In this edition of the TDS Games Cast, the TDS crew says farewell to gaming icon Hiroshi Tamauchi, the man who created Nintendo into the gaming giant it is today. After that we talk about Sony’s business plan for the PS4, and then we talk about the impact of Grand Theft Auto 5 has had on the games industry.
O'Dell Harmon Jr. writes: "Before we say goodbye to 2025, let’s take a look back and see what were the most downloaded games of the year. It was a great time for sports, shooters, and some new PlayStation VR2 games. Sports favorites topped the charts in US/Canada and EU, with NBA 2K26 and EA Sports FC26, respectively.
Juggernaut GTA V found a home in the top three for both regions, with new 2025 release Battlefield 6 claiming second place in the US. Fortnite took top place for free-to-play games, and Beat Saber continues its PS VR2 success."
I think it shows how shortsighted it was for Sony to let go of Evolution and not get them to make some sort of competitor (open world Driveclub?) 10 years ago.
After Driveclub's reception, hard to say it would have done well enough to compete. It's easy to dream of such a thing, but to make it happen? It's taken how long for CoD to be dethroned? And it was dethroned by Hogwart's Legacy and has gained it right back just the next year.
It’s funny to watch the only games EU and USA agree on was Minecraft and back ops 7 both regions on 6 and 7 spot respectively other than that FIFA rules EU
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I would like to see a list that has both free to play and paid games together, but at least we have this.
To this day GTA5 is a top downloaded game and it makes me wonder if the industry is really ready for GTA6. I imagine almost nothing else will sell during that game's release window.
Another night of Fortnite with the boys then?
I’ve never played Fortnite GTAV or CoD BO7 but I do own GTAV for PS4/5 because I got them cheap.
What exactly are we not getting?
Did we not just have a 2025 filled with nice games like...
Silksong, Doom TDA, Expedition 33, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Ghost of Yotei, Dispatch, Split Fiction, Hades 2, DK Bananza, and so many more?
Agree that all you just posted are great games. Expedition 33 is one of my favorites. Spent a large chunk of time on BG3 in 2023. Another for my all-time list.
My point though not well articulated in the OG post is that we would get more of the games of the quality you mentioned if so many valuable resources were not allocated to FTP slop and/or heavy monetization schemes. Some of what used to be my favorite franchises have been ruined by them.
To sum it up, I would like to see games like 33 outperform the profits made by games like Fortnite so more resources are allocated to great games. When heavily monetized FTP games are at the top of the list, we end up being stuck with a significant chunk of games that are not good. Or worst case scenario games that spend years in development, but get cancelled due to industry trend chasing.
Popsicle, I actually think we're getting more great games because of the slop. Developers are seeing that people aren't happy and taking advantage of big AAA studios not delivering for people.
Insider Gaming has learned that the ongoing price increases in RAM due to the rise in AI could delay the next generation of console releases.
What is even the incentive of upgrading to the next-gen after this console generation we've had? Graphics are plateauing, prices at an all time high, studios skipping entire generations or simply releasing just one game for it...
Its a mess
How do you gauge each generation? There has been a lot of really good games this gen. I only care about the games. First party hasn’t been the best but the generation isn’t over yet
jznrpg,
Thing is, every generation before this one has had something that defined console identity. Very little beyond bigger/more detailed games and performance modes are really there.
I feel the last generation that cared very much was gen 7; Capcom's darkest era, but I have to give them props for being really experimental at the time. We saw plenty of new games that still tried to do something new. Outside of Metaphor and Clair Obscur, this gen has been pretty forgettable if you ask me. I'm sure a lot of it is the corporatization of the industry and the creative talent has to keep making sequels and spiritual successors because the cost of development is out of control. But even then, plenty of these experiences are experiences we've had already. And the thing is. Switch 2 and PSVR2 could really be doing incredible things, but it's just not there. Xbox I just don't see the value or point anymore but that's just me.
Why has is been the worst? I've been gaming all my life and this gen. has been one of the best.
Not to mention that just like this generation, the next one will also be shared between the current and next gen console at least for a couple of years. So the few titles that it will had, just like this one, will run on the console you already have.
I think people have to remember the pandemic at start of this gen and how it effected game development. This next gen we will see the PS4 etc support dropped and truly see the full utilisation of SSD's improvements to ray and path tracing and the impact of AI upscaling etc will be where the biggest improvements will come from.
My sentiments exactly, next gen has got to prove it's worth before i buy into it this time. This has been the weakest generation in my 30yrs of gaming. From the drawn out cross gen garbage, to so many games getting stuck in development hell or canceled, to the ABSURD levels of trend chasing to the point of self destruction, this gen just wasn't worth it
I'm pretty sure I've already read a story that said Playstation is only halfway through this console's generation and that PS6 is a way off.
Im good with next gen being pushed back to 27/28. It feels like this gen has only just begun.
Covid-19 held back everything at least 2 years worth. Although many people disliked, i think only UE5 can generally distinguish this gen from the previous one.
UE5 is definitely impressive, but I would also give the nod to the current version of Decima, at least the way it looks for Death Stranding 2.
That's normal how you think. Time goes faster when you're older and i bought my PS5 since day 1 release and now it's 5 years old. I don't mind a year delay to release PS6 in holiday 2028.
Regardless of RAM price increases, I strongly believe there’s still a lot of potential left for the current gen. I’d be fine with at least 3 more years.
Whenever it comes out is fine with me. I still have backlog for the next year at least
