubt that The Last Guardian would have gotten all that support over years and years of development hell from Capcom or Konami. They would have rushed it out the door.

Boy, ASTRO Bot and Concord couldn't have come at a more convenient time.... Sony now gets to see first hand how horrible their GaaS approach is and assuming playststion fans buy astrobot, will also see what gamers actually want in a video game...

The Last Guardian wasn't a system seller. By your own criteria, it would have failed in the primary objective of moving useless hardware. If I recall correctly the studio was closed. Capcom is doing better than they have done with game sales in years and they are not pushing hardware. Games compete with games because that is the sole reason people buy hardware, whether it is PC, console or mobile. A game exclusive for any of those platforms will be competing against other games for the limited resources of consumer spending.

I didn't know Sony has a crystal ball. They should have just looked into the future and cancelled The Last Guardian, even as the community and publications kept asking about it.

All Japan Studio was closed. Team Ico was just one of the last remnants. Japan Studio struggled with the PS3's architecture and had not been adequately funded for many years, because Sony preferred to chase the AAA movie experience for short-term profit. But the lack of variety, high cost and very long development times of those photorealistic western games have come back to bite them.

People buy hardware for the games. No one would buy new graphics cards if the graphical fidelity of games did not keep advancing. If Sony did not want killer apps, then they would have released Astro Bot on PC the same day. I'm sure they will release it on PC eventually. But they shouldn't. They should bring more variety into their portfolio again and "force" everyone to buy their useless hardware with expensive online access and overpriced junk controllers again. Would they keep making games if they didn't also have hardware to push? Who knows?

Not sure where you got the idea of a crystal ball from my comment. Sony, like many other companies can project and make decision that includes the cancellation of a game in development. This isn't something new.

That is correct.

Again, you are speaking on behalf of Sony's best interest and I so happen to be a consumer who is not concerned about what would make Sony/MS/Nintendo the most amount of money at consumers expense. As for the bold, yes. Games make money. There is no logical reason why a company would cease development of games all because they don't sell hardware. That is like arguing "Would Sega continue to make games without having to push hardware?".

GaaS generates more income than any single player game. So, it is understandable why they would like a piece of that pie. With that said, they getting burnt in that pursuit is 🤷🏽‍♂️

Sony has had a history of making great games and flops. Notable flops I can think of off the top of my head: Lair, Haze, Socom Confrontation, The Order 1886.. it seems like people forget that Sony has always had stinkers. It's just a part of the industry. Every publisher has had their fair share of flops.

Lamespot strikes again, not even hiding their bias anymore.

The game has game breaking bugs and gets a 9🤦‍♂️

Looks great, I'll definitely grab it when it comes to PC.

Fantastic seeing Sony bringing some competition to Nintendo.

she will probably say yes

Well there you go. 😁

Last guardian on it's own isn't a system seller, but creating a portfolio of games that includes games like Last Guardian is a system seller. Historically playstation has dominated due to making these diverse portfolios that just create a tipping point where you can't really justify not owning one.

Granted they are backstepping away from that on PS5, and actually still suceeding, but I'd argue that success is on past momentum only. I think a ps6 will be the beginning of the end of them if they can't right the ship with genuinely good games again. Astro Bot is absolutely a step in the right direction though.

Well I would say that I'll get the game on sale, but chances are the game will be on PS Plus within 6 months to a year, so I'll probably just wait, unless it drops to 20 or 30 bucks.

Is that confirmed, or are we assuming?

It's quite PS5 controller-heavy in its design, from what I understand? Might stay PS5 exclusive like the first one.. It'd be a shame, but Sony's weird.

That actually looks like a really good game. Good job Sony for releasing a fun good game instead of that Concord crap. I don't own a PS5 so sadly I can't play it, but I hope it will come to PC in the future.

Damn, Sony bringing the heat and kicking out another GotY. It's time to put Asobi in their top echelon of studios

@Litchie: If it remains on the PS5, no loss

What happened to your insider friends from Sony who would get you discounts on Sony games 😎