After All The Acquisitions, Xbox May Potentially Have A Better First Party Than PlayStation
Microsoft's single biggest failing in the console market, ever since they entered this arena almost 20 years ago, has been their extremely weak and barebones first party lineup. They did get lucky early on, thanks to being able to secure Halo as well as Gears of War, and the PC-friendly architecture causing many formerly PC-only games to become de-facto Xbox exclusives. But as time went on, and more and more third party developers and games started to tend towards multiplatform, Microsoft's true weakness in this area was laid bare for all to see – in the latter half of the Xbox 360 era, and through all of the Xbox One era, as Microsoft's reliance on Halo and Gears started to lead to those franchises feeling stagnant and stale, with the platform holder struggling through the generation to drive interest in Xbox via compelling exclusive content – and failing, more often than not.
We all know how this story ended. Microsoft went on a shopping spree, snapping up developers and IP all around the place, culminating in the eye watering $7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda earlier this year. As of right now, Xbox Game Studios enters the next generation with 23 studios under its wing – making Microsoft, ironically, the biggest first-party of the three console manufacturers in the market.
Now, this hasn't done Microsoft any good going into the actual launch of their next generation Xbox Series consoles. With most of these acquisitions being fairly recent, it will be a while before we see anything meaningful come of them. Microsoft doesn't have any big first party game at launch, then – that spot was going to be Halo Infinite's, but we all know what happened there, and its delay into next year means Microsoft is launching the Series X with… a lot of third party games, but nothing else, really.
But the immediate weakness of Microsoft's first party situation aside, I want to take a step back and take a bigger picture view, because doing so leads us to some very interesting insights – predicated on suppositions and assumptions to some degree, sure, but very grounded in empirical data otherwise.
With 23 studios, I've already talked about how Microsoft has the biggest network of studios under its belt now, but I think the more important thing we may not be looking at here is that, in terms of broader mass market value, Microsoft may actually have more compelling and appealing exclusives than Sony does at this point, as a result of their acquisitions. Sure, Sony has Uncharted and Spider-Man and God of War, and those are great, mass market sellers – but Microsoft now has more. And they are spread across a wider array of genres, game types, and aesthetics than Sony's marquee games.
First off, let's be clear upfront – The Elder Scrolls and Fallout are bigger than any IP Sony has, flat out. Maybe Spider-Man can match up to Fallout starting next generation, but nothing Sony has matches The Elder Scrolls at all. The Elder Scrolls (and to a lesser extent, Fallout) series is that rare thing, garnering rave critical acclaim and selling an obscene amount of copies. These games don't just sell to enthusiasts – they cross demographic boundaries. Fallout 3 and Skyrim became cultural phenomena, spawning memes and iconography that is instantly recognizable by anyone plugged into pop culture, and managing to appeal even to the kinds of players who otherwise are content buying FIFA and Call of Duty every year. And unlike most games on the market, sales of Bethesda's titles aren't just front-loaded; these games continue to sell for years, with the possibility to become evergreen fixtures the way Nintendo's games do (recent sales charts in Japan, North America, and Europe are dominated by Nintendo games, dating back to more than three years ago).
Sony doesn't have anything remotely coming close to this – so right off the bat, as far as the peak of these first parties go, Microsoft comes out ahead of Sony, and in fact, The Elder Scrolls specifically also comes out ahead of quite a lot of Nintendo's stuff. In terms of sheer brand value, The Elder Scrolls is probably ahead of everything Sony has (except Spider-Man, which derives most of its value from non-game related media), and only Uncharted, The Last of Us, and God of War manage to match up to Fallout. Nothing else Sony has, does.
The thing though is that Microsoft isn't just winning on the basis of two big IP and nothing else – that would basically be a repeat of their early mistakes with their overreliance on Halo and Gears, and literally nothing else to fill in the gaps. Thankfully, this is where the wealth of other studios and IP comes into play, giving Microsoft an insane range and spread of games that seems to hit basically every possible niche and genre imaginable. DOOM and Wolfenstein hit the singleplayer shooter mark, Double Fine provides compelling and well written adventure games, Ninja Theory provides cinematic third person action adventure titles, Tango Softworks provides horror games, World's Edge covers strategy, Arkane covers stealth and immersive sims, inXile give us even more RPGs on top of Bethesda Game Studios, Turn10 delivers racing sims, Playground Games delivers arcade racers (and also, more RPGs), Rare is behind a lot of experimental, non-traditional fare (Sea of Thieves and Everwild both come to mind), and all of this is on top of Halo and Gears providing the multiplayer oriented first and third person shooters that built up Xbox to begin with.
The scary thing about that breakdown above is that it still does not cover all Microsoft studios. Developers like Compulsion Games and Undead Labs have been left out of this, owing to their record of delivering mixed results, and The Initiative, which is a brand new studio Microsoft set up, is also not counted among these because we have literally no idea what they are capable of, or what they will deliver. This also does not count XGS-headed games that Microsoft develops in conjunction with contracted third party studios, such as Gears Tactics or Microsoft Flight Simulator, which cover additional genres and styles on top of all the ones named above. That Microsoft is able to boast such an incredibly varied lineup in spite of all these exclusions alone speaks wonders to what a strong position they find themselves in.
All of this, of course, is contingent on these studios delivering (or continuing to deliver, in some cases), and on Microsoft not ruining them – which the company has an unfortunate track record of doing. Bungie left Microsoft because they did not want to become an IP farm, Lionhead ended up being shut down after being forced into projects they had never been that interested in to begin with, Platinum were almost driven to the brink of bankruptcy thanks to Scalebound, Darkside Studios (the folks who were going to bring us the ambitious Phantom Dust reboot) ended up ve`ry literally gutted because of their dealings with Xbox, Rare very nearly died under Microsoft and only recently started to pull back, and even a developer as legendary and as crucial to the development of video games as a medium as Ensemble could not survive being shuttered by Microsoft.
Now most of these incidents happened in a different time – when Xbox was clearly not a priority for Microsoft, when the leadership was (mostly) different, when Xbox itself was changing direction every other week chasing some fad or trend or the other. We have been repeatedly told that Xbox Game Studios under Phil Spencer and Matt Booty is an entirely different entity. That Microsoft respects creative freedom, that it doesn't force anything on studios, and that it mostly facilitates development of games via budget and backing.
If all of that is true, meaning if Microsoft is able to manage its studios well this time, and if those studios, in turn, deliver, then, yes, my analysis is going to ring true, because that network of 23 studios being managed well, and producing the peak of their output, is beyond anything Sony has currently (beyond, even, a lot of what Nintendo has). The entire dynamic of the industry has been altered in one move – if Microsoft plays its cards right, they could be looking at a far stronger lineup of exclusives than PlayStation can offer, at least in-house. In that case, what a reversal of roles that will end up becoming from the current status quo.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time Guide – 10 Tips and Tricks to Keep in Mind
Crash Bandicoot has been back in our lives for a while now, and been back in excellent form, but even these past few years, all we've done is take a trip down memory lane with Crash and co. N.Sane Trilogy and CTR Nitro-Fueled are great games, but they're remakes- now, with Crash 4, we finally, at long last, have a brand new mainline Crash game to play. Many of you will be doing just that, and to make your early hours in the game a little bit smoother, we've got some beginners tips and tricks for you to keep in mind. Without further ado, let's get started.
MODERN STYLE
As Crash Bandicoot 4 begins, it will give you a crucial choice- do you want to play with the Modern playstyle or the Retro playstyle? In Modern mode, you have infinite lives, and when you die, you restart from a checkpoint, whereas in Retro mode, you have limited lives, and you have to restart the level upon death. Crash veterans will be tempted to go with the latter, and you are, of course, welcome to try that right off the bat if you want- but Modern is the recommended play style. Crash Bandicoot 4 isn't an easy game, in true Crash fashion, and it's recommended that in your first few hours with the game, you stick with Modern- especially if you're new to Crash.
TAKE YOUR TIME
Given Crash 4's above-average difficulty, it's also a good idea to not rush through levels. There's hazards everywhere in the form of environmental gauntlets and enemies looking to take you out, so it's best take stock of your surroundings as you proceed through levels. Take your time, and make your jumps carefully. If you're gem hunting (which we'll get to in a bit), taking your time and not dying unnecessary deaths is even more crucial, because every level has a gem that you only get if you make it to the finish line with 3 deaths or fewer.
EXPLORE
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time might be a linear platformer, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to see except what the game explicitly shows you on the screen. There's a lot going on in every level in this game, and you're going to want to explore your surroundings- and that's not just because there's tons of beautiful sights to take in. Crevices, hidden rooms, cracks in walls, and what have you are often hiding hidden collectibles, so keep an eye out for hidden areas. Meanwhile, you can also use your right stick to slightly pan the camera up and down and check to see if your surroundings have any collectibles that are not immediately visible on your screen.
YELLOW RING
In Crash Bandicoot 4, whatever character you're playing with will have a yellow ring and shadow attached to the bottom of their character model, and while this might seem distracting at first, it's actually an incredibly helpful tool. Use this shadow to time and judge your jumps. It's great for perceiving depth and figuring out what the distance between jumps is, and careful navigation with the help of this yellow ring can often prove to be the difference between life and death. Of course, if the yellow ring is really bugging you, you can always go ahead and turn it off.
GEM HUNTING
Crash Bandicoot 4 has plenty of stuff going on to appeal to all the completionists out there. Every level, for instance, has six hidden gems that you can look for, and each of them can be unlocked in different ways, from physically finding them in the level to collecting enough Wumpa fruit to not dying too many times and more. Unlocking every gem in a level also unlocks new skins, which means gem hunting is a big part of the appeal in Crash 4, especially in terms of replay value. But if you are indeed gem hunting and if you're not a master of platforming and can easily deal with any and all challenges thrown at you in the game, you're going to have to be restart-friendly. One gem in every level, for instance, is only rewarded if you finish the level with three or fewer deaths, as we've discussed earlier, so as soon as you hit four deaths, you're gonna want to restart.
BONUS LEVEL DEATHS
Ever level in Crash Bandicoot 4 also has a bonus level- these are great, because while every collectible and crate you collect in this room will count toward your total when the main level is over, the deaths in the bonus level won't be. So if you find yourself in a bonus level, you can let yourself relax a little bit. Go ahead, fall into those chasms if you want… or, you know, don't.
N.VERTED GEMS
This is another tip that all gem hunters out there will want to keep in mind. All 43 levels in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time also have N.Verted variants, which flip these levels in unique and interesting ways. And while five of the six gems in N.Verted levels are gained the exact same way as the regular version of those levels, the hidden gem – which is in the level itself – is somewhere else. Its location is changed in every level, so if you're hunting down gems in your completionist run, you'll want to keep that in mind.
SIDESCROLLING
Certain levels and sections of levels in Crash Bandicoot 4 have sidescrolling gameplay, and as is usually the case with any and all platforming gameplay in any game (specially platformers), it's best that you stick with the d-pad in these sections. The analog stick is great for actual 3D platforming, but during the sidescrolling sections, you want as much precise control over your jumps and movements as possible, so the d-pad is definitely the way to go in these sections.
SLIDE JUMP
Over the years, the slide jump has been one of Crash Bandicoot's fans' greater friends and most useful tools, and so, too, is the case in Crash Bandicoot 4. If you're looking to add a little bit more distance to your jumps, the slide jump is the way to go. Press the jump button immediately after sliding, and you'll jump quite high- higher even than a double jump. If you're looking to reach a distant platform or get to a collectible that's seemingly out of reach, the slide jump will come in very handy.
SLIDE SPIN
Similar to the slide jump is the move known as slide spin, and it can be just as useful in different situations. As its name suggest, the slide spin is done by combining a slide with a spin, and using it not only lets you attack enemies and obstacles in the path while sliding, it also gives you a sudden boost of speed. This can be useful in several places- in Time Trials, for instance, the slide spin is incredibly handy. Meanwhile, if you practice enough with it and get its timing down, it can also be a useful tool during chase sequences as you look to put some more distance between yourself and the monstrosities chasing you.
What is Going on With the Prey Franchise?
The first-person shooter genre is very different today than it was a decade and a half ago. Back in the early 2000's first person shooters were everywhere. Science-fiction, historical period pieces, horror games with guns, puzzle-oriented experiences, and a ton of things in between. One of those weird, quasi-experimental genre-defying games was 2006's Prey. Prey was received well and quickly became a notable cult classic among the PC gaming community and would later add to its lineage of false-starts and cancellations with a reboot in 2017 that was also, received fairly well. Unfortunately, not much else has surfaced about the series, and it seems to have returned to the same storage closet of gaming that this IP, and many others, have become so familiar with over the last many years. This leaves us asking what we always ask in these situations; why? What the hell happened to Prey?
Developed mainly by Human Head Studios after 3D Realms decided they had bitten off more than they could chew after monkeying around with it for nearly a decade, Prey would prove to be a rather interesting mish-mash of science-fiction, horror, brutality, and presented with an H.R. Giger flare that few games used at the time, and even fewer were able to pull off nearly as well. The game quickly took a hard left turn to alien abduction, and then reveals it's true form as a story about escaping from a massive alien spacecraft and it's various horrifying inhabitants. But wait, there's more. Throughout the course of the journey, the main character, Tommy ends up using some spiritual powers of his own to help level the playing field against his technically superior enemies such as astral projection, to great effect.
Other elements that were ahead of their time like actual portals and tinkering with security systems were also thrown in. In fact, even the simple act of dying was innovated upon here, with death not really being a thing that Tommy ever experiences, but rather, just has to deal with being temporarily transported to a realm where he needs to take out some flying spirits before returning to the actual game. So the game ended up being quite the adventure, and quite the package overall. This wasn't attained easily though, as Prey was a project that was started and stopped several times between the time of its inception way back in the mid 90's and the time that the wizards at Human Head Studios were contracted to take over and fill in the gaps that 3D Realms could not.
Simply put, this game is lucky it ever got to see the light of day, let alone end up being good and adored by fans all over the world. Prey was and is a great game, despite all the stumbles it needed to go through in order to exist. It would eventually launch on the PC, Mac, Linux, and the Xbox 360. I suppose getting the thing to run on the PS3 was just asking too much after everything the game had been through up to that point. Towards the end of 2006, the year of its launch, 3D Realms would confirm that the game sold over a million copies and that it was indeed a success on all fronts. Plans for a sequel were also announced, although Prey 2 wouldn't get the various strokes of luck that its predecessor enjoyed.
Sadly, this is where the world of art and passion would once again clash with the realm of business and intellectual property management. 3D Realms wasn't doing so hot in 2007 and entered into a series of sell-offs and shared ownership agreements with different companies that existed for this very purpose to help bring struggling projects to their desired conclusions. This shuffling around of rights and properties would eventually land Prey 2 under Bethesda while still supposedly being developed by Human Head. After a re-reveal of Prey 2 in 2011, several years after development of the game was reportedly started, Prey 2 would eventually wind up in a foggy state of so-called "development hell" and would get pushed around to different levels of priority at Human Head, as they juggled various other projects with Bethesda that were shorter-term and helped keep the lights on.
Eventually, Bethesda would attempt to acquire Human Head with an offer that would be refused. This would land Prey 2 in the hands of Arkane Studios, but would take a back seat there as well as that team were primarily focused on finishing up Dishonored. The rumor goes that Arkane ultimately would scrap everything that had been done with the game up to that point, and start fresh with their own vision for the game. Unfortunately, the game still wasn't meeting Bethesda's standards, and would itself become prey to the various trappings of game development, and would be officially cancelled sometime in 2014. This was a gut-punch to many, as fans were excited to see more of the game that was announced several years before, not a cancellation.
However, Prey 2's cancellation would pave the way for a path that ultimately made more sense for the series anyway: a reboot. A clean slate. Seeing as how Arkane studios wanted to take a fresh approach to the series anyway, a reboot was a more fitting way to do it than an abrupt shift in tone for a sequel. As a result of this creative freedom, Arkane blew the doors off of the original setting by changing it into something that felt completely different; a setting in an alternate timeline where an accelerated space race led to a huge expansion in interstellar travel, and ultimately, a precarious situation where the US and the Soviets worked together to contain a mysterious alien species they had encountered on a space station dedicated for that very purpose.
At this point, you couldn't be blamed for failing to see any remnants of the original Prey's concepts in the reboot. 2017's Prey has almost nothing in common with the original aside from the name and aliens being involved. Some common denominators did manage to sneak in though, like various powers for the player to experiment with and a dark science-fiction setting. That said, the influences of Arkane's flagship Dishonored games was more prevalent than anything. Prey 2017 would release to mostly favorable reviews, and was by all measures a great game in many respects. But Arkane Studios has moved on to its upcoming project Deathloop, which also seems to embody a lot of Dishonored elements.
In that case, where exactly does Prey fit in? Who could take the baton and run with it at this point? With Tango Gameworks, perhaps Bethesda's most qualified studio for the franchise currently toiling away with Ghostwire: Tokyo and MachineGames almost certainly working on a third Wolfenstein game, it's tough to say. We'll probably need to get out from under all of the current projects being worked on currently before a new Prey game can really be considered. At that point though, I think it probably has a good chance of coming back in some form.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
Yakuza: Like A Dragon Unleashes The Power Of Crustaceans In Latest Gameplay Footage
After a very long wait, next month will see the west finally get the seventh installment in the mainline Yakuza series, Like a Dragon. The game takes the more action beat'em up focus from the previous six titles and morphs into something resembling a Japanese RPG, and boy, does it manage to capture that feel better than you'd expect.
On the latest Xbox podcast, we got to see some new English footage of the game, specifically a mission featuring the main protagonist and his fondness for a crawfish named Nancy. I mean, if that wasn't weird enough, it accumulates in getting an old fashion style RPG-style summon and, well, I won't ruin it. If you didn't know the Yakuza series had a goofy side, I imagine you will after this.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon will launch on November 10th for PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC. A PlayStation 5 version was also announced but won't launch until March 2nd 2021.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Spec Ops Survival Mode Now Available On Xbox One And PC
We are just over a month away from the latest entry in the ever-popular Call of Duty series, Black Ops Cold War. Of course, a lot of focus is there, especially with the beloved Zombies Mode making a return. But last year's Modern Warfare is still going, and now some players finally are getting a taste of a mode they lacked at launch.
If you recall, the PS4 version of the game got the Spec Ops Survival Mode as an exclusive for a year. The year is now over and everyone else can jump in. The mode pits you and up to three other friends against ever increasing difficult waves of enemies. You can more about the mode through here.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC with the Spec Ops Survival Mode now being live on all versions. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will launch on the same platforms as well as PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe Asks If You Know What Pikmin Really Are In Latest Trailer
October is generally a month for spookiness as the Halloween holiday generally looms everywhere, but Nintendo is going the opposite direction for the month's end with Pikmin 3 Deluxe. The game is an enhanced re-release of a Wii U title with new content and all previous DLC. Today Nintendo has set out to educate everyone on what a Pikmin is.
In a new humorous trailer, we get to see a reintroduction of the little critters in a series of vignettes and animated sequences that show how you play the game. If you aren't familiar, you basically take the cute little guys and throw them around, killing them as you battle other bigger creatures. Even if you are familiar with the games and how to play them, you'll sure to get a nice chuckle out of it. The game will include all previous DLC as well as new side stories for you to explore.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe is set to release exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on October 30th.
Baldur's Gate 3 Races, Classes and More Detailed Ahead of Early Access Launch
Larian Studios is prepping Baldur's Gate 3 its early access launch via Steam and Google Stadia on October 6th. Along with providing some 25 hours of content and Origins characters with their own stories, players can also create their own characters. The selection of races, subraces, classes and more is extensive so Larian has broken down a lot of it in a new post on Steam.
Said races include Human, Githyanki, Elf (High Elf, Wood Elf), Drow (Seldarine Drow, Lolth-Sworn Drow), Half-Elf (High Half-Elf, Wood Half-Elf, Drow Half-Elf), Dwarf (Gold, Shield), Hafling (Lightfoot Halfling, Strongheart Halfling) and Tiefling (Asmodeus Tiefling, Mephistopheles Tiefling, Zariel Tiefling). Some races like Drow and Githyanki will have unique interactions with different NPCs and this can affect one's overall playthrough.
There will be 150 heads to choose from when creating a character. You can also adjust eye colour, hair-styles, beards, voices, tattoos, makeup and so on. "Canon" options are available for hair and eye colour but these can be disregarded entirely if one so chooses.
Talking about class, there's Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock and Wizard. Each will have "at least two" subclasses and there are also Cantrips and Spells for magic users to choose from. Classes further have their own unique dialogue choices and decisions, and feats (which are essentially talents) become available at level 4.
Baldur's Gate 3 early access is nearly upon us after several delays. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Season 2 Starts on October 8th
The age of knights, paladins and dragons in Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is nearly here. Mediatonic has confirmed on Twitter that Season 2 for the wacky battle royale-style platformer begins on October 8th. The medieval-theme extends to the new emotes and skins that are coming.
New customization options like nicknames and flags are also being introduced. There will also be new levels though the developer hasn't revealed too many details on those just yet. As Season 1 comes to a close, there will be double Fame points available to earn, starting from Monday and until Season 2 launches.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is currently available for PS4 and PC players. It's had a massive amount of success since launch with SuperData noting that the PC release was the biggest since Overwatch in 2016. Over seven million copies were sold on Steam as of August and it's already the most download PS Plus title of all time. Stay tuned for more details on Season 2 in the coming days.
BEAN SPILLING POST
Announcing dates always feels like you're cursing things, but it's Halloween month, so let's get cursed!
Season 2 launches on Thursday 8th October
Season 1 will now end as Season 2 begins and we're going to DOUBLE fame points during this time!
pic.twitter.com/J9TFIZ1BDd
— Fall Guys
(@FallGuysGame) October 2, 2020
Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda has brought about a major shift in power in the industry, with eight studios and several major AAA IP suddenly joining the Xbox Game Studios pipeline. Regardless of how long it will be before we start seeing the proper results of that, there's no doubting that the results will be felt sooner or later.
We recently spoke with industry analyst Michael Pachter about the same and many other things in a lengthy interview. After speaking about how he thinks the Bethesda deal will impact Sony in the long- and short-term, we asked Pachter if he felt Sony might respond with a similarly big acquisition of a major publisher.
According to Pachter, interestingly enough, should AT&T choose to sell the WB Games division in the future – after recently having decided against it following reports that those assets were indeed up for sale – that Sony could be in a good position to tap up those assets and licenses, and that IP such as Batman and Mortal Kombat could fit very well with their first party portfolio- though he expects that in all likeliness, Sony's acquisitions will continue to be relatively smaller, along the lines of last year's Insomniac deal.
"Their acquisitions have been smaller, like Insomniac, and those are the kinds of acquisitions that I would expect," Pachter said. "I do think Sony is in a good position to buy Warner Bros. Interactive assets should they ever go on sale again. Depending on whether AT&T chooses to sell them, and how. If they just want to license their IP out, they will probably not go with exclusivity deals, because they won't want the games limited to just one platform, but if they sell perpetual rights to Batman or Mortal Kombat, I think those assets would be pretty cool for Sony to fold into their lineup. They already did it with Spider-Man, so we know they would be interested in something like that. I really hadn't considered this scenario, since we had heard WB was off the table, but now that Bethesda just got bought for $7.5 billion, you have to think AT&T are thinking, 'could we get $7 billion?'"
Of course, some have speculated that rather than tapping up publishers, Sony could purchase individual third party IP, with the likes of Metal Gear and Final Fantasy being brought up by several people- which makes sense, given the close association both have always had with PlayStation, and the fact that Final Fantasy 16 is already confirmed as a PS5 launch exclusive. However, Pachter believes that neither of those would hold much value for different reasons.
"Well, Metal Gear without Kojima might not be worth very much, and Final Fantasy, when did the last one come out? 2016?" he said. "I'm not sure anyone really cares there, I think that that's just a couple of million units we are talking about, that's not a system seller. It probably is in Japan, but the Japanese aren't buying Xbox, so Sony doesn't really have to worry there, especially since all those Japanese games will be on PlayStation anyway, so Sony isn't at risk of losing those titles."
"I don't think those assets are worth much," he concluded.
Our full interview with Pachter will go live soon, so stay tuned for that.
Silent Hill 4: The Room Now Available for PC
Konami's Silent Hill 4: The Room can now be played on PC. After a PEGI rating for the same popped up recently, the PC version's listing has gone live on GOG. It retails for $9.99, which is the same price as Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance on PC.
Released in 2004 for PS2 and Xbox before coming to PC, Silent Hill 4: The Room follows Henry Townshend who's stuck in his apartment. The only means of escaping is through a strange portal which leads to a realm of horrors. Along with new monsters and a variety of different environments, the title also features first-person gameplay along with third-person exploration.
If one has never played the Silent Hill series, then Silent Hill 4: The Room is worth checking out. However, with Konami re-releasing its old PC ports on GOG, it might be worth waiting for Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 to arrive first. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.