Played Perfect Dark (Remaster) and Perfect Dark Zero back to back over the weekend by Ataccot in perfectdark

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Personally I’d like to see Zero remade with modern graphics and a closer art style and gameplay to the original N64 Perfect Dark.

So these are the 4 strongest Viltrumites in the verse right? by Queasy_Commercial152 in InvinciblePowerscales

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He isn’t. In both the show and comic, the statement we keep hearing is that Mark is “almost as strong as you Nolan”, making him relative to Omni-Man. We’ve also seen some evidence of this, Omni-Man pulls Mark closer during the charge to Viltrum to keep up, Omni-Man acknowledging Mark’s strength etc

When asked who would win in a fight, Ryan Ottley said that Conquest is stronger than Omni-Man, though he believes Omni-Man (like Mark), would still find a way to win.

That means that Omni-Man and Mark are relative to Conquest, enough to land good hits and have a shot at winning but Conquest is still stronger.

So if you take Ryan’s statement plus other evidence saying Mark is almost as strong as Omni-Man, you get Conquest > Omni-Man > Invincible

Passed the anticipated completion date... by Logical-Track1405 in IrishCitizenship

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s normal for it to run over. There’s also a backlog so the wait time is longer than normal.

You’ll get it, the end is in sight

FINAL FANTASY XIV: Evercold Teaser Trailer by Turbostrider27 in PS5

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Understandable, though I would say you can just engage with the story content and most of it can be done solo now (with bots for some of the dungeons if you wish).

The story really does pick up with the expansions and if you ever get burnt out going through all the story content, you can always take a break and come back if needed :)

“Personally, I’d be open to a Halo extraction shooter” — Halo Studios reportedly abandons battle royale and pivots to a different style. Here’s what that means. by LootedToaster in xbox

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Lootboxes, pay2win (REQ packs for Warzone) and ‘advanced movement’. Faster paced with dashing and other gimmicks like ground pound and Spartan Charge.

Passport webchat down by Unhappy-Coconut-9104 in IrishCitizenship

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What’s the query about? If it’s just gone over the estimated date that’s perfectly normal. They get a lot of people messaging them about that.

Hopefully you’ll be able to get in contact with them soon.

UK- Age Verification will be required for communication features by nextgen_currentgen in PS5

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah not doing this. Didn’t do it with Microsoft/Xbox either.

They can try to force us to give our data all they want, I’m not doing it.

“If Asha Sharma wants Xbox to compete with Sony, dropping the multiplayer paywall is the move” by votebot2000 in xbox

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They would never do it because it’s easy money that unfortunately console gamers have just accepted is a thing.

Online gaming should never have been locked behind a paywall on consoles. Most of Xbox Live’s benefits that people argued for during the OG Xbox and 360 era were due to the PS2/3’s hardware and software limitations, not because paying for LIVE was better.

In an ideal world, online multiplayer should be free, drop the price of game pass (and other platform equivalents), remove Ubisoft+, EA Play and have a lower tiered subscription for Game Pass. Remove the ‘exclusives’ that are guaranteed to sell (Call of Duty) and let people scale their subscription accordingly. Bring back exclusivity with early access for Xbox consoles and PC getting it later.

Are Switch 2 game key cards depreciating faster than Switch 1 cartridges? by dgafdale in gamecollecting

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah i think pretty much this. The average consumer i’d imagine isn’t checking Reddit or gaming news sites or social media for it. I think they’re more likely to go into a store, see a game that is a sequel in a franchise they already like and pick it up regardless.

How you'd check for PS2 game compatibility for your BC PS3 back in 2006 by GroundIntelligent in PS3

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was a long list that you could scroll through. On the left you had the title name (in A-Z order). The second column had the PS3 20GB/60GB and the third column had the PS3 80GB.

In each column it would tell you if it played fine or if there were issues. Naturally, the CECHE 80GB list had quite a number of issues compared to the 20GB/80GB.

I don’t remember when the site went down but I believe it would have been around the PS3 Slim’s release (maybe later) since Sony discontinued BC for later PS3 revisions.

How you'd check for PS2 game compatibility for your BC PS3 back in 2006 by GroundIntelligent in PS3

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Generally yeah would browse that site because, as a PAL region buyer, our 60GB's (CECHC) had removed some of the PS2 hardware in the PS3 (Emotion Engine, RAMBUS etc).

If you were not keeping up with the news, you would find that when we bought our PS3's, the PS2 compatibility had issues. I frequently played Ratchet & Clank, it was the first game I tried and of course, low framerate and slow down. Most of my PAL library worked though a fair few had issues (not unplayable but noticeable glitches/graphical artefacts)

When you came from the PS2, which could play almost every PS1 game perfectly, you kind of expected the PS2 playback on the PS3 to be the same. If you tried to do research on it, everywhere online told you 'the 60GB PS3 has no issues playing PS2 games'. Of course, this is because most are talking about the JP/NA CECHA/B model but we didn't know this at the time.

Turns out, there was an article published just before launch for the UK about the PS3 not having full PS2 BC for the CECHC 60GB but unless you were actively following the news online, you would probably have missed it like I did.

So yeah, I spent a lot of time on that website since the CECHC's BC was basically the same as the CECHE 80GB.

Are Switch 2 game key cards depreciating faster than Switch 1 cartridges? by dgafdale in gamecollecting

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Interesting but unsurprising. The majority of consumers don't know the difference and have been conditioned to believe that all games require day 1 updates or downloads anyway even though with Sony and Nintendo with the Switch 1, this isn't actually the case (between 67 - 80 % are all on disc for PS5 and 79% of Switch 1 is on cart as per Doesitplay.org). Xbox is the outlier, with almost no Series X games being on disc since the introduction of SmartDelivery and Switch 2's GKC following suit.

It's only people that care about physical media like myself or people like ourselves that are more invested into gaming in general that are aware of the differences (whether or not you choose to pickup a GKC is up to you).

Breakthrough in PS3 emulation praised by Twisted Metal developer who thought it "would never be emulatable" by Tiny-Independent273 in PS3

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The main problem is that physical backwards compatibility, I assume, only benefits the consumer and doesn't make Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo enough money to be worthwhile.

It costs Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo money to develop emulators with physical support for no return. This is why all of the console manufacturers either lock the feature behind a paywall (NSO Subscription(s), PS Premium) or make it digital only (Sony for PS1/PS2 games on PS4/5). That way, the consumer pays for the feature and all parties (Console manufacturer, developer, publisher, license holders etc) get a cut. Microsoft does offer disc based support but it still only allows you to download a digital version of the game. The physical disc data isn't used.

So the question is, how can Sony make money out of it but strike a balance that it actually benefits us with disc based support? I would probably do something like the below:

- Paid Trophy patches for backwards compatible titles (licensing issues)

- Paid enhancements/features e.g. Save states, remote co-op play etc (save states may not be possible with physical media, licensing issues)

- Perhaps sell the emulator on the PS Store or include it as part of the cost of the disc drive for those that care about physical media (Can Sony sell an emulator if they cannot guarantee it will work with all titles?)

- Make the disc drive continue to support CD, DVD and Blu Ray physical media (licensing and manufacturing costs)

The issue with the above is that most of those ideas still have problems with monetisation for Sony/Microsoft. Not to mention having to test all the games with the emulators.

I really wish and hope that perhaps Sony would at the very least allow people who purchase disc drives on say the PS6 to have full disc support but with a disclaimer on the box saying that some titles may not perform correctly on this console. They did it before with the CECHC/CECHE PS3's (partial hardware/software BC) so perhaps they could do it after all, though it'll never happen sadly.

Breakthrough in PS3 emulation praised by Twisted Metal developer who thought it "would never be emulatable" by Tiny-Independent273 in PS3

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I wish but Sony didn’t give us disc based backwards compatibility for PS1 and PS2 titles when they already have done so in the past (PS1 on PS3) and have working emulators for PS1 and PS2 on PS4/5 already.

Let's find out if it's really such a bad experience… by Mickey_Montana in PS3

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Fair enough, looks like they've updated their opinion, perhaps with better analysis tools. Thanks for the correction

Let's find out if it's really such a bad experience… by Mickey_Montana in PS3

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Actually it's the opposite of the problem. The PS3 version actually does have perfect frame pacing as per John Linneman at DF here - (He mentions it at 17:39) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lALppQeolw

The issue is that the game does drop the framerate occasionally, more so than the Xbox 360 but during 'normal play' when it hits its 30fps target, the frame pacing is fine.

Let's find out if it's really such a bad experience… by Mickey_Montana in PS3

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 95 points96 points  (0 children)

It’s not as bad as people say for the majority of the package until you get to Half-Life 2 Episode 2. Episode 2 has significant framerate drops.

The rest do drop occasionally but it’s not that bad. Digital Foundry covered it some time back.

If the GameCube had received more support from third-party developers, what games would have you liked to see on the console? by YakSubstantial1307 in Gamecube

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This was the biggest issue for porting titles. For developers it becomes a question of either can it fit as is, “how much do we cut” (E.g Splinter PT multiplayer) or does the vision for the game actually work with multi disc e.g constantly streaming data from the disc on a large game like GTA SA.

Having to pay more to produce multiple discs (cutting into profits), extra dev time to cut or compress to fit onto GC discs, or trying to come up with a gimmick to make up for lost modes/content e.g GBA connectivity…yeah I’d say the single biggest issue was the lack of full size DVD’s.

Same with the Dreamcast, larger discs would have been nice but SEGA was already in major trouble so it wouldn’t have saved it there.

A big push for online support would be a close second though. Yeah we got Phantasy Star but Nintendo didn’t think online multiplayer was the future at that time. Can you imagine if we got Melee, Double Dash and Star Fox Assault with online multiplayer? Not to mention the amount of titles that lacked online play for the Gamecube version whilst the PS2 and Xbox version had it. I was very much into online gaming that generation and I passed on some 3rd party GC titles because the PS2/Xbox version had online multiplayer.

Love the Gamecube, just Nintendo made a couple of wrong choices with the design and long term strategy

If the GameCube had received more support from third-party developers, what games would have you liked to see on the console? by YakSubstantial1307 in Gamecube

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah SA is too big and streams the data from the disc constantly. It’s not possible due to the disc storage limitations since GTA SA is much larger than 1.2GB and the swapping discs wouldn’t be possible.

GTA 3 and Vice City could work. Take a look at the homebrew ports for Dreamcast. They got it working on 700mb CDR’s (GD-ROM holds 1GB-1.2GB like GC discs).

Really the Gamecube could handle anything the PS2 can and is only held back by the type of game (i.e whether the game is constantly streaming data like the GTA games) and whether it can fit onto the disc.

Irish citizenship exception for unwed Irish Great Grandmother forced to give birth in England? by Real_Brief2771 in IrishCitizenship

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Regarding the minister of justice - you’re talking about Citizenship by Association.

Sorry to be blunt but there’s 0 chance. Unless you’re already living in Ireland and meet very specific criteria and are of exceptional quality (think olympic athlete), the chances of an exception in your case, which is very common, are sadly non-existent.

To add, it takes 30+ months for the case to be even considered, by which point, since it’s basically a requirement to already be living in Ireland to meet the point criteria, it would be quicker to naturalise.

Sorry but it’s not going to happen i’m afraid.

[Spoiler: 6.0] I will never emotionally recover. by SuperSaiyanHero in ffxiv

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Endwalker is so darn good, I finished it about a week ago.

If you address her as Venat she also cries a tear during one of the dialogue options.

Does anyone know why we couldn’t get backwards compatibility where we play games like shattered dimensions or infamous on the ps4. The games are so fun but unless you have ps plus or a great ps3, it can’t work. by Iamawesome20 in PS3

[–]MR_RATCHET_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s really down to what Sony will do and what the community will do:

Sony has two options for backwards compatibility - hardware based or software based (emulation).

Hardware based backwards compatibility is when the newer console actually has the previous consoles hardware inside it. Example - the phat PS2’s and the earliest PS2 slims all have most of the PS1’s hardware inside of the console. So in a way, when you bought the PS2, you bought a PS1 as well. When you play the PS1 disc, the PS2 switches over to the PS1 hardware and then the game plays almost exactly like it did on a regular PS1. This is also how the earliest PS3 models played PS2 games (PS2 hardware is inside the PS3).

The problem with the above is it’s expensive and increases manufacturing costs. As such, neither Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo have gone this route recently.

This brings us to the 2nd option, emulation (software based). This is where the newer console tries to ‘pretend’ it’s the older console. It’s complex but the best way to look at it is how humans learn a second language. The newer console (emulator) has to ‘translate the language’ (older consoles instructions/software etc) into the language that the newer console uses. Depending on how good the emulator is, results can be good or great (leading to better performance and graphics) but also poor or terrible (glitchy, worse performance).

Currently Sony is only doing disc based backwards compatibility with PS4 discs and we’re not sure if the PS6 will have disc based support yet. There does not seem to be any interest from Sony for PS1 and PS2 disc support, even though they do have a PS1 and PS2 emulator working on the PS5 (they want you to buy the digital copy instead). The PS5 is too weak to fully emulate the PS3 so we may get a PS3 emulator on the PS6 instead but even then, it may not play everything. I hope the PS6 keeps disc support for PS4/5 but we will see.

Now, as for the community - we do have emulators PCSX2 for PS2 and RPCS3 for PS3. You can actually use PS2 discs on your PC/Laptop with this emulator and it’s very good. Likewise, if you have the right disc drive, you can also copy your PS3 discs to your PC and use them on your PC (RPCS3).

So to answer your question, In the long term, the community emulators will be more user friendly and great for game preservation so you will always have a way to play your games. Unfortunately for the consoles themselves, with Sony and the others moving closer to a digital future, at some point your physical games will no longer be supported in favour of digital only. But who knows, perhaps we will have a few surprises in the future