We don’t even need to imagine, necessarily! The quality of games released towards the tail-end of its life cycle speaks volumes: Uncharted 2&3, The Last of Us, God of War 3, Metal Gear Solid 4 etc.

I don’t think there was anything actually wrong with the architecture per se, but rather just the lack of proper documentation and tools set potential developers back significantly.

It was definitely hubris on Sony’s part, thinking that they could do whatever they wanted given the prior success of both the PlayStation and PS2 consoles prior.

Those PS3 launch stumbles definitely were a wake-up call, however I do believe that because it was largely the US/Western arm of SCEI that lead the ‘rescue’ - they ended up wrestling control away from the JP arm, ultimately causing the PS4/5 to end up so risk adverse and largely unremarkable as a result.

Literal dictionary definition of a BIOS:

Note the part regarding enabling a computer to start the OS. But regardless, this point is largely moot as we are just arguing semantics.

No the PS4 doesn’t run a PC-style AMI/Phoenix BIOS, but instead a secure chain of Boot ROM to bootloaders - however, so do Macs, which are PCs.

Dumps of these console boot ROMs and loaders - at least in emulation circles - tend to be colloquially referred to as a BIOS, as it constitutes a System that handles Basic Input and Output.

It even putting this one point aside, it runs an AMD-designed x86-64 APU, that was available to purchase for PCs (AM1 socket) albeit with a reduced power GPU.

It runs GDDR5 unified memory like a modern iMac, or Steam Deck.

It natively runs a UNIX-derived OS, again like an iMac, or Linux on the Steam Deck.

Let’s just face facts, the PS4 & 5 are just iMacs in drag 😉

Every modern bootable device has a BIOS, as they are required for hardware initialisation before handover to an OS - which for the PS4 is called Orbis OS, and is based off FreeBSD 9. Which is a UNIX OS for desktop PCs.

While the PS4 does have a unified memory interface, which is very rare for common desktop PCs - they do exist, such as every single Apple Silicon Mac.

The PS4 and PS5 are just a very heavily locked down PCs, featuring AMD APUs not too dissimilar to what can be found in Ryzen notebooks, Steam Deck or ROG Ally, running proprietary operating systems with heavy encryption to try and prevent 1:1 emulation (think Hackintosh).

I think the primary reason for the GPU stagnation has been the AI / GPU compute bubble over the past 5 years.

So much on-die space has been diverted away from raw rasterisation power towards CUDA, that it has artificially held back GPU progress.

When we do see the current AI bubble burst (and it does feel like we’re fast approaching that point, due to all the recent incestuous business dealings), hopefully we can see some innovation return to the sector.

The PS3 was the last ‘great’ console from Sony before their wholesale switch to PC architecture with a custom software layer.

I choose to die on this hill. 😅

According to protondb.com the entire Final Fantasy catalogue is pretty much flagged as either Gold or Platinum so you shouldn’t have issues.

For what it’s worth, the console versions also run great through EmuDeck and RetroDeck on my Steam Deck too!

I need to get around to playing Clair Obscur - I’ve seen and heard great things about it, but with a 2yo running around the house - I just don’t have the bandwidth currently to invest in new games… 😅

To each their own, I suppose!

FF7 was my entry into the franchise, and I went back to play 4-6 after 8 left me disappointed. I ended up (regretfully) skipping 9 until revisiting it much later. I’m saying this specifically to point out that I am not biased because FFX was my first.

I skipped XI as MMORPGs didn’t hold any interest to me at the time - but WoW would change that, and cause me to skip XII altogether!

I didn’t like the combat of XIII, it was too much of a departure of what came before (variants of ATB and general turn-based combat) - and I did not find the plot engaging enough to persevere much beyond I think the ~10hr mark?

I haven’t bothered to revisit the newer entries since, even though I have added XII, XIII, XIII-2 & Lightning Returns to my retro collection. Perhaps one day?

I stopped (console) gaming right around the PS4 era - partially because side I was heavily invested in WoW and PC gaming in general - but also because I was livid over how Sony handled the Anniversary edition launch, where scalpers scooped up ~98% of available stock.

I feel like I lucked out opting to become a retro gamer around that time - there are just so many great games from the PS3 generation and earlier that I could dedicate (my diminishingly little) spare time towards and never run out of absolutely incredible content.

Hell, my PS2 version of Vice City runs just as it did when it was new - complete with Billie Jean being the first track on the radio; something that can’t be said for any current/PC versions I believe.

Beyond Good & Evil

Devil May Cry trilogy
If you liked God of War (and its PS2 sequels), another franchise well worth checking out!

Final Fantasy X. Hands down the best entry of the franchise (fight me), and one of the best introductions to the series.

Ico + Shadow of the Colossus
Literal works of art.

Killer7

Manhunt + Manhunt 2
If you like Bully & PS2-era GTA entries, this series is well worth exploring. Very dark and gory.

Need for Speed Underground + Underground 2
Some of the best racing OSTs ever, and the offline PS2-editions don’t lose tracks when licenses expire.

Prince of Persia - Sands of Time

Silent Hill 2

Viewtiful Joe + Viewtiful Joe 2
An incredible 2d beat-em up with a great vibe.

The Warriors
Rockstar’s love letter to a cult classic 70s film.

Zone of the Enders + Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner
Hideo Kojima just doing more of his thing outside of the MGS franchise.

I haven’t used a killawatt on it to check, but according to the specs it uses ~30W while in operation (plus whatever additional draw for the four drives). It’s pretty negligible, overall as far as I can tell.

Hard disagree; Cata was definitely a stumble, but Mists of Pandaria did a lot right, as did Legion. BfA also had its moments, even though it was severely hampered by needlessly obtuse systems.

Shadowlands is where it truly died.

Even better! What are you running on your server?

Ours is just an old QNAP I dug out of storage with 4x8TB drives in RAID5 - but am eager to try out HexOS on a proper system once I have some spare time.

The missus and I sat down about a year ago and tabulated up how much all of the various streaming subscriptions were costing us per year (it was close to $1,000 when including YouTube Premium).

We cancelled every single one, and put that money towards building a home NAS and filling that up with downloaded media. No more ads, stupidly low bitrates, or TV shows & movies disappearing because a license expired.

The server has more than paid for itself at this point, and every additional spare dollar is being put aside for our kids’ tuition.

ETA: Consider doing the same, your kid’ll likely thank you in the long run!

PS: Never too late to introduce them to all of your favourite classic games, either - though that one may be a bit harder to get them onboard 🤣

EA has basically been dead to me for a very long time, even though I know a couple of people who work there.

While the whole Saudi Arabia / Private Equity angle is terrible, part of me thinks/hopes/wishes that this is part of their whole sports-washing angle - and there is a slim but non-0 chance that there will be an improvement in the quality of their studio output over the next few years.

I’ll continue to avoid buying their games, but it would be nice to see those that still do not getting nickel-and-dimed as hard as they currently are.

Who knows, there is also the potential that this buyout backfires and Saudi’s human rights abuses become even more public knowledge as a result?

When times are as bad as they currently are, we have to hope.

OK, so which of the Koopalings is next in line? My money’s on Ludwig!

Given my general distain for modern Nintendo, I’d have no qualms in using AI to generate a Succession parody using the Koopa Kids, if only I knew how… 😅

Maybe not; but my bigger worry is that while this is good for indies initially, by guaranteeing a minimum fixed income for a project - the long-term effect will be that Gamers^TM may just begin to expect indie titles to be “free” via GamePass and won’t buy them otherwise.

This would pretty much monopolise those sorts of titles to XBox and leave developers dependent on Microsoft for their continued existence.

Balkanisation might honestly be the only solution; but that would involve the US giving up its current position as the only remaining global superpower.

A brave-enough Congress could overhaul the Supreme Court, as they had in the past.

Unfortunately that level of courage is missing from most current politicians.

Saudi Arabia has had a lot of success in improving their international reputation through ‘sportswashing’.

This just comes as a natural extension of this, seeing to but their way into the good graces of gamers.

If you’re referring to Patrice Désilets, he also worked on Brotherhood - which is commonly considered the best entry in the series of that generation.

But now knowing his full history with Ubisoft, it exciting so much why Revelations and AC3 felt like a step backwards…