Japan Reacts

Category: Games

  • “Silent Hill: Townfall” Lands Metascore of 81, Fans Immediately Start Comparing It to Wolverine

    The Metascore for Konami’s upcoming horror title Silent Hill: Townfall has landed at 81. On 5ch’s “Hardware/Industry” board (nicknamed “Geha,” short for ゲームハード, “game hardware”), posters immediately started comparing the score to Sony’s Marvel’s Wolverine, which launched around the same time, with reactions split between “higher than Wolverine” and “guess that’s about average.” The thread also noted that IGN and Eurogamer each scored the game 80, with some posters zeroing in on how individual outlets scored it. Meanwhile, with the September 24 release approaching, reports of weak first-week sales forecasts surfaced too, and plenty of posts voiced worry about how well the game will actually sell.

    1AnonymousSep 22, 2026 14:57
    Guess that's about average?
    4AnonymousSep 22, 2026 14:58
    Wolverine caused such a frenzy that nobody on Geha even remembered this series was launching.
    5AnonymousSep 22, 2026 14:58
    After a 77, this feels high somehow (´・ω・｀)
    6AnonymousSep 22, 2026 14:59
    Guess they'll get a black guy to stream this one too, huh? (jab at viral streamer clips that drove Wolverine hype)
    7AnonymousSep 22, 2026 14:59
    It's on the lower side, but yeah, about what you'd expect.
    8AnonymousSep 22, 2026 14:59
    10AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:00
    Re: #8
    This game's already become a toy for the 'gaijin bros' (外人ニキ, slang for enthusiastic overseas fans) huh.
    63AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:51
    Re: #8
    lol (草, literally "grass" — net slang for LOL) same deal here, holding up a Wolverine disc
    pretty sure there was even one of a guy being led to a toilet with it
    9AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:00
    Maybe Marvel should've just had Konami make the Wolverine game — might've sold better.
    11AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:00
    Total shovelware, worse than Wilds (Monster Hunter Wilds).
    15AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:01
    Re: #11
    But it scored higher than Sony's 'masterpiece' Wolverine though? 😤
    13AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:01
    Any game launching right now is lucky honestly — the 'at least it's better than Wolverine' effect makes it look more competent than it really is.
    16AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:02
    If 81 is without any 'Sony bonus points,' it's probably decently fun for real.
    Wolverine's 77 already includes the Sony bonus, so its real score is more like 60. (recurring forum theory that first-party Sony titles get score inflation)
    17AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:03
    Konami's low-budget game beats Wolverine.
    18AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:04
    Too plain to care about compared to 'Silent Hinamizawa' (a joke mashup nickname combining Silent Hill with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, set in the village of Hinamizawa).
    19AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:04
    At this score range, which outlets gave what actually matters, no?
    22AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:08
    Guess nobody cares — there weren't even many threads about it on Geha.
    23AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:08
    Cranking these out cheap via outsourcing is a solid strategy.
    26AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:10
    Re: #23
    Except the IP's credibility is tanking though.
    25AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:09
    Took a quick look —

    IGN 80
    Eurogamer 80

    Feels like a pretty average game.
    28AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:10
    Re: #25
    Still better than a 60-rated game…
    36AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:14
    Re: #25
    That's rated better than 'Sell-verine' (売るヴァリン, a mocking pun on 売る "to sell" + Wolverine) though
    Guess the gameplay system just hasn't changed much.
    30AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:10
    PS5 version — SILENT HILL: Townfall (サイレントヒル タウンフォール)
    Release date: Sept 24
    Sales ranking: #35

    Smells like a 4-digit opening week for this one (i.e. under 10,000 units, considered weak for a AAA title) (´・ω・`)
    33AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:12
    So it's more fun than that $300 million blockbuster!
    34AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:12
    Lol, there's officially a 'Wolverine line' now (using it as the benchmark for every other game's score).
    35AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:13
    A game that's merely 'better than Wolverine' lmaooo.
    38AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:15
    Black protagonist, photorealistic, single-player adventure, well-known franchise — exactly the type of game Metacritic tends to favor, so you'd hope for something more like 85.
    39AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:16
    Preorders are pretty dire — looks like it'll open around 10-15k units, roughly 20% of [Silent Hill] f's numbers (referring to the prior series entry, Silent Hill f).
    40AnonymousSep 22, 2026 15:17
    Another legend added to the pile of 'Bomb-station 5' flops? (爆死ステーション5, a mocking nickname for the PS5 over its string of commercial flops)
    84AnonymousSep 22, 2026 16:10
    The big outlets that all gave Wolverine around 60 are giving this one 80, so it's probably not as bad as Wolverine was, right?

    Might as well just wait and buy the Xbox version — this seems like the type that ends up half price eventually.
    85AnonymousSep 22, 2026 16:12
    Re: #84
    Just buy it on Steam — domestically in Japan it was showing up pretty high on the 'coming soon' popularity list.
    Globally though it was losing badly to Control: Resonant, which is competing with Onimusha (鬼武者, Capcom's samurai action franchise) around the same time.
    90AnonymousSep 22, 2026 16:14
    Re: #84
    That 60 for Wolverine was basically the big outlets warning, 'pay up for ad spend or we'll dock your score' 😂 (a recurring conspiracy theory about pay-for-review-score deals)
    97AnonymousSep 22, 2026 16:17
    The nerve to sell a costume as a preorder bonus… in a first-person game where you'd never even see it.
    100AnonymousSep 22, 2026 16:19
    Re: #97
    Seriously? lol
    That's kind of hilarious.

    Background and Discussion Points

    Metascore is a weighted average, compiled by Metacritic, of scores from major review outlets. There are long-running claims that some overseas publisher deals tie bonuses or clauses to hitting certain score thresholds, and suspicion that review outlets skew scores to reach those targets is a recurring topic of discussion in the games industry. The main axis of debate in this thread was a comparison with Marvel’s Wolverine, which launched around the same time — opinions split over whether 81 looked high or low next to that game’s score. The thread also flagged that IGN and Eurogamer each gave the game 80, drawing attention to how the major outlets tend to score things. There was also discussion of weak first-week sales forecasts and how the game is being marketed, but since that’s a separate topic from how the game itself was received critically, this article focuses mainly on reactions to the review scores.

    ※This article is an excerpt and summary based on the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, aka “Geha”) board thread ““Silent Hill: Townfall” Metascore 81.”

  • Splatoon Raiders Bundle Hits New Record Low — 5ch Dubs It the ‘One-Coin Raiders’

    The bundle version of Splatoon Raiders for Nintendo Switch 2 has dropped to ¥61,199 (tax included, 6% off) on Amazon, setting a new all-time low. Reports of falling resale prices at flea markets and secondhand shops have been piling up too, and on 5ch the talk centered on the spin-off’s weak sales — likely due to its lack of DLC and online multiplayer — set against the limited-edition Zelda bundle released around the same time, which remains hard to find in stock.

    1AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:25
    What are they gonna do with all this dead stock?
    7AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:26
    Switch 2 flop list:
    ・Mario Kart World
    ・Himitsu-ten (Secret Exhibition)
    ・Wheelchair Basketball
    ・Raiders
    ・Air Rider
    ・Star Fox
    ・Mario Tennis Fever
    ・Yoshi
    79AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:33
    Re: #7
    What about Bananza?
    86AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:43
    Re: #7
    Don't forget Metroid Prime 4 (MetPra4)
    10AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:26
    Look at the second pic — the price snapped right back up.
    13AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:27
    Re: #10
    It hasn't gone back up
    https://amzn.asia/d/00bSsHzw
    12AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:27
    That's not even cheap…
    Don't need this junk anyway.
    16AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:28
    Switch 2 flop list:
    ・Mario Kart World
    ・Himitsu-ten (Secret Exhibition)
    ・Bananza
    ・Wheelchair Basketball
    ・Raiders
    ・Air Rider
    ・Star Fox
    ・Mario Tennis Fever
    ・Yoshi
    17AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:29
    What are they gonna do about this
    18AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:29
    Re: #17
    Just keeps dropping, dropping, dropping (a play on words riffing on the price crash)
    19AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:29
    I was gonna list them all out… turns out it's literally everything.
    21AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:30
    Splatoon Raiders
    500 yen lol
    One-Coin Raiders
    22AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:31
    Is there even a point to the same guy spamming replies over and over?
    23AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:31
    Even with the sale on, the standard edition is outselling it — does that mean users just see Raiders as garbage they don't need?
    24AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:31
    People say it's not selling, but it's already passed FF16, the #2 best-selling PS5 title of all time?
    26AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:34
    Every single Switch 2 game is flopping.
    31AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:36
    Re: #1
    Currently
    ¥61,199 -6% ¥61,199 (tax included)

    On PS they'd dump it for cheaper than the console alone, but here they're being stingy.
    34AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:39
    Re: #31
    The Marketplace is still selling it for ¥60,500
    Though the Amazon-sold-and-shipped listing is ¥63,549
    36AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:41
    It's from a scalper, so it's basically "used" even though it's unopened new.
    37AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:43
    Re: #36
    The buyback price is way below retail, yet people keep selling it anyway — kind of strange.
    39AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:46
    That ¥60,500 "Live Shop" listing —
    Google it and it turns out they don't buy from individuals, only bulk new-stock buybacks for businesses.

    Maybe it's a retailer trying to clear out inventory? 🤣
    45AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:55
    Re: #39
    So that's why 30 units suddenly vanished from Edion (electronics retail chain)
    41AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:51
    If it were just ¥500 for the game alone, I'd buy it instantly.
    52AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:04
    Re: #41
    Wish they'd sell download codes like Sony does.
    44AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:54
    Feels like ¥60,000 is seen as too pricey, so even scalpers are steering clear.
    Guess cracking down hard on scalping cuts both ways.
    48AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:57
    Re: #44
    The buyback price is just low, that's all


    49AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:58
    I've got two sitting around that I bought before the price went up, and I want to sell now, but it's this cheap huh… guess the standard version goes for even less.
    55AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:05
    Re: #49
    Until Pokémon, Animal Crossing, or mainline Splatoon actually drops, it's not going to sell out.
    54AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:04
    No DLC, total garbage — who's buying this
    56AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:06
    Re: #54
    There's linked gear coming for Splatoon 4, so you'd better buy it now lol
    57AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:07
    Guess spin-offs that aren't mainline entries just don't sell after all.
    67AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:17
    The Switch 2 console's retail price is so high that people don't want to gamble on their first game.
    The pattern ends up being: buy the console alone first, then buy a game only once something you really want comes out.

    Raiders is the kind of title people pick up as their second (or later) purchase, so a bundle version was always going to be a tough sell.
    97AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:54
    Re: #67
    The Zelda limited edition was so appealing that, by contrast, it just highlights how plain and generic Raiders looks.
    If they'd at least changed the color…
    90AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:45
    Metroid Prime 4 scores higher than Wolverine on both Metacritic and user scores.

    That's exactly why nobody wants that brought back up — read the room.
    92AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:49
    Re: #90
    Metroid Prime 4
    That one flopped hard too lol
    99AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:00
    The Zelda limited edition still has stock left too.

    Makes sense, it's priced close to the OLED model.
    102AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:04
    Re: #99
    Wherever still has Zelda in stock, isn't that at a jacked-up scalper price?
    Let me know if you find any at or under retail.
    103AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:04
    Re: #102
    Leave it alone

    That's a topic you don't touch.
    107AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:16
    Re: #102
    It's sold out everywhere online, but in physical stores Joshin was still taking preorders as of a few days ago.
    There was technically a members-only restriction, but I think non-members could just sign up for membership on the spot.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Because the Switch 2 console carries a hefty retail price, users tend to play it safe and pick a mainline title for their first purchase — leaving Raiders, a spin-off that skips online multiplayer and DLC, positioned as a “second purchase” title whose bundle version naturally has weaker appeal. On the thread, a “Switch 2 flop list” names several titles alongside Raiders, including Mario Kart World and Wheelchair Basketball — an easy point to miss is that this isn’t really about Raiders underperforming on its own, but rather one example of weak launch momentum across Switch 2 software as a whole. At the same time, some pointed out that it has “already passed FF16, the #2 best-selling PS5 title of all time,” so it’s not an entirely bleak picture. The price drop may also reflect scalpers and retailers clearing out inventory, so it’s worth being careful not to conflate weak retail sales with falling resale-market prices.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Sad News] Splatoon Raiders Bundle Hits New Record Low lol.”

  • Sony Cancels Development of an Already-Announced Title — 5ch: “Same Old ¥10 Billion Money-Grab Pattern”

    A title that had been unveiled with great fanfare during a PlayStation showcase has reportedly had its development support cut by Sony. In the IGN US interview quoted above, the person in charge explains that Sony reached out in June this year asking for an online meeting, but they couldn’t respond at the time because they were in New York for a Prada event and then stayed on in Los Angeles afterward. On 5ch, this timeline has drawn a lot of comments arguing that “the lack of communication is the developer’s fault, not Sony’s” — and, pointing back to the earlier case where Konami similarly cut off support, commenters noted that this time criticism is flowing toward the developer instead, the opposite of what happened back then.

    ↓

    “In June, we got word from SIE that they wanted to set up a Zoom meeting to talk.”

    “I was incredibly busy at the time — I’d just gone to New York for a Prada event, and right after that I was in Los Angeles too.”

    Source: jp.ign.com / Original article here

    9AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:07
    Same as Nagoshi's new Like a Dragon spin-off, right?
    Still years away from finishing, and now it's back to begging for another ¥10 billion from here.
    11AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:08
    This is just Sony losing patience with a game that keeps dragging on like garbage forever.
    It's not that Sony failed to communicate — it's on the developer for not staying in close contact with Sony and failing to lay out a solid release roadmap or sell them on the game's appeal.
    17AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:11
    Re: #9
    Re: #11

    This is correct.
    35AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:29
    Re: #11
    People keep saying this, but is Sony — the company that made and shipped Concord — really in a position to talk? (Concord: Sony's own big-budget game that flopped and was pulled)
    25AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:21
    55AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:44
    Re: #25
    In the end, it comes down to this.
    26AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:21
    They've already been developing this for two years, and release isn't even until 2030 at the earliest? Guess Sony decided they just couldn't wait any longer.
    31AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:27
    Re: #26
    Right now they're still casting actors (foreign talent) and hammering out the concept — nothing's actually been built yet.
    Fans: "What happens to the parts already made with the Decima Engine? What are you going to do once you can't use Decima anymore?"
    Director: "Still mulling over which engine to use. First, OD."
    That's the state of things.
    32AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:28
    Apparently this goes back to before the previous person in charge stepped down.
    Signed with Sony around 2022.
    Now, in the second half of 2026, they're still deciding on the engine and the main character.
    If all goes well, release is planned for 2030.

    This is basically the same thing that got them cut by Konami — if it had sold like crazy there might've been hope, but they didn't hit their target sales numbers either.
    40AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:34
    Re: #32
    Even when Sony asked them to show results, all they could show was "we've signed a bunch of Hollywood stars."
    They've been recklessly burning through someone else's money while actual game development goes nowhere.
    Of course they got cut.
    33AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:28
    That game they made independently, about the guy who delivers stuff —
    Is that one actually turning a profit?
    That's probably what it comes down to.
    37AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:31
    Re: #33
    Honestly, that second one was the real litmus test for Sony.
    43AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:38
    Back when it was Konami, everyone was defending Kojima Productions across the board.
    This time there are a lot more people defending Sony instead, which makes sense.
    Getting dropped twice in a row — at that point the problem is clearly on Kojima Productions' end.
    50AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:41
    Re: #43
    I want Metal Gear Solid to keep going, so I didn't want them to break with Konami.
    Death Stranding, though, I'm fine without more of, so splitting from Sony isn't a big deal.
    That's really all there is to it.
    53AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:43
    Re: #43
    Since this didn't turn into Sony-bashing the way they expected, and people started saying "isn't Kojima the weird one here?" instead — that's probably why Kojima Productions put out that statement.
    Meanwhile the Kojima fan accounts are still retweeting Sony-bashing posts like crazy.
    46AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:40
    These days it feels like every game needs to sell 5 million copies worldwide just to break even.
    At this rate the industry's going to collapse eventually.
    52AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:42
    Re: #46
    Depends on the development and marketing budget.

    And honestly, GTA is just an outlier.
    62AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:50
    Re: #53
    There's zero gratitude for all the support they've gotten so far.
    Even with a new partner, it probably won't last long either.
    66AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:52
    I was way too hard on Sony.

    68AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:53
    Wolverine had the misfortune of coming out right after Onimusha, which was basically action gameplay perfected.
    Even fans overseas started saying they should've just paid Capcom a fortune to make it instead.
    74AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:58
    Re: #68
    Onimusha isn't generating much buzz, but it still hit a million units on day one.
    78AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:06
    Wolverine's a mess in parts, and its development budget was insane on top of that.
    There are several games from around the same time with way smaller budgets that turned out better.

    Onimusha
    DawnWalker

    Even if you gave those two combined budgets times two, Wolverine probably still wouldn't have gotten finished.
    80AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:08
    Re: #78
    "It's a mess" — that's probably just the opinion of someone who hasn't even played it, right?
    88AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:13
    They never tell the publisher even a rough release timeframe, never communicate at all —
    but the moment they get cut, suddenly it's "the other side barely communicated and unilaterally pulled the plug on us."
    Whether it's Konami or Sony, it's the same move every time.
    90AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:15
    Re: #88
    At its core, this is basically the same kind of situation as that Like a Dragon project.
    93AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:18
    They're this close to each other, and yet—
    99AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:22
    Re: #93
    They'd probably run into each other just going out for lunch.
    110AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:33
    Re: #93
    Oh, it's here?! I used to go there for health checkups back in the day.
    102AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:25
    Wait, does this mean Sony isn't just writing off everything they've invested so far — does Kojima Productions still owe Sony something back, even with funding cut off?
    106AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:26
    Re: #102
    Well, that probably depends on the contract.
    116AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:43
    Isn't this the Smash Bros. guy? Hadn't heard his name in a while, and turns out he'd gone to Sony?
    117AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:44
    Re: #116
    He's the Metal Gear guy.
    The Smash Bros. guy is Sakurai, and he's still working with Nintendo — he just put out Kirby Air Riders recently.
    119AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:47
    They really need people to just come out and say it straight — "this looks boring," "their development skills are too weak," "they're too slow."
    128AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:55
    He's doing a talk session with the director of the latest movie.
    Can they even use Guerrilla Games' Decima Engine?
    If they're switching engines, this doesn't look like it'll even be done by 2030 for PHYSINT.

    Background and Key Points

    By way of background, this project appears to be a title co-developed by a major studio and Sony, unveiled several years ago during a PlayStation showcase. In recent years, AAA titles have seen ballooning development and marketing budgets to the point where a game must sell in the millions of units just to break even, and funders have grown increasingly cautious about pouring more money into projects showing little progress. The studio in question previously had a contract cut by a different funder as well; back then, criticism was aimed mainly at the funder, but this time, following the split with Sony, the prevailing sentiment instead holds the developer accountable — a notable contrast. That said, there has been no official word on the specific contract terms or whether either side bears additional costs, so it’s worth noting that the thread’s comments remain speculation.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Live News G) thread “[Sad News] Sony Unilaterally Cancels and Ignores a Title It Once Proudly Unveiled on PlayStation Direct.”

  • Nintendo Sued Palworld but Won’t Touch ‘Animo’ — 5ch’s Gaming Board Debates Why

    As the monster-collecting game “Animo” becomes a hot topic, a thread on 5ch’s Console Wars board (ゲハ) asked: “Nintendo sued Palworld, so why isn’t it suing Animo?” Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sued Palworld developer Pocketpair for patent infringement back in 2024, and with that still fresh in posters’ minds, the board debated why this situation is being handled differently. Some argued visual similarity alone justifies a lawsuit, while others countered that the real issue is whether patent infringement can actually be proven — and confusion over the developer’s nationality only muddied things further.

    1AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:03
    They didn't sue Genshin Impact either — guess Chinese companies are too scary to mess with, lol
    Isn't it embarrassing to only act tough against indie devs?
    2AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:04
    Poor Palworld, getting singled out like this…
    3AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:05
    Nobody looks at Animo's monsters and thinks "Pokémon."
    6AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:08
    Re: #3
    Nah, there are honestly some that look almost identical.
    4AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:06
    Go ahead, then — specifically, what's the problem?
    5AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:07
    Honestly makes me think Japanese game companies can't grow because of Nintendo.
    7AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:08
    Is this why Palworld dropped off the Steam charts? lol
    8AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:08
    If they want to rip each other off and tear each other down, be my guest.
    Like people said from the start, Palworld's real enemy is China.
    9AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:09
    Re: #6
    Name the specific monster, then.
    10AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:09
    "Sad to see Pakuworld (a snide nickname mashing up 'paku' = rip-off, with Palworld) disappear" — stopped reading right there.
    11AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:09
    What do you mean "why"? Why would they even need to sue?
    Has patent infringement actually been confirmed?
    12AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:09
    There's no consistency here.
    Genshin Impact alone is probably infringing dozens of patents.
    18AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:12
    Re: #12
    Give a concrete example, then.
    13AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:10
    Does it have anything in it like Featheralo or Rabelot?
    14AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:10
    Just because you're upset Palworld's about to get crushed by Animo doesn't mean you get to pin it on Nintendo, lol
    15AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:10
    As long as you don't openly antagonize Nintendo, you're fine.
    Palworld blatantly picked a fight.
    17AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:12
    Sue if they want to sue.
    They can still make enough trouble that stores won't stock it properly, like what happened to Palworld.
    And overseas fans have actually been saying they won't forgive Animo for ripping off Palworld.
    19AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:12
    It's not like it's ripping off Pokémon anyway.
    22AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:12
    Poor Palworld, fell clean out of the top 100 the moment this thing launched.
    25AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:13
    With "Bakumon," they just took action to stop it because it was trying to push merchandise that could be confused with Pokémon's — that's all this is.
    28AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:14
    Well, thanks to that it won't blow up into controversy or get any free publicity, so it'll be gone soon enough anyway.
    29AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:15
    If that counts as grounds for a lawsuit, they'd have sued half the Game Boy library by now, lol
    30AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:15
    Everyone's thinking it.
    But it's Nintendo, so what can you do.
    31AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:15
    Honestly, I think Loco Kingdom is the bigger threat.
    32AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:15
    In the first place, Nintendo sued because Palworld was made to look so much like Pokémon that people might assume it was actually connected to Nintendo.
    Nobody looks at Genshin or Animo and thinks they're connected to Nintendo, so there's no need to sue.
    33AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:16
    Unlike when Palworld launched, there wasn't a huge outcry calling this a blatant Pokémon rip-off.
    With Palworld it was such a scandal that some outlets actually contacted Nintendo for comment — nothing like that happened with Animo.
    Public perception is probably just "another game with some monster-collecting elements," nothing more.
    54AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:26
    Re: #33
    It only became its own genre because of Palworld.
    35AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:18
    They crush Japanese companies.
    37AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:18
    Re: #35
    You mean like Sony cutting Kojima loose?
    50AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:24
    Rumi Master!
    81AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:43
    Re: #50
    Wasn't this also on September 17th?
    Feels like there's a coordinated push going on, like someone gave the order to go on the offensive.
    51AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:25
    Palworld got called "Pokémon-style" or "Pokémon-like" constantly in streams and articles.
    53AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:26
    Re: #51
    They basically said in an interview that they pick what to rip off before they even start making the game, so there's no saving them.
    65AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:35
    Chinese companies were probably hoping Nintendo would crush Palworld for them.
    Instead, it ended in a crushing defeat for them.
    71AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:39
    Re: #65
    Palworld's doing so well that Chinese and Korean companies keep cranking out Palworld-likes.
    78AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:41
    Re: #71
    Those companies were ripping stuff off long before Palworld even existed.
    Stop pretending they had any morals before Palworld came along.
    84AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:45
    Re: #78
    Stop pretending Japan never ripped anything off either.
    One look at Showa-era rip-offs and you can't exactly go around criticizing China and Korea.
    94AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:55
    As a game, Animo is way more "Pokémon" than Palworld ever was.
    97AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:56
    Re: #94
    And yet Palworld's the one that got sued — how badly do you have to play your cards to end up like that… lol

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    In September 2024, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sued Palworld developer Pocketpair for patent infringement. The dispute reportedly centers not on visual similarity between the monsters, but on several patents covering things like how monsters are captured out in the field. The thread split over this basic premise: some posts framed the lawsuit question purely around “do the monsters look alike,” while others insisted the real issue is “can patent infringement actually be demonstrated.” There was also speculation that Nintendo was hesitant to sue because Animo’s developer is Chinese, though other posters pointed out that the studio is actually based in Singapore — showing that even the basic facts were in dispute. It’s also worth remembering that Palworld was repeatedly reported on as “Pokémon-style” from the moment it launched, generating major buzz — a backdrop worth keeping in mind when trying to understand why Nintendo is handling this case differently.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Console Wars board)) thread “Why isn’t Nintendo suing “Animo”? lol Even though it sued Palworld.”

  • Switch 2’s Star Fox Struggles to Sell — 5ch: ‘It’s Just a Remake, and Still…’

    Nintendo’s Switch 2 release of Star Fox is a remake of 1997’s Star Fox 64 that keeps the original’s stage layouts while giving the graphics a major overhaul — on sale for ¥4,457 (31% off). On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry board (Geha), a thread sprang up over the game’s sales performance, with posters pointing to the decline of the rail-shooter genre itself, divided opinions on the character designs, and a general sense that the remake doesn’t offer enough. Others countered by citing a figure of ‘over 60,000 units sold total,’ arguing that’s a solid showing compared to other niche titles — so opinions ended up split.

    Star Fox — Switch 2

    Sale price: ¥4,457 (31% off)

    Star Fox is based on Star Fox 64, released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997, keeping the same stage layouts while dramatically upgrading the graphics. It features all the familiar banter with Peppy, Slippy, Falco and the rest, plus newly added cutscenes.

    Source: famitsu.com / Original article here

    4AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:03
    Sure it looks nicer, but the graphics aren't anything special
    Content's the same as before
    No real selling point
    Kind of pricey for what it is
    Gameplay feels dated
    Character designs are creepy
    74AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:12
    Re: #4
    3D shooters just aren't popular
    The demo alone was enough to fill me up
    5AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:04
    It's not really a fun game to play these days anyway
    Also the character designs are creepy
    6AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:04
    Still sold about 20x more than Tokon, and that's just a remake
    8AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:06
    Wasn't Star Fox's total lifetime sales around 60,000 units?
    Their passionately made first-party title and it's only 60k lol
    9AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:07
    Re: #1
    It's no mystery at all why crap Switch games don't sell lol

    It's a bad game, so of course it doesn't selllll lolol 😂
    10AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:07
    Really gives off that 'genres just decline over time' vibe.
    11AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:07
    Also the fanboys hyped it up way too much
    It's just a remake, after all
    14AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:10
    I played the original N64 version to death offline back in the day, so since it's barely changed I got bored fast
    But I bought it for the online multiplayer, and that's genuinely fun, so I'm satisfied
    Honestly they should just lean fully into the online multiplayer for this series going forward
    16AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:12
    It's actually selling too well for a shooter
    I just don't like the character (doll-like) designs
    17AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:12
    Barely different from the N64 version you already get through Nintendo Switch Online, so charging full price is a tough sell
    Even ¥2,000 would be a stretch, and that game design is dated by today's standards
    18AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:12
    Shooters just don't sell to begin with
    That fanbase is all talk and no wallet
    19AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:13
    Star Fox never sold that well to begin with — wasn't 64 the last real entry anyway?
    For some reason Nintendo just can't let this series go though
    20AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:14
    I remember someone saying the Mario movie's huge success would translate into Star Fox game sales too, but at this point who even cares
    31AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:24
    Re: #20
    Yeah, I remember that talk
    Something about Nintendo seriously trying to reboot it, even making a brand-new entry
    21AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:14
    Counting overseas sales too, it probably did decently enough
    But Nintendo's real goal here is relaunching the IP, so I'm curious what they do with it next
    22AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:14
    The game itself may not be a runaway hit, but I see plenty of VTubers streaming it, so it's doing well enough
    I'm curious how well the plushies are selling
    23AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:15
    If it had come out during the original Switch's catalog era, it would've at least sold okay
    24AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:15
    I bet this remake only got greenlit because Miyamoto said the word
    25AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:16
    Can't be helped — the whole rail-shooter genre was already dead
    It's a genre that hadn't had a new release in years
    26AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:17
    Feels like the Switch 2 is suffering the downside of games being greenlit years in advance

    Stuff like the Mario Galaxy Wii port, or a straight remake of Star Fox


    Feels like Nintendo's playing it a bit too safe
    27AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:19
    The gameplay was already perfect to begin with, so there's no need to change something that's already perfect
    29AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:21
    60,000 units from domestic physical sales alone would be an ace-tier hit on PlayStation
    And that's for a remake, no less
    32AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:36
    Re: #29
    In PS5 terms, that's outselling Pragmata
    30AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:23
    The visible number is 69,657, so it's probably crossed 70k once you count what isn't publicly tracked
    33AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:36
    It's because the game feels way too dated but is still priced like a brand-new release
    38AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:40
    Honestly, did the systems even need changing? The N64 version was already polished to perfection — all that's really left is modernizing the graphics
    This is for people who never played it, and for the fans
    40AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:42
    Re: #38
    Keeping the core systems untouched is fine, but they should've reworked the presentation and level design
    By today's standards it's honestly a bit weak
    49AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:16
    Sci-fi as a genre — robots included — honestly feels like something only old guys are into now
    Reality caught up with the old-school image sci-fi used to have, so it just doesn't land with Gen Z or Gen Alpha
    For younger people it's probably closer to 'dolphins and octopuses invading from space!' at this point
    98AnonymousSep 22, 2026 13:57
    Re: #49
    For kids, fantasy is even more played out as a genre than sci-fi, though
    50AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:17
    At a glance it doesn't match my memories, and it's like, what do an overseas dev team even know about Japanese games
    Compliance cutting the [lick] animation (a signature bit from the original) aside, who even is this random new cat character
    Honestly I think the N64 version gets over-deified, like it's in the Guinness Book or something
    79AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:28
    Casual players avoid shooters to begin with
    Because they look too hard
    83AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:48
    Re: #79
    Casuals avoid it because the genre skews hardcore
    Hardcore fans avoid it because the look skews casual — it's an IP that's unclear who it's even for
    82AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:32
    Honestly this feels like it could be a preview of Zelda's future too
    Though Zelda's sales will obviously stay way higher
    84AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:49
    Re: #82
    Can't speak for newcomers, but as a fan who's already cleared it, I've got no complaints
    Music plays a huge role in that game, so an orchestral arrangement should change the feel a lot
    Honestly that's a game you can't really judge just from the surface
    99AnonymousSep 22, 2026 14:20
    Re: #98
    Stuff like Tensura (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime) is popular though
    100AnonymousSep 22, 2026 14:50
    Re: #99
    You again?
    Even a bot could come up with something else to say

    Background and key points of this debate

    Star Fox 64 launched for the Nintendo 64 in 1997, and this Switch 2 release is essentially a port-like remake that keeps the original stage layouts while boosting the graphics. Rail shooters (3D shooters) are a genre that saw new releases dry up sharply from the 2000s onward, and that decline came up repeatedly in the thread. That said, figures cited in the thread like ‘69,657 units’ or ‘over 60,000 units total’ are based on individual posters’ own memory or tallies, not official numbers released by Nintendo or the press — worth keeping in mind. Comparisons to other titles (selling 20x more than another game, outselling PS5’s Pragmata, etc.) also don’t translate cleanly into a simple ranking, since the platforms and genres involved differ. Underlying the split reaction to its sales seems to be less about the remake’s quality itself and more about the ambiguity of who exactly it was made for.

    This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, aka Geha) thread ‘[Sad News] The Real Reason Star Fox Didn’t Sell Well Is Genuinely a Mystery.’

  • New PS Handheld Rumored to Launch Alongside PS6 in Late 2027 — 5ch: ‘It’ll Just End Up a Worse Switch 2’

    According to reports carried by overseas media, Sony is said to be developing a new PlayStation handheld console, with a launch planned for late 2027 — the same timeframe as the PS6. It reportedly aims to support three generations of software (PS4, PS5, and PS6), and unlike the PlayStation Portal, which was merely a remote-play device, this new handheld is expected to run games on its own, without needing to stream from another console. On 5ch’s gaming industry (“Geha”) board, the discussion leaned less toward simple pros and cons and more toward skepticism, with users voicing concerns about being forced to pay for both a home console and a handheld at the same time, doubts over whether three-generation compatibility is truly achievable, and caution about taking an unconfirmed leak at face value in the first place.

    New information has emerged regarding the new PlayStation handheld that Sony is reportedly developing, suggesting the company is aiming for a late 2027 release. Rather than being a remote-play-only device like the PlayStation Portal, it’s believed to be a full-fledged handheld gaming console capable of running games entirely on its own.

    Launching alongside the PS6?

    As for timing, reports indicate that the new PlayStation handheld and the PS6 will launch simultaneously in late 2027.

    Source: sumahodigest.com / Original article here

    6AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:19
    Weekly sales below even the original Switch — no wonder they're panicking
    16AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:28
    Re: #6
    Spreading a rumor like this will just make people hold off buying even more, won't it
    8AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:22
    Go get 'em, Sub-Switch-Station! lol Go get 'em! lol (a mocking nickname mashing up 'below Switch' with '-Station' from PlayStation)
    9AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:23
    I always wonder about this — does anyone really need backward compatibility that badly?
    Who's gonna buy a brand-new console just to replay old-gen games they've already worn out?
    14AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:25
    Re: #9
    If backward compatibility alone could win the console war, Xbox would be selling way better than it is — so, yeah, draw your own conclusions
    24AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:37
    Re: #9
    It'd appeal to people who heard a game was great but never bought the console for it, but in today's multiplatform era it feels kind of pointless
    26AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:40
    Re: #9
    For PlayStation, compatibility actually works against them.
    Sony never drops support for the old generation, so third parties keep putting out PS4 games even this year, which leads to people asking 'do I even need a PS5?'
    If PS6 supports both PS4 and PS5, then people will just start asking 'do I even need a PS6?' instead
    11AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:23
    Is PS6 even coming out next year in the first place?
    12AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:24
    And this is supposed to be the worst year on record for memory chip shortages
    15AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:27
    Following tradition, it'll probably need its own proprietary memory card too, right?
    What's the total price tag gonna be?
    17AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:30
    PlayStation doesn't have anything like Pokémon, so there's no point putting out a handheld…
    Don't dig up something that already died with the Vita
    18AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:30
    If they just released a PS Portal with Vita compatibility, I could at least live with that.
    Compatibility with PS4 and later is nothing but a waste of storage
    19AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:31
    But this'll probably require a PS Plus subscription too, won't it
    21AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:32
    If they're really trying to make another handheld,
    it just shows they still haven't figured out internally why the Vita bombed so hard
    22AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:36
    I can already picture it — no exclusive games, just a 'PS6 Edition' slapped on existing titles.
    Copying Nintendo after the fact is the one thing they're good at
    25AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:39
    Are they announcing a handheld just to make people hold off on buying a Switch 2?
    Wouldn't an announcement like that only sway guys in their 40s and up?
    27AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:41
    I guess they were too embarrassed to just flat-out copy Switch's whole concept,
    and launching a home console and a handheld together is the agonized compromise they landed on.
    It'll probably fuel plenty of online trash-talk, though — people claiming PlayStation wins on both the home-console and handheld front.
    And in the end, it'll just remind the general public all over again how good the value is on a Switch, which gives you both in one device.
    29AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:43
    What I actually want is a PS1/PS2 with just HDMI support bolted on, but for some reason nobody makes a compatible unit like that
    95AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:03
    Re: #29
    Just buy a converter, no?
    30AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:43
    Is this a trial balloon or just wishful thinking?
    Either way, aren't they setting the bar way too high?
    32AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:44
    If it's launching next holiday season, I guess there'll be a reveal event around spring.
    Get ready for six months of self-proclaimed 'leakers' keeping the console-war forums fired up
    33AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:44
    Why do articles like this always act like the PS Portal doesn't exist?
    34AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:44
    If they launch two devices that run the same games at the same time, the handheld's always going to get mocked as the inferior version
    40AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:49
    Re: #9
    It'd make sense if they had exclusives like Nintendo does,
    but if the games are on PC anyway, nobody cares whether they're backward compatible or not
    41AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:49
    Re: #9
    As hardware gets more powerful, new games take longer to make, so without backward compatibility you'd be stuck in a software drought for a while
    42AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:53
    They're dropping physical game sales — I don't get what they're even going for here.
    Isn't this just a worse Steam Machine and Steam Deck combined?
    43AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:54
    Re: #16
    I think they're just cooking up a vague leak so they can later say 'people were only holding off buying because of this rumor!'
    There's no way they're releasing a handheld that costs over 200,000 yen (roughly $1,300)…
    44AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:59
    Can we do something about these articles that just recycle the same leak over and over lol
    68AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:01
    How many times are they gonna spin up a new thread off the same source? Is this an ad?
    69AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:03
    Re: #68
    Probably just trying to distract from all the bad news lately.
    Though it doesn't look like it's working at all
    84AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:00
    That's already a thing — it's called the PS Portal's cloud gaming
    86AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:05
    Re: #84
    Why are these people making a fuss over 'a handheld is coming, a handheld is coming' when it's already possible?
    Isn't it because it's not properly realized yet that they still want it?

    Background and Points of Contention

    The source for this story is sumahodigest.com, an overseas leak-aggregation site — this is not an official Sony announcement. There’s history feeding the skepticism here: about six months before its own launch, the PlayStation Portal was reportedly redesigned from a device meant to run games on its own into a remote-play-only unit that just streams video to phones and the like (see comment #38), and that reversal is why the thread swings between hoping ‘maybe this time it’s a real handheld’ and suspecting ‘this is just another leak running away with itself.’ The debate centers on two main points: (1) the cost burden — launching alongside the PS6 could mean a pricing structure that pushes people to buy both a home console and a handheld at once; and (2) whether building in compatibility across three generations, PS4 through PS6, is realistic both technically and commercially. Some commenters value backward compatibility as a feature, while others point out that leaning on it can slow the pace of new game releases — making this a topic that doesn’t reduce to a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down. In compiling this article, some comments containing political name-calling or slurs mocking people with disabilities were excluded.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Geha”) thread “Media: ‘New PS Handheld to Launch Alongside PS6 in Late 2027, Aiming for PS4/PS5/PS6 Compatibility’”.

  • Microsoft Files Patent to Pause Games and Insert Ads — 5ch: “This Is the Complete Collapse of AAA Game Development”

    Microsoft has filed a patent for a system where an AI judges a good breaking point during gameplay, pauses the game, and inserts an ad there — and it’s become a hot topic on 5ch. Unlike ads shown during loading screens, the distinguishing feature is that it actually halts gameplay itself to slot in the ad. The thread also brought up Sony’s history with “Wipeout HD,” where load-screen ads in 2009 drew criticism and were later removed, as well as the infamous ad patent that had players shout “McDonald’s!” Opinions split between those who could accept it if limited to Game Pass subscribers and those who found it unacceptable if ads reached games people had already purchased.

    6AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:06
    So they're trying to shove ads into the loading screens now?
    8AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:06
    Some foreigner was saying yesterday that MS was about to make some outrageous announcement — is this what he meant?
    140AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:05
    Re: #8
    There was a thread calling it "bad news" too, but honestly it looked more like people were just seething about it.
    14AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:08
    This is a thousand times better than Sony's patent.
    https://ga-m.com/n/sony-game-koukoku-tokkyo-iihanasi-buzz-macdonald/


    A McDonald's commercial plays while you're in the middle of a game.

    Players aren't "allowed" to just sit and watch it — as shown in the image above, you have to stand up and shout the advertiser's name, "McDonald's!"

    Once you do, a microphone and camera linked to the console verify it, the ad ends, and you're free to keep playing.
    61AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:28
    Re: #14
    Lol. What are PlayStation fanboys gonna do about this one lmao
    93AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:45
    Re: #14
    Re: #38
    Whoaaaa! Sony's ahead of its time, amazing!!

    All MS's "innovation" amounts to is an AI finding a decent stopping point.
    That's just a bathroom break — how disappointing!

    Sony actually got people to shout "McDonald's!" Now THAT'S ad impact!

    Add a camera and you could make people salute and swear loyalty to Sony!
    Truly unstoppable!
    26AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:12
    If it's only during loading, that's not such a big deal. I think this one's fine.
    29AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:12
    Re: #26
    And what happens if they decide not to push load times any faster than they have to, just to make room for this?
    Online matchmaking queues are about the most I'd tolerate it in.
    35AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:14
    Wouldn't it be better to just run it in the corner of the screen the whole time instead of doing this?
    36AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:14
    Re: #35
    That'd be even more annoying, honestly.
    38AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:16
    Sony already did the "top half of the screen" version.


    Sony put ads inside the racing game "Wipeout HD."

    In that Wipeout HD ad, the top half of the video above is the actual in-game footage.

    As you can see, inserting an ad video during loading pushed back the start of the race.

    That led to a flood of criticism from users, and Sony later removed the feature that showed ads during loading.
    39AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:16
    Re: #1
    Wow, way to go, Xbox!
    You pay money to play the game, and now ads get shoved on top of that?!
    What this really means is the total collapse of AAA game development. They just can't keep the current business model running anymore.

    If it were like Amazon Prime Video, where you pay around 600 yen a month for unlimited movies and shows, I could still get it.
    But putting ads in a game you paid over 9,000 yen to buy…
    101AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:48
    Re: #39
    With Prime Video you pay around 600 yen and still get ads, but you can pay another 400 yen to remove them — Game Pass is probably going for the same setup.
    But if that's the case, couldn't you just pay the extra few hundred yen to get it ad-free like before and let people choose? Though it'd depend on where the ads actually show up.
    54AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:25
    So it's not the publisher inserting the ads — the AI just decides the timing on its own?
    That's going to earn some resentment from game makers, isn't it.
    74AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:33
    Re: #54
    If it's Game Pass-only, publishers probably won't complain.
    If anything, it'd be good if it meant more people who actually buy the game outright.
    56AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:26
    If they're gonna do it anyway, at least make the ads game-related.
    60AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:27
    Re: #56
    But then the revenue stays weak either way, so the downsides just pile up more.
    81AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:36
    True. Load times would definitely stretch out by however long the ad runs, and then publishers would probably have to start fielding complaints about long loading too.

    They really shouldn't do this.
    If they absolutely must, it should be limited to the cheapest discount tier only.
    Then again, that's basically how video streaming subscriptions already work.
    84AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:38
    Re: #81
    This isn't about showing ads during loading — it's about the AI judging a good moment to cut the action and pausing the game there to show an ad.
    92AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:45
    https://jpeg.men/1Kd0zJO5pf2.jpg
    This is looking more credible now.
    100AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:48
    104AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:49
    Maybe this is a result of there being too many streamers now.
    If it means even a little money flows back to publishers, that's not so bad.
    111AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:52
    Re: #104
    Either crack down on streamers or just charge them money.
    The idea that a bad game sells because of streaming is a myth anyway.
    115AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:53
    Re: #104
    Depends on the game, but the moment someone's streaming it, that's basically free promotion. Capcom and "Crap Enix" (a common derisive nickname for Square Enix) actually do this in an organized way on purpose.
    If a game's fun, people might catch a glimpse on stream and end up buying it; and if watching the stream alone satisfies someone, it was only ever that kind of game to begin with.

    Funny that Square Enix — of all companies, the one most likely to fall into that second category — seems to favor this approach.
    112AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:52
    There's been talk that Sony would copy this too, so it looks like Microsoft just got there first.
    There's been chatter for a while now that the two companies are about to go head-to-head over advertising through their consoles.


    Sony is scaling up its Playstation advertising ambitions

    https://digiday.com/media-buying/sony-is-scaling-up-its-playstation-advertising-ambitions/
    134AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:04
    Re: #112
    Actually, Sony got there first with its own patent for showing ads during gameplay — but it flopped, so they dropped it…

    Sony's game-related ad patent went viral as a "feel-good story," but the reality was…
    https://ga-m.com/n/sony-game-koukoku-tokkyo-iihanasi-buzz-macdonald/
    On Sony's game-related ad patent: back in 2009, the same year as this patent, Sony inserted ads into the racing game "Wipeout HD."
    In that Wipeout HD ad, the top half of the video above is the actual in-game footage.
    As you can see, inserting an ad video during loading pushed back the start of the race.
    That led to a flood of user criticism, and Sony later removed the feature that showed ads during loading.
    116AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:53
    Isn't this level of ads totally fine for young people these days?
    The ones complaining are probably just out-of-touch old farts.
    123AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:55
    Re: #116
    Young people would probably hate this even more — there's even slang like "doba-gaki" going around that caught on for exactly that reason.
    122AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:55
    Even just recently, didn't Destiny+ catch a lot of flak for adding ads at the start and end?
    Ads are basically never welcomed, period.
    Online advertising just keeps getting more predatory every year.
    124AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:56
    Re: #122
    But if prices go up instead, people would complain about that too, right?
    Complaints happen no matter what, so just ignore the idiots complaining. Companies that want to do it will do it regardless.
    133AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:03
    Re: #122
    Whether consumers hate it or not doesn't really matter. If you don't like it, "just get a pricier plan" — end of story.
    125AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:56
    Guess this is where the console that promised to kill load times really gets to shine.
    136AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:04
    Re: #125
    This patent isn't about load screens — it's about pausing the game itself to show ads.

    Re: #131
    There's already a discounted standard-with-ads tier, and Prime Video charges extra to go ad-free too, so it's really no different.
    129AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:00
    We finally got near-zero, blazing-fast load times this generation, and now we have to deal with ads instead?

    Guess it's unavoidable if it's a subscription — ads have already become the norm for movie streaming services.
    130AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:01
    Re: #129
    We're already at the point where even paid plans only come with ads as an option.
    131AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:02
    When you think about it that way, Netflix is a godsend for still not having ads.
    146AnonymousSep 22, 2026 12:08
    Re: #136
    That's the cheap plan they tacked on later. Most customers are actually on the HD Standard or 4K plans anyway.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    When it comes to in-game advertising, the subscription industry as a whole has been settling into a pattern of splitting pricing based on whether ads are included — Amazon Prime Video charges extra for ad-free viewing, while Netflix long held out without ads at all. Consoles have precedent here too: in 2009, Sony inserted ad videos during loading screens in “Wipeout HD,” but drew criticism for delaying race starts and later removed the feature. What’s being discussed this time isn’t about loading screens at all — it’s a patent where an AI judges a natural break point in gameplay and pauses the game to insert an ad, a distinct issue from load-time reduction that’s easy to conflate. The thread split between those who could accept it if it were limited to Game Pass subscribers and those who found it unacceptable if ads reached games they’d actually purchased. Exactly who the feature would target isn’t clear from the patent filing alone. It’s also worth remembering that a patent filing secures rights to a technology — it’s not a commitment to actually implement it.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Bad News] Microsoft: “Hey, mind if we throw some ‘ads’ into the middle of your game too? 😅” — Patent Application wwwwwwwww.”

  • Is Nintendo’s Popularity Slipping? 5ch: ‘If You Want to Make Games, You’d Go Elsewhere’

    A thread on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board asked whether the once-common sentiment of “everyone wants to work at Nintendo” has faded in recent years. Commenters largely agreed that Nintendo remains popular for administrative, general affairs, and legal positions thanks to job stability and high pay, but that anyone aiming to actually develop games would be better off choosing a different company. The discussion then spiraled into a fact-checking battle over claims that Nintendo rarely presents at CEDEC (a major technical conference for game developers), with posters citing actual session titles back and forth — the argument dragged on without either side quite landing a point.

    1AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:07
    What do you think?
    3AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:09
    Feels like a couple years ago, the vibe among Japanese students at Todai and Kyodai (Japan's top two universities) was that Nintendo was the number one place everyone wanted to work.
    6AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:11
    Re: #3
    True.
    Is that not the case anymore?
    58AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:47
    Re: #3
    What's wild is this whole thing is literally just this guy's personal "feels like it."
    4AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:11
    It's not like every game creator is dying to work at Nintendo either.
    Reminds me of how every studio supposedly wanted to get bought by Microsoft too.
    7AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:11
    Re: #4
    Right?
    If you actually want to make games, you'd go to a different company.
    11AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:13
    I get wanting to work at Nintendo for admin or general affairs roles — it's stable and pays well.
    But if you want to make games, you're better off at another company.
    Of course if you want to develop hardware, Nintendo's your only option — but hardware is machinery, not games.
    70AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:15
    Re: #11
    There's no company besides Nintendo left where you can develop games with any stability.
    Foreign-owned studios lay people off in a heartbeat.
    And since you can't name a concrete example, this is just made up.
    14AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:16
    I get wanting to join the legal department, or accounting too.
    But I doubt many people actually want to join the game development division.
    Young people who want to make games today are probably better off at Cygames.
    They're technically advanced, open-source some of their tech, and seem like a company with a healthy culture.
    29AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:40
    Re: #14
    I'd love to know why you think Cygames is so great.
    17AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:19
    Re: #15
    That's you talking.
    Nintendo barely shows up at CEDEC, right?
    From a game creator's perspective, I don't think there's any reason to want to join Nintendo other than the good pay.
    48AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:04
    Re: #17
    Nintendo doesn't present at CEDEC!?
    Whoa lol
    69AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:15
    Re: #68
    Come on, don't run away — hurry up with that excuse for Re: #17 lol lol lol
    26AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:38
    Cookie-cutter high production values turned out to look like garbage to customers, which is exactly why indie games grew — yet people still go around calling Nintendo's games glorified pretend-play, which is just dumb.
    You see this a lot: people so fixated on hating Nintendo that their line of attack keeps flip-flopping between "indies succeeded" and "lacks high quality."
    31AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:42
    Re: #6
    Then again, there's the theory that zero Tokyo-based students actually want to settle down and die in Kyoto.
    106AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:41
    Re: #31
    Same with Toyota, Japan's No. 1 automaker — you end up living in Toyota City.
    It comes down to choosing between what you want to do and where you want to live.
    34AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:47
    Nintendo aside, the whole idea of joining a company because you "want to make games" is backwards to begin with.
    If you want to make one, just go make it yourself already, idiot.
    These days you can do that as much as you want — if you're not doing it, you never actually wanted to make anything, you loser.
    50AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:10
    Re: #34
    Even at Nintendo, unless you're top-tier elite, you can't get in without a portfolio anyway.
    It's less that people aspiring to be creators join — you basically have to already be a creator to get in.
    39AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:49
    Games like 'Mecha Chameleon' got made by just two developers outside Nintendo, built on PC, and still released on Switch — yet here people are saying "study hard to get into Nintendo" just because they want to put a game out on Switch. That's dumb.
    65AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:57
    Re: #39
    On social media there's this line of "if you want to work at Nintendo, stop playing games and study for Todai instead" — feels like putting the cart before the horse.
    40AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:49
    Relax.
    Even Kyodai and Todai grads don't get in easily lol
    41AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:50
    Re: #40
    Being good at your job doesn't necessarily correlate with being a Kyodai/Todai grad — plenty of weird ones among them too.
    52AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:21
    It's the company where you're least able to make what you actually want to make, by far.
    53AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:24
    Re: #52
    That's just your own delusion, isn't it?
    56AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:33
    Switch 2 list of scapegoats:
    ・The 'Secret Exhibition' (Nintendo Museum)
    ・Mario Kart World
    ・Donkey Kong Bananza
    ・Wheelchair Basketball (game)
    ・Kirby Air Riders
    ・Metroid Prime 4
    ・Mario Tennis
    ・Yoshi
    ・Star Fox
    ・Raiders
    ・A Myriad of Colors (万紫千紅)
    59AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:48
    Re: #56
    Is that just a list of games you personally have a complex about?
    71AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:15
    Re: #56
    That's literally all of them lol lol
    67AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:06
    The conclusion "young people who want to make games today don't want to join Nintendo" comes first, and then the reasoning gets made up afterward to fit it — that's why it all ends up incoherent.
    72AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:16
    Re: #67
    Because the talented ones just go indie and release stuff themselves.
    82AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:30
    Ah, there he goes again, flipping into meltdown-to-dodge-the-point mode.
    88AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:33
    Re: #82
    Actually I want to ask you the same thing — show me the CEDEC session data.
    I've never seen Nintendo's session schedule myself.
    93AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:35
    First it was "doesn't present" → then "barely presents" →
    What's next, lol
    95AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:36
    Where exactly does it say "Nintendo" on here???
    https://cedec.cesa.or.jp/2026/timetable/?list=0
    97AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:37
    Re: #95
    That's just the schedule for the 22nd.
    They have sessions on the 23rd and 24th too.
    103AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:39
    Re: #102
    Either way, none of it's actually technical content though.
    107AnonymousSep 22, 2026 11:41
    Re: #103
    "Building a World Where Everything Can Be Destroyed in Donkey Kong Bananza — The Voxel Technology Behind the Destruction"


    That's about as technical as it gets, though?

    Background and key points of this discussion

    CEDEC (the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference) is one of Japan’s largest technical conferences for game developers, where companies showcase their development capabilities and recruiting appeal through technical presentations. In the thread, a claim that Nintendo “barely presents” at CEDEC clashed with counterarguments citing actual sessions — including a talk on the voxel technology behind Donkey Kong Bananza — but the disagreement turned out to stem from a simple oversight: one side had only checked the first day’s schedule. It’s also worth noting that what kind of candidate Nintendo looks for varies by job type in new-graduate hiring, and much of the thread’s back-and-forth stayed muddled because it was never clear whether people meant “administrative” roles or “development” roles. As for the premise that “a lot of Todai and Kyodai graduates want to work at Nintendo,” no actual statistics were presented — it should be read with the understanding that it’s based on the original poster’s personal impression.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [Geha]) thread “The ‘everyone wants to work at Nintendo’ vibe has apparently been destroyed by AI.”

  • RTX 6000 ‘Rubin’ Launch Slips to 2028, PS6 Price Speculation Sparks Flame War

    Reports that NVIDIA’s next-generation GPU, the GeForce RTX 6000 (Rubin), will be delayed until 2028 have sparked a wave of reactions on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board. The launch had already been pushed back once from an original target of late 2027, and thread users also shared word that soaring semiconductor prices are driving up memory costs — reportedly prompting Microsoft to work on making Windows leaner on memory. The discussion soon drifted away from the RTX 6000 itself and toward speculation on the PS6’s likely price and performance versus the cost-effectiveness of PC gaming, splitting posters into a “PCs let you freely upgrade parts” camp and a “consoles are cheaper in the end” camp.

    7AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:59
    8AnonymousSep 22, 2026 08:59
    Man, this is disappointing.
    DLSS5 is already brutal on current-gen GPUs, and now the new-architecture RTX 6000 gets delayed even further?
    59AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:33
    Re: #8
    The current DLSS5 uses an AI model that also runs on RTX 40-series cards, so let's wait for the AI model optimized for the RTX 50 series, supposedly coming this late autumn🥺
    10AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:00
    Semiconductor prices have gotten so bad that Microsoft is apparently rebuilding Windows so it can run comfortably on just 8GB of RAM to match. Is everything okay?
    16AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:09
    Re: #10
    Honestly, my first thought is: what's even eating that much memory? Hogging RAM and slowing things down even when you're not gaming seems kind of dumb.
    15AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:07
    17AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:09
    Sounds rough for the gaming-PC-supremacy crowd having to keep dealing with unreasonable parts prices forever.
    Running a PS6 alongside a low-spec PC is probably still the easier route.
    18AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:10
    Re: #17
    Lol at suddenly bringing up that piece of trash called the PS6.
    42AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:24
    Re: #17
    Of course you spend money on your hobbies.
    Guys who are good at their jobs go all-in on hobbies and fun too.
    Being half-assed about it is the worst.
    You're probably not even that good at games anyway.
    Low passion.
    55AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:32
    Re: #17
    Even the PS5 only has a dozen or so exclusives — is a PS6 even necessary?
    Back last October when the rumors about parts prices skyrocketing came out, idiots had no choice but to settle for garbage🤣
    19AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:10
    Anything below a 6050 and the PS6 is going to get slaughtered instantly.
    23AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:12
    Re: #19
    Since it's a new architecture this time, AMD's GPUs are probably going to get wrecked too — AMD's way behind on AI chips.
    27AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:14
    Re: #19
    Though even that 6050 is probably going to run 60-70k yen.
    21AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:11
    Re: #18
    If you want to keep playing proper AAA titles on console going forward, I think that's the only option though.
    22AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:12
    Re: #21
    Sony: "That'll be 250,000 yen."
    26AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:13
    Re: #21
    Anyone saying that can't keep up with today's inflation regardless of PC or console — they won't be able to afford a PS6 either.
    32AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:18
    Re: #26
    No, there's definitely a huge gap between the PS6 and gaming PCs of that generation, so compromising on the PC side is the only real option.
    35AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:20
    Re: #32
    That's exactly why — if you're in the customer segment that can't even scrape together 55,000 yen, PC or not, you won't be buying a PS6 either.
    50AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:28
    Re: #32
    The PS5 Pro costs 140,000 yen, but an equivalent GPU sells for 50,000🤔
    That relationship isn't going to change just because the generation does.
    There's no way a console — where you buy the whole thing outright — can compete with a PC where you only need to upgrade the GPU😅
    29AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:15
    Games aren't getting any more demanding, so this is fine as-is.
    Next upgrade can wait until my PC actually dies, like five years from now.
    33AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:18
    Re: #29
    DLSS5 maxes out the load though.
    If you don't plan on using DLSS5's AI upscaling that's fine, but I want to use it.
    54AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:32
    57AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:32
    Re: #50
    Even next to the next-gen console's budget model, PCs are still going to end up with rough cost-performance.
    61AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:33
    Re: #57
    So how much is the PS6 actually going to cost?
    65AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:35
    Re: #57
    The software lineup right now is pretty thin.
    Honestly, even if you buy a good PC, you're not playing that many demanding games anyway, are you?
    68AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:37
    Re: #57
    PCs already have better cost-performance, which is exactly why they're the biggest market.
    Say, hypothetically, consoles could swap parts.
    Then you could drop a GPU costing as much as a PS6 into a PS5 and easily beat the PS6's specs.
    Well, there'd be a ceiling since the PS5's CPU is trash, but still.
    Since consoles can't do that, you're stuck buying insanely expensive memory and storage all over again every generation.
    It's obvious the cost-performance is bad.
    70AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:41
    PCs will probably all be dead before 2028 even arrives, so this is pointless anyway.
    Yesterday, today, tomorrow — it's always the same broken-record complaints about bad optimization and crashes.
    74AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:44
    Re: #70
    "Crashes"? What decade is your information stuck in?
    "It crashes!" is just the excuse poor people use for not being able to afford one.
    75AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:44
    Re: #70
    I've been on PC for years —
    the only games that actually gave me the whole crash-fest experience were Witcher 3, Cyberpunk, and Wilds.
    Everything else runs fine.
    79AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:48
    Re: #70
    AMD officially maintains Linux drivers now, and with Vulkan around, we're in an era where Steam games can run on free OSes without needing Microsoft's DirectX at all.
    82AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:48
    Even if it does come out, it's guaranteed to be a tiny performance bump at an insane price.
    We've really entered an era of terrible cost-performance.
    91AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:57
    Re: #82
    The old days where shrinking the process node meant more performance for less money are over.
    You should just assume the RTX 60-series' price will climb right alongside its performance🥺

    Whatever performance gains come "for free" are basically all thanks to DLSS🥺
    95AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:02
    Re: #91
    But the jump from the RTX 4000 series to the RTX 5000 series had a huge performance increase without even changing the process node???
    98AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:04
    Re: #91
    DLSS's performance gains actually come largely from newer generations of CUDA cores, so newer GPUs are still better in the end.
    New DLSS versions are built to hit optimal performance on newer cards, and with the RTX 6000 bringing a whole new architecture on top of that, the gap versus the RTX 5000 is going to be pretty significant.
    87AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:53
    For the PS6, raw performance is said to be around 40 teraflops — factoring in PSSR3, that puts it roughly on par with an RTX 5080.
    88AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:54
    Re: #87
    Price is probably going to be around 250,000 yen.
    89AnonymousSep 22, 2026 09:55
    Re: #87
    The PS5 Pro is around 140,000 yen, so once the PS6 comes out, will it just casually hit 200,000+?
    104AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:10
    Honestly, a 3060 Ti is more than enough for me.
    I can't drop 100,000 or a million yen on a graphics card.
    Saying this always makes the spec-obsessed crowd turn red in the face and start raging, but it's still more powerful than a PS5.
    107AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:12
    Re: #104
    Specs have a certain romance to them though. For games, that sense of romance matters more than how fun they actually are.
    109AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:12
    Re: #104
    I mean, I can play games just fine without any issues anyway.
    111AnonymousSep 22, 2026 10:14
    Re: #104
    The console-war crowd is wild — consoles get to keep the exact same specs forever, but somehow PCs are expected to upgrade their GPU every single time😡
    If you own a GPU better than a 2060, it stays ahead of consoles for that entire generation anyway.
    As a PC user who's free to upgrade or not upgrade as I please, I honestly don't get the logic😅

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    As the thread points out, the slowdown in semiconductor process miniaturization means much of the ongoing performance gains now come from AI-based enhancements like DLSS rather than the hardware itself — DLSS5 already runs on older-generation GPUs and isn’t unique to the upcoming RTX 6000. Meanwhile, as of this writing Sony has made no official announcement about the PS6, so figures floated in the thread like “40 teraflops” or “in the 200,000-yen range” remain nothing more than rumor and speculation. Much of the thread framed high-end PCs and the PS6 as opposing choices, but the underlying disconnect is that consoles can’t have their parts swapped after purchase while PCs allow for gradual, incremental investment — a difference that means the comparison can’t be reduced to price alone.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, Geha) thread “GeForce RTX 6000 ‘Rubin’ Now Slated for 2028 Launch, Pushed Back Further From Late 2027.”

  • “Bad News Coming for Xbox Soon” Sparks Speculation — 5ch: “PS Gets Sad News Like Every Day”

    Speculation spread across the Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board after an overseas journalist posted that “bad news is coming soon for Xbox.” Some commenters guessed the news might actually be the 15-hour monthly cap on Xbox Cloud Gaming that Microsoft has already officially announced, while others voiced worries about the introduction of in-game ads. Meanwhile, plenty of replies flipped the topic onto the PS5 instead, saying “PS5 gets bad news like this literally every day” — a reaction many took as just the usual back-and-forth between the two camps.

    1AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:06
    Wonder what it could be.
    5AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:13
    So that means bad news is coming for PS?
    45AnonymousSep 22, 2026 03:24
    Re: #5
    Other way around.
    It's become an MS tradition to drop bad news of their own right on top whenever PS gets some.
    6AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:15
    The Japanese government is getting serious about content policy, so I think Xbox has no choice but to keep pulling out of consoles more and more.
    If MS doesn't withdraw from consoles, they'll probably slap sanctions on MS's core OS business instead.
    25AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:40
    Re: #6
    That'll just end with them throwing money at some random mobile game maker or anime, nothing more.
    7AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:16
    PS gets sad news like every single day. Xbox only gets it once in a while — still got a long way to go.
    9AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:23
    PS5 has so little good news going for it that even an unconfirmed rumor about possible bad news for Xbox counts as good news for PS5.
    10AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:23
    DLSS5 is amazing.

    Does PS6 even have AI?
    12AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:26
    Wouldn't it be hilarious if Microsoft dropped Kojima already.
    13AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:26
    Xbox pulls out of discs, gets dogpiled by the industry for it — and the whole thing ends in mutual annihilation.
    16AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:30
    Bad Xbox news always follows bad PS news — it's become such a running gag that rumors like this keep popping up 🤣🤣
    19AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:32
    Whenever things go bad for Sony, they start screaming ‘What about MS! What about Nintendo!’ — so yeah, that's basically what this is.
    20AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:34
    Here we go again, PlayStation's about to catch another boomerang lol (when your own dig comes back to hit you)
    27AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:42
    So that means bad news is coming for PS, huh.
    29AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:46
    Xbox is only just getting there? PS gets sad news every single day without even a warning.
    31AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:48
    Xbox already flopped this generation — what worse news could there possibly be left? 😠
    32AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:49
    Is there really any worse news than the world's own Kojima running for the exit?
    35AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:51
    A rumor that bad news is coming… I don't even know how I'm supposed to react to that…
    36AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:52
    I see, so bad news is coming for PS.
    38AnonymousSep 22, 2026 02:53
    If someone told me ‘there's bad news for Sony,’ honestly I wouldn't feel a thing.
    And yeah, that just means I'm completely numb to it by now.
    69AnonymousSep 22, 2026 05:56
    Wasn't there a leak about the 15-hour monthly cloud cap? Isn't that probably it?
    70AnonymousSep 22, 2026 05:57
    Re: #69
    What leak? The 15-hours-a-month thing is an official Microsoft announcement.
    76AnonymousSep 22, 2026 06:09
    Re: #70
    It barely made any noise, so I mistakenly thought it wasn't official, my bad lol.
    Depending on the price, this basically kills off the whole ‘play via cloud only, no Xbox or PC needed’ style of gaming.
    83AnonymousSep 22, 2026 06:27
    Re: #76
    In the end subscribers just never grew and the running costs kept piling up, I bet.
    Right when he took the job he dropped all the ‘Xbox’ branding and I thought, wow, this guy's really committed to hardware — but if he was just racking up losses the whole time, well, that explains it.
    85AnonymousSep 22, 2026 06:49
    Whaaat—
    87AnonymousSep 22, 2026 06:56
    Re: #85
    Was there ever a disclaimer like ‘*Selects the game’ back in the day?
    90AnonymousSep 22, 2026 07:05
    Even if they say ‘ads inside the game,’ it's going to look unnatural no matter how they pull it off.
    I'd honestly be happy if, say, random convenience stores in Forza Horizon 6 turned into real 7-Elevens or Lawsons and you could check their current promo by getting close — but at that point it's not really an ad, it's a collab.
    93AnonymousSep 22, 2026 07:18
    Re: #90
    The ads in Microsoft's own Solitaire Collection are annoying, plain and simple.
    They chop the game up and force-feed you ads in between.
    94AnonymousSep 22, 2026 07:22
    Re: #93
    I'm on Ultimate so I don't get ads — wouldn't know, sorry.
    102AnonymousSep 22, 2026 07:48
    Re: #93
    Chopping the game up like that is annoying lol.
    Then again, throwing up ads on startup or resume wouldn't play well with Quick Resume either — it's a tough spot.
    96AnonymousSep 22, 2026 07:26
    Re: #1
    ‘Even worse’… like Xbox is somehow already in dire straits or something.
    Just look at the Geha board, look at it.
    106AnonymousSep 22, 2026 07:59
    Re: #96
    On the Geha board, Xbox is the winning console, after all. Everybody's got one.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    The claim that “bad news is coming for Xbox” originated from a post by an overseas journalist, and no concrete details had been confirmed as of this writing. The leading candidate raised in the thread was the 15-hour monthly cap on Xbox Cloud Gaming that Microsoft has already officially announced — a sign that subscriber growth has stalled and that the cloud-only business model is running into trouble. In-game advertising also came up as a topic, but this has already been rolled out in some free titles like the Solitaire Collection, and there’s no confirmation it will expand to flagship titles — it remains speculation for now. Reactions split between those who saw the rumor as a real sign of business trouble and those who wrote it off as just another round of the usual back-and-forth, including the reflexive pivot to bashing the PS5.

    *This article was compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, or “Geha”) thread “Journalist: ‘Bad news for Xbox is coming soon’.”