What system do you have the most sympathy for this year?

It’s that time of year where we express our most noble attributes, mainly empathy and compassion. With that said, I’m mostly sympathetic to the Xbox.

• Redfall: mega hyped GamePass title from critically acclaimed studio, scores 4/10 and 55 MC
• Starfield: mega hyped GamePass title, scored lower than Final Fantasy 16, didn’t get GOTY nom at TGA
• Forza Motorsport: graphical downgrade, scored lower than gross gen game Gran Turismo 7
• Modern Warfare 3: 55 metacritic after bragging that MS owns COD now.
• No Final Fantasy 16
  • Still no Final Fantasy 7 Remake (which was supposed to be a 1 year exclusive)
• No Octopath Traveler 2 at launch
• No Baldur’s Gate 3 at launch
• Leaked that the XSX Brooklyn won’t have a physical disc
• GamePass price increase.

Ouch.. just writing this was tough. Hopefully this system has a better year next year. As a side note, I also empathize for the Google Stadia. It was also a rough year for it too. How about you, SW? What system do you have the most sympathy for this year?

That's better.

The PS5. I haven't found a need to play any game on it all year. I have used my Switch, Xbox,Quest 3 and PC. A real shame. I hope next year Sony would release games that would be worth my time.

PS5. Played some great games on it this year but things seemed to have dried up this year. Hopefully we’ll hear of some more upcoming games soon. Really want to see what Blue Point has been up to.

I really want to mention the system with THE 4/10 and THE 7/10, but in reality, its the system that is simply incapable of handling 3D graphics since 2019-2020, and that's the Switch. If you have it as a "side bish", that's fine, but if its your primary system, holy hell, your gaming must be miserable.

While I would say Sony and Microsoft 1st party have come up a bit short this year, unless you are an unemployed hermit, there are more great games on your favorite system than you have time to play. Enjoy it.

@judaspete said:

While I would say Sony and Microsoft 1st party have come up a bit short this year, unless you are an unemployed hermit, there are more great games on your favorite system than you have time to play. Enjoy it.

You didn't get the memo? You can only enjoy first-party exclusives.😎

Kinda hard to have sympathy for the PS5, when it's destroying everything in its path like a wrecking ball. The success of that thing is absurd.

So, yeah, XSX/S. Wrecking ball fodder.

Mimimi Games closing is a great loss.

I blame gamers, media, everyone but me. I supported them. Great guy.

It's always Xbox every year.

Just like every single year, poor Xbox. $100 billion and 21 years later and they are still the king loser with nothing but turds to play Lmao

PS5 takes the cake for me here. I really like the system but it's exclusives will be coming to PC in the distance future as I'm in no hurry to play them such as Spider-Man 2 or FF16 for example. So again, much respect for PS5 as it's doing fine in terms of sales, just the exclusives is left to be desired.

Can't comment on MS as their games can be found and play on PC so no bad mouth to say about them.

That actually is a pretty hilarious list 🤣. It’s kind of unlucky that three top tier studios would flop as soon as MS took over. I mean their failures have little to do with MS.

What games from the Xbox side are worth wasting your time on you think? Starfield? Redfall? Forza? Lol

My sympathies toward the Xbox Series consoles. After an entire year of acquisition watching, Xbox stans were treated to the lowest rated AAA first party game this year, yet another car game that barely charted, and the "game of the generation" Starfield being met with OK-ish reviews with mainly Xbox cult sites boosting up the Meta to keep it from crashing below an 80. Dropping out of top ten charts faster than a stone with an anchor tied to it and actually LOSING ground for Xbox this fall... congrats!

It was supposed to be a joyous year for Xbox, instead, it was left with the cherry on top of owning the lowest rated CoD, the fruit of MS's wasteful spending spree of ABK. Which found them taking on 12,000 new employees at the expense of the 10,000 they kicked to the curb beforehand.

Hopefully 2024 is a more dignified year for Xbox. Not a system seller in sight, but it definitely has to have a better lineup this year...

... and no I will not count Flight Simulator 2024. Play it on PC for God's sake if you don't want to turn your Series console into a space heater

Did someone 💩 in Solid's Corn Flakes this morning?

The obvious answer is Sony, more prices rises than games this year says it all.

It is so easy to get under Sony fannies skin. 😂

PS5. Imagine having to find a pot plant big enough to hide that horrific lump of boated plastic. Damn near impossible.

Imagine waiting a whole year for Sony to release a game on their own console, and it’s yet another 3rd person action adventure, with QTE combat that actually freezes game time until you choose to hit “x” to save the day.

Then hearing game after game pushed back, postponed or cancelled with the only Sony games in sight is yet another remaster and yet another Superhero game.

Imagine seeing cloud saves put behind a paywall, and then seeing Sony have the nerve to raise the price.

Imagine being the first console to raise prices mid gen. The first to launch a “slim” version that cost more than the original. The first to push game prices up to $70 before launch.

Imagine not having gamepass.

As someone who spent most of this generation as a cow, I wholeheartedly feel bad for PS users this year. They’ve done well up until this year but what a hard hitting year this was.

- PS price increased in certain international markets

- Slim didn’t decrease price, it increased it

- PS+ Extra and Premium have not lived up to its price point and Sony went and raised the price anyways

- VR flopped

- Portal will flop (Sony admitted it won’t make a profit)

- Forspoken flopped

- Cows had to wait 10 months to get a decent game (Spiderman)

- Cows lost the ABK fight which will have a monumental impact on gaming going forward

- Sony has become the home of remasters/remakes which has to be getting very tiresome playing the same games over and over instead of releasing new ones

- No news on TLOU3 and Factions has stopped production (no pics, videos, nada)

- Sony had 12 GaaS games planned which they reduced to 6

- Layoffs at multiple Sony studios

- President announced he’s leaving and a 30 year Sony employee was given the boot

Here’s what I see - Sony is having serious financial issues and that’s why we’re seeing so many price increases, layoffs, long term/high level employees leaving or being forced out, cash grabs. Sony is scrounging for any penny pinching dollar saving means to continue forward.

2024 is gonna be hell for Sony. A TLOU2 remaster no one asked for and Helldivers. MS is gonna lay down the hammer next year. Gonna be a juicy year for gaming.

Playstation.

I mean, who else? PC is king, as usual. Nintendo making a lot of games, remasters, etc. MS acquired a lot of studios and is releasing a constant stream of games, while also being great for small and independent game developers as well.

But that's besides the point: Sony isn't making jackshit for Playstation. What did they get this year? Spider-Man 2? And?

And all the Sony fannies do is go "hahaha look at stoopid MS getting another 7/10 game, that's not a 'banger' and I am 'concerned' herp derp".

Well, at least there's games to play on other platforms. Can't really say that about PS.

You guys enjoy those 20 "live service" games that are coming out over the next few years, though. I'm sure Sony will appreciate drip-bleeding your wallets with subs and microtransactions.

Hey I bought all their games. I am also a great guy.

Yeah he really took a lot of effort in that post rofl.

You should be honored. Or not.

@last_lap: Xbox raised the price of consoles, games and GamePass, so what is your point 😎

@SolidGame_basic: Game Pass has been out since 2017 and this was the first price increase and no one cared because the service is worth the cost. Sony just released those new tiers last year and already came to the well asking for more money.

The only Xbox console price increase that happened was in select markets. At least they didn’t also create a Slim and raise the price. Xbox is also running deals where you can get money off the console and included games or where GPU is included. What games did Xbox raise the price on? Standard games are still $70, didn’t Sony lead the way on that?

Imagine having a 90+ rated game, or even a GOTY nominee? Only Xbox customers have to imagine, Sony and Nintendo do not.

@SolidGame_basic: Who did MS follow from?

That's right Sony. MS saw that your fanbase not only accepted the game and console price rise but defended it (yes you were one of them cheering it on) so then MS thought they could do the same and did.

You say Xbox had a bad year and yet all you have is one Spidey game and 3rd party games and moneyhatting third party games for next year, oh and a remaster, how could I have forgotten lol.

So what has gotten you so insecure today Solid? You only do these kind of threads when you're worried about something, did I miss some news over the weekend?

lol at sympathies, but the answer is obviously playstation. Its not just this year but since the gen started. I'm sorry but you have nothing but remakes and remasters making up the vast majority of games. You have maybe one or two good games sprinkled in here and there, which would normally be fine, but compared to the constant stream of games coming out on gamepass for xbox, not to mention the fantastic original AAA games being released by MS, day1 gamepass. We lems are having a non stop buffet...there wasn't single bad year for gaming on xbox this gen.

Poor cows, remakes, remasters, a subscription service that has terrible value and slim pickings for games, and sony only releasing e waste like the play station portal, and ps vr2.

@last_lap: seems like you’re the only insecure one. MS’s “game of the generation” is not even charting bro lmao. One game or not, Spider-Man is shitting all over MS’s deplorable output

No point in buying an Xbox. Just buy a mid range PC and you are good to go.

Hope all the Portal owners don’t regret their purchase.

GameStop cash value for the Portal:

Non Pro - $52.50

Pro - $57.50

So you’re saying Microsoft was listening to Sony? that’s what you’re going with? number 2 richest company in the world raised prices because Sony did? 🤔

Ps5 is a baffling, underwhelming, paper tiger.... Sympathy isn't the correct word... Maybe confused?

@randy_lahey: Hi-Fi Rush, Cocoon, and even Ravenlok were really great experience, I personally enjoy those games on MS/Game Pass PC. Definitely none of those games wasted my time. You should give'em a try at some point.

PS5, got 1-3 years of service games before realising its not what gamers want.

And what's the negative? No games.

Xbox has had no games since 2017-2018, and no live service games were even involved as an excuse😂

When you're a Sony fan, the current situation IS A PROBLEM. When you're a Microsoft fan, this is just another day being a Microsoft fan

He is too much of a shill to play games.😂

Lol ok, a bunch of AA games. Real amazing list of worthwhile games owning an Xbox for

I play the best games Shilldro, unlike yourself who forces himself to waste his life playing Redfall because his favourite corporation bought the publisher that made it 🤭

@SolidGame_basic: Those are the facts. MS only raised their prices on games/consoles AFTER Sony did.

It's not a matter of "listening" to Sony, it's a case of wait and see if your competion can get away with it before you try it yourself.

Remember the $2 dollar video Sony did at E3 for the PS4 where they handed a game to each other, that's waiting to see what happens and reacting to it accordingly.

Or maybe there is a global phenomenon that’s been happening the last year and a half called inflation 😎

My lil boy is angry again.😂

@Pedro: that’s funny you perceive facts as anger lol. Stick to shilling for the console nobody wants man

And yet Sony had been and still is raking in billions in profit, so inflation is just an excuse, and let's not forget when Sony didn't raise the price of the PS5 in America and yet did the rest of the world, oh that's right America doesn't have inflation 🤦‍♂️

From the systems I own, it's the PS5. I've had much more use out of my other systems. Really hoping FF7 Rebirth lives up to my hype, because it's looking a lot better than the remake.

This is Kalm:

no, inflation is not an excuse, many successful companies are reacting to the current market conditions. smart companies adapt before things get really bad 😎

Facts?😂 You raging is not facts little one.😎

Yeah definitely PS5... snooze fest all year.

I sympathize with PlayStation gamers who only had Spider-Man 2 this year, you know Spiderman that guy from the fandom of many, many years ago and hyped up by crusty boomer dads.

As always, had to troll the PS5 for no reason.