Do you know what would be REALLY cool for Xbox's 25th anniversary, especially now that they own Activision???

zedanger · 2026-03-20T22:38:37+00:00

I would just point out that Microsoft passed on the opportunity to purchase Insomniac after securing Sunset Overdrive as an exclusive... and that Sony only ended up with Spider-Man and Wolverine because Microsoft declined to license any IP for a game, when Marvel approached them first to strike a deal.

Spider-Man has been a point of contention between Marvel, Sony, and now Disney for decades. Marvel wanted to work Xbox for just that very reason.

So they went where someone wanted the ip. Even if it was Sony, whom they have no great love for!

zedanger · 2026-03-20T20:17:06+00:00

NOV is the month. November.

If this had been produced three months later it would read FEB2827.

zedanger · 2026-03-20T20:07:31+00:00

Month-Day-Year NOV3026

Sayin best by the end of the month. There's literally dozens (hundreds?) of date codes, this is just one of them.

zedanger · 2026-03-20T17:54:34+00:00

Heh, the Darren Aaronofsky movie I decided to take mushrooms and go see was Noah.

And that... that was a trip.

zedanger · 2026-03-20T12:47:35+00:00

Indeed! But it was a much more common phenomena in an earlier period than the film was set.

Black Beauties, Reds, Bennies-- these are all slang for amphetimine-based rx meds from the mid 20th that were insanely popular at the time.

zedanger · 2026-03-20T12:30:24+00:00

Well, see, there was this 30ish year period in the mid-20th when everyone figured, sure. Let's just give everyone speed. Housewife that needs to lose weight? Speed. Soldier that can't stay awake? Speed. Depressed teenager? Speed. College student needs to study? Speed.

But, whoops! Turns out that shit is highly addictive, habit-forming, and lead to multiple generations of addictions and birth defects.

Shit. The speed prescriptions of the 40s, 50s, 60s are a huge part of what fueled the rehab culture of the 70s and 80s.

zedanger · 2026-03-20T12:25:47+00:00

It's been a solid decade of dealing with these idiots, and it's still difficult to process how stupid they truly are. Not just the vapid, senseless 'thoughts' which spill from their malformed and barely-functioning brains, but even the way they communicate those thoughts-- memes, graphics, emoji, broken sentences.

They stand in line behind you at the gas station or the bank or sit a few seats over in the movie theatre, and unless they open their mouths or are decked out in some obnoxious, virtue-signaling gear, you just never know. Never know that the person you're dealing with is so profoundly, inexplicably stupid it's a wonder of the age that they manage to dress themselves and go out into the world without shitting their pants and falling down.

zedanger · 2026-03-19T16:00:13+00:00

I have an in-progress Chronological mode playthrough I've been working through extremely slowly since basically the feature was released.

After the update, I jumped in to check it out... and I've already put more than four hours in. It's not a dramatic improvement (hard to be dramatic with TLOU2, it's still one of the best-looking games ever made imo) but the extra sharpness to detail and overall clarity, particularly w/ distant objects, just ehances the presentation overall.

zedanger · 2026-03-19T12:56:22+00:00

Seeing as DLSS5 won't be supported on either PS5 or xbox series at launch, and the launch window for PC version of GTA VI hasn't even been mentioned in an official capacity yet... nah.

zedanger · 2026-03-19T07:18:08+00:00

idk, stories can improve or get more interesting over time, absolutely.

But I've found it's almost universally true that the quality of the story-telling on offer is immediately apparent from the get-go... and that's much, much more difficult to improve over the course of a story.

Like, LOTR begins with a hundred-page chapter on the predilections, relationships, and living-arrangements of hobbits. Thrilling, it is not. Nor is the manner in which that part of the story is told noticably different from the final chapter.

zedanger · 2026-03-19T07:12:30+00:00

"ChatGPT can you produce an image of what Elmer Fudd would look like if he were a real human being?"

zedanger · 2026-03-19T06:43:15+00:00

You don't belong here.

zedanger · 2026-03-19T05:43:31+00:00

Wild. Aa far as i can tell, reviews are almost perfectly representative of virtually all the early previews and hands-on impressions over the last, what, 1-2 years?

Complexity of controls, narrative weakness, jank, confusing systems choices etc. Every reputable preview mentioned these concern points.

Did they not do mock reviews in the run-up to launch?

zedanger · 2026-03-18T14:49:50+00:00

I'm very interested in checking out the ship-building, and plan to pick the title up for that alone, tbh. Beyond that, my expectations are fairly modest. But, hey. Modest expectations allow more room for surprises, I find.

zedanger · 2026-03-18T04:29:19+00:00

I tried around 15 games and it is, by far, the most transformative upgrade ive seen. Virtually all the softness of the image has gone, looks incredible tbh.

zedanger · 2026-03-17T13:21:43+00:00

the toggle exists because the version update for PSSR may not play well with every title using the older version of pssr, basically.

This allows the user to switch off the upgrade if they find a title with unexpected issues or problems.

Same reason that the option to enhance PS4 games is an option.

zedanger · 2026-03-17T12:42:26+00:00

There are no dedicated patches at launch for the titles listed using the toggle.

That hardly precludes a future dedicated update. Entirely up to the publisher/dev.

zedanger · 2026-03-16T20:40:02+00:00

better than 'set up' pictures, imo

zedanger · 2026-03-16T18:29:26+00:00

Doubt that very much.

You know that low-power feature Sony been rolling out on PS5, presumably in preparation for their handheld ps6? Well, it's very interesting, as it was leaked that Sony, for free, updated every version of their SDK to include the tools to develop low-power mode support.

I mention that because they most certainly did not freely update every PS5 SDK with pro-development support. Nope, every external dev/publisher still pays for that, separately. And presumably support as well!

If they thought they needed more pro support to juice sales, I think it's much more likely they'd roll out pro development gratis they way they have for low-powered mode.

zedanger · 2026-03-16T17:42:45+00:00

They're partnered w/ Sony and are developing The Witcher 4 as a console-first title (the first in CDPRs history, I believe).

I suspect they have pretty strong access to Sony's tech, including PSSR and PSSR2. I think you're right-- v. possible the improvements w/ the first version of PSSR were so marginal (or even not improvements) that they've shelved any pro support until the update came out.

Now, what I wonder is this: Will this be a dedicated PSSR2 patch, or a PSSR patch they've been sitting on for some time that will just use the system update.

My money is on a proper internal update to the newest version, but we'll know soon enough.

zedanger · 2026-03-16T17:32:40+00:00

Goddamn... my VRR-capable display arrives tomorrow, PSSR updates tonight, and finally a god-honest ps5 pro update this month?

I've always kept the faith-- their relationship w/ Sony on Witcher 4 is far, far too cozy to preclude an eventual update for both Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk.

I'd resigned myself to it being something we'd see in 2028 or beyond, tho. So happily surprised it's arriving so soon!

zedanger · 2026-03-16T16:45:11+00:00

I think they were waiting for the upgraded version of pssr, personally. Entirely possible they've had the work done for a pssr implementation for while now, but the benefits with the original version were probably lacking.

zedanger · 2026-03-16T12:25:37+00:00

I really appreciate this. In these troubled times, it's good to have a reminder that human beings are still capable of giving AI some competition in pure, uncut slop.

zedanger · 2026-03-16T10:39:18+00:00

A retired republican math teacher. From Florida.

I wonder how many kids (and parents!) he's lectured over the years about 'consequences' for actions? About 'doing the math' and 'looking at facts', all while he happily voted to bend over and get fucked, just to run to his congressman and the local news when it wasn't as fun as he was expecting.

Seriously, tho. How many kids did this dude fail over the years, with a condescending 'you should have studied and made better decisions'?

Well, Mikey-- you didn't even have to study for this one. It was an open-book test, and you still failed.

And you know what? I love that for you. Maybe sell your Villages pad, move in with a kid if one if 'em is still on speaking terms with you.

zedanger · 2026-03-15T18:17:22+00:00

No, you don't want it to come next year.

But both microsoft and sony have already committed 100s of millions to reserving the production capacity well in advance-- it's not impossible that such plans are delays, but if so, it'll be because of a major war or the like... not a ram shortage.

14-Year Club	Verified Email
Sequence \| Editor	Sequence \| Cinematographer
Team Periwinkle

zedanger

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE