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PS5 Homescreen Now Replaces Unique Game Art with Annoying Ads You Can't Turn Off

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27 pointsmikhael13 comments

I was thinking of getting a PS5 recently, but after finding a pretty short list of games I really wanted to play I decided to wait until there was something I really wanted (likely GTA 6).

This development makes me glad I didn't buy one, and makes me more likely to never buy one. I'll just stick with the Switch and maybe look into a PC down the road if I feel like I must play GTA 6.

I find xbox and gamepass very interesting because I get to play games I'd never would have otherwise. There are so many games by smaller studios worth being played that go unnoticed. If you want to stick to AAA games and console is a must probably PS5 Pro is the best option at the moment otherwise PC is still king.

I prefer to own my games physically whenever possible.

If Xbox game streaming works well, I might be able to use that… as consoles seem to be moving in the digital only direction. Last time I tried it the lag was unbearable, but I have since found out I had an issue when the cable feed into my house. It was fixed, but I haven’t tried it again since. Of course I also don’t like that games can simply be removed from the service, a problem I don’t have with a physical copy. For a short casual game that might not be a huge deal. For big and long games, it’s not good.

I traditionally preferred consoles, because I just want to play the game. When I tried PC gaming several years back, I was having to play sys admin, which is exactly what I’m trying to avoid when I’m not working.

> I prefer to own my games physically whenever possible.

You do realize so many games require Day 1 patches these days. Some games are even coming with nothing on the disc ("Many modern games, especially on consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X, come with minimal data on the disc and require a significant download upon insertion.")

Physical is dead. Even if you "owned" them, all you ever had was a license anyways and platforms like PlayStation and Xbox can control whether you're allowed to play it.

I haven’t run into this on the Switch. I’m still on v1.0.0 of Tears of the Kingdom and hit 100% without issues. I’d rather a game be delayed and finished, then get a half working game and hope for updates later. I find a lot wrong with that practice, and don’t like that it’s become so normalized and accepted.

If that’s the norm on PS5 and Xbox now, and game discs are just symbolic, then I guess that seals the deal, I won’t be buying one.

Nintendo has always been very good at releasing a polished product. Unfortunately, ship fast and fix it in post is the mantra in the industry these days.

The more I look at modern gaming and the culture around it, the more I like playing my N64, alone.

I can't imagine I'm unique, though there are far too many people committed to new shiny to see this create the drop in active users necessary to lead to changes.

That’s pretty common these days. Not n64 but the gaming market is dominated by a few new gems (Elden ring, Baldus Gate) some live service games like Fortnite and all timers like Minecraft and then people just keep playing old games. Like Skyrim or the older fall outs and things like this.

Its gotten pretty difficult to actually get your game sold these days.

FWIW: I think this is true for modern AAA gaming, but the independent game industry seems to doing much better.

Some of the biggest hits this year - like Baldur's Gate 3 and Helldivers 2 - came from independent developers (Larian Studios [1] and ArrowHead Studios [2], respectively).

That being said, I think that the "discourse" in gaming communities online seems to be full of people who are frothing at the mouth over this, that, or the other thing. It makes going online to talk about games a miserable experience sometimes.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larian_Studios [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrowhead_Game_Studios

Helldivers was published by Sony, which created some issues as Sony tried to force a PS account login on all users, regardless of their platform.

So yay ArrowHead, but they're wedded to the same devil that's pushing ads on their platform.

Like putting ads in the Windows start menu.

It seems every company has decided to crank the ads dial to 11 as they have no other ideas for innovation left.

Wow. That just cemented my decision not to buy a PS5, or any consoles thereafter.

I'll stick to the Switch and the PC.

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