[Famitsu] Hulst: focus on service games despite Concord failure; UC2 has greatest impact in 30 years; aim to leverage legacy IPs, and more

tmlDan said:
Joel is a generic bearded man, he's not remarkable looking at all, neither is Ellie, neither is Nathan Drake...they're just normal looking men
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Normal looking men was (still is) actually remarkable in gaming and with gamers being mostly men and average age of gamers being 35+ it was a genius move to create those characters at that time. The target audience was big.
I played TLOU1 on PS3 as a regular dad, Joel Edition obviously, and the whole story hit hard in every way for me.
Uncharted was great too, I've always loved Indiana Jones and playing as Nathan Drake was as close as I could get.

But creating a bald woman today?… idk isn't that like having Trump-haters as the target audience? I don't see average men or average women or average teenager being excited for that type of character.
 
Fess said:
Normal looking men was (still is) actually remarkable in gaming and with gamers being mostly men and average age of gamers being 35+ it was a genius move to create those characters at that time. The target audience was big.
I played TLOU1 on PS3 as a regular dad, Joel Edition obviously, and the whole story hit hard in every way for me.
Uncharted was great too, I've always loved Indiana Jones and playing as Nathan Drake was as close as I could get.

But creating a bald woman today?… idk isn't that like having Trump-haters as the target audience? I don't see average men or average women or average teenager being excited for that type of character.
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so you dont mean how they look, you meant how you can relate to them.

So far we don't know anything about this new protagonist so you'll never know. We knew nothing of generic bearded man when LoU was announced, people called it a generic zombie game
 
PSbigfan said:
How old are you son ?
Are you even was born in the time of PS2.
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Son? My first gaming machine was a pong with analogue controllers.

Son?

Playstation didn't give birth to videogames you know . I was playing APB for 10p while you where a twinkle in your moms eye.
 
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GaaS games fight over a finite player base and game time. 99/100 will fail, maybe more. Helldivers worked because it was solid while being unique - room to achieve this is infinitely small.. Any derivative creation stands no chance against established juggernaut's
 
clarky said:
He typed this and its not true,

"That said we're 4 years into the PS5 and we've got Astrobot & Helldivers 2 that's it."

Im not happy with this gen either but to say previous gens where better is bollocks.
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What other titles are PS5 exclusive besides Ratchet as well? I'm honestly curious.

You could even delete Helldivers off that and we've got 2 titles as true PS5 exclusives. Their output has fallen off a cliff.
 
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Talking about *output* and then not counting some games just because they launched on PS4 or PC is pretty fucking stupid.
For what purpose, even? It's not like you're going to include Gran Turismo 7 in some PS4 list and say "hey, it's better than PS5!"
 
nial said:
Talking about *output* and then not counting some games just because they launched on PS4 or PC is pretty fucking stupid.
For what purpose, even? It's not like you're going to include Gran Turismo 7 in some PS4 list and say "hey, it's better than PS5!"
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If one disqualifies things left and right, their alternative reality starts to match reality.

PS5's start has been far better than both PS4 and PS3's for me.
 
TheTony316 said:
What are you talking about?

Are you comparing lifetime sales? Because YTD, both sequels are selling at a faster rate.


Spiderman 2 sold 11 million in 6 months.

Spiderman 1 sold 13 million in 10 months.



God of War is not even close.


God Of War 2018 sold 10 million in a year

Ragnarok sold 11 million in 3 months.
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check the present number dumbass
 
nial said:
Lecture's clickbait really worked, lol.
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Clothes Stealing GIF
 
tmlDan said:
so you dont mean how they look, you meant how you can relate to them.

So far we don't know anything about this new protagonist so you'll never know. We knew nothing of generic bearded man when LoU was announced, people called it a generic zombie game
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Go look up the unveil trailer of TLOU 1 and Uncharted 1.
Both characters looked like normal men, you said it yourself, and easily relatable for the average 35+ yo mostly male audience.

Does this Jordan character look normal? Relatable?

If there is some context that explain her looks, or customizing options, then sure, it can work, and they should've showed that.
But as it is they'll have a hard time making the average gamer excited for that main character.

If you're a fan you should stop defending ND. If they would actually listen to what people are saying and tweak her looks and make it easier to sell the game it would benefit everyone, including ND, Sony, and fans. The defense is only increasing the negativity, look at any other game where this happens. There is nothing good coming from it.
 
samoilaaa said:
check the present number dumbass
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You're comparing games that launched in 2018 to games that launched 1-2 years ago. Of course lifetime sales will be higher, dumbass.

YTD both sequels are selling at a faster rate. Ragnaroks latest number is from November 2023 sitting at 15 million. Spiderman 2 is from February sitting at 11 million.
 
Shmunter said:
GaaS games fight over a finite player base and game time. 99/100 will fail, maybe more. Helldivers worked because it was solid while being unique - room to achieve this is infinitely small.. Any derivative creation stands no chance against established juggernaut's
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No helldivers 2 didn't work. They sold a lot of copies but the game itself is almost dead. So the gaas part didn't work. You have to retain all those players. They had a big update a year after release and they are still far away from their peak. Sony should have threw everything at this game for constant big updates. Five years of gaas initiative and they havnt a single gaas success. Hulst lost his mind. If fairgame isn't f2p it will bomb just as hard as concord.
 
They realistically will never stop chasing GAAS.

I mean they have had a huge success with Helldivers.

They should really chase anime gaas(gacha) like genshin, still room for more players to find succes in that genre.
 
Fabieter said:
No helldivers 2 didn't work. They sold a lot of copies but the game itself is almost dead. So the gaas part didn't work. You have to retain all those players. They had a big update a year after release and they are still far away from their peak. Sony should have threw everything at this game for constant big updates. Five years of gaas initiative and they havnt a single gaas success. Hulst lost his mind. If fairgame isn't f2p it will bomb just as hard as concord.
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What do you means it's dead?

95k concurrent just on steam at time of posting. What's considered alive these days?

 
Fabieter said:
No helldivers 2 didn't work. They sold a lot of copies but the game itself is almost dead. So the gaas part didn't work. You have to retain all those players. They had a big update a year after release and they are still far away from their peak. Sony should have threw everything at this game for constant big updates. Five years of gaas initiative and they havnt a single gaas success. Hulst lost his mind. If fairgame isn't f2p it will bomb just as hard as concord.
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It did not fail and GT7 also did not fail and they are both… liiiiive seeeervices….
 
Shmunter said:
What do you means it's dead?

95k concurrent just on steam at time of posting. What's considered alive these days?

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The concept that GAAS audiences come in and out of games, and their success/failure cannot be captured by a single CCU reading is completely alien to most people.

Just look at Apex Legends struggling rn, this will likely be a temporary thing because the hit titles have ebbs and flows in player count.
www.dexerto.com

Apex Legends hits lowest player count since launch as fans beg for new content - Dexerto

Apex Legends has hit its lowest player count since the game’s opening months on Steam as players continue to lose interest.
www.dexerto.com www.dexerto.com
 
Hope you get used to be a laughing stock, because theres still Fairgame in the oven and I don't think most people are looking foward to that shit either.
 
Fabieter said:
It's after their biggest update after 12 month. Their peak is like five times higher and they will never get back to that. They fucked it up.
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Sorry but this is dumb, this is not a game with infinite content or a competitive style that makes you play all day like LoL, Counter, WoW etc.

The player number is great, it'll raise a lot with each expansion, people will come back, maybe buy some cosmetics, play a bit, and move to other games until the next expansion. It's one of the most played Buy to Play games right now on Steam, weeks after it's last expansion.
 
DForce said:
0zqJ0Va.png



But the same people who disliked the video are the same people who are convinced this game flopped.
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Some here keep bringing up this game that came out 5 years ago as evidence that games for "modern audiences" sell well. However people are much more saturated with this crap in the current year, and will be even more so when Intergalactic releases.
 
Rudius said:
Some here keep bringing up this game that came out 5 years ago as evidence that games for "modern audiences" sell well. However people are much more saturated with this crap in the current year, and will be even more so when Intergalactic releases.
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This won't work.

It sold 9.9 million copies from June 2020 - February 2022. It sold 5.4 million copies from March 2022 - June 2023. These 5.4 million copies were during the "Woke" TV show which boosted sales figures significantly.

If what you said was true, then the game wouldn't have sold during the beginning of last year. We have many successful games that people consider "woke." There's enough evidence to show that it doesn't bother most games and they just want a good game to play.
 
Another factor to consider is that woke games are getting more woke each year. It's one thing to put up with a little of what you dislike to enjoy what you like, but at a certain point it becomes unbearable.
 
clarky said:
Son? My first gaming machine was a pong with analogue controllers.

Son?

Playstation didn't give birth to videogames you know . I was playing APB for 10p while you where a twinkle in your moms eye.
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I just asked, I did not make assumption about you without any knowledge, this is very mature answer I guess.

But any one say "PS5 library is arguably better than the PS2's at this point in its life", does not know what he talking about, period.
 
DForce said:
Hogwarts, Baldur's Gate 3, and Spider-Man 2 were released last year.
Metaphor Refantazio has gone under the radar and people are calling it woke.
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For me part of the wokness is devs lecturing me that iam privileged person etc. Don't know how bg3 and HL is fitting in there.
 
Fess said:
Go look up the unveil trailer of TLOU 1 and Uncharted 1.
Both characters looked like normal men, you said it yourself, and easily relatable for the average 35+ yo mostly male audience.

Does this Jordan character look normal? Relatable?

If there is some context that explain her looks, or customizing options, then sure, it can work, and they should've showed that.
But as it is they'll have a hard time making the average gamer excited for that main character.

If you're a fan you should stop defending ND. If they would actually listen to what people are saying and tweak her looks and make it easier to sell the game it would benefit everyone, including ND, Sony, and fans. The defense is only increasing the negativity, look at any other game where this happens. There is nothing good coming from it.
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Then how is Aloy relatable?

Why did this game attract a bigger audience on PlayStation than these male characters you say people relate to? We're talking about games like Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill 2 Remake, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, and Dead Space 2 Remake. The problem is that you guys think most gamers feel the same way as you do.

Every time someone praises Horizon on Twitter, it gets quote-tweeted by someone calling the game boring and generic. Some of those comments often received thousands of likes as well. The online discourse would make you believe this is how most gamers feel, but the stats prove this is certainly not the case.

Is it because they find fighting robots....fun?

News came out last week that EA rejected a pitch for Dead Space 4 and gamers online were upset. The online backlash would make you believe that's what gamers want, but the truth is that the game didn't appeal to a lot of gamers that's why Dead Space 2: Remake underperformed.

Gameplay is what mostly attracts gamers.
 
PatientGamer said:
I'd harbour a guess that people definitely want to buy and play that game. If the MC was a man or a hot woman, that like/dislike ratio would be the inverse.
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Tired of this argument that it's disliked because it's not a man or hot woman.

Reason that people disliked this trailer it because it looks again like a forced yas queen masculine female with a brooding, generally unpleasant personality.

It reeks of cringe millenial writing and Druckmann writing who believes displaying women as actual women is mysoginistic. Perhaps in asking why do women need to be pretty, ask yourself why do they need to be ugly according to devs nowadays

rPawt8D.jpeg
 
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DForce said:
So is Intergalactic telling you how privileged you are based on a 3-minute trailer?
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If Intergalacticprovides a character creator that allows me to design a genuinely cool-looking character, then I won't have a problem with it.

However, as it stands, the game feels offensive and comes across as a lecture about body positivity. If Neil delivers the same level of customization and choice as Baldur's Gate 3 allowing players to avoid being forced into woke messaging—I'll gladly admit I was wrong. But let's be honest, we know Naughty Dog isn't capable of offering that, and Neil doesn't seem to have any interest in doing so. He's as woke as it gets.
 
DForce said:
Then how is Aloy relatable?

Why did this game attract a bigger audience on PlayStation than these male characters you say people relate to?
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How? Because it looked awesome. Go look at the unveil, they nailed everything there, no stupid slow tease and shaved head there it was a couple minutes of gameplay and it's sci-fi, robots, dinosaurs and everything looked cool and spectacular.
 
Fess said:
Normal looking men was (still is) actually remarkable in gaming and with gamers being mostly men and average age of gamers being 35+ it was a genius move to create those characters at that time. The target audience was big.
I played TLOU1 on PS3 as a regular dad, Joel Edition obviously, and the whole story hit hard in every way for me.
Uncharted was great too, I've always loved Indiana Jones and playing as Nathan Drake was as close as I could get.

But creating a bald woman today?… idk isn't that like having Trump-haters as the target audience? I don't see average men or average women or average teenager being excited for that type of character.
Click to expand...
This is the reason of why games like Uncharted, TLOU1 or GoW 2018 were very successful: their protagonists were targeting and succesfully connected with that audience of >30 years old males, some of them dads, which are a huge portion of their audience.

The Destruction AllStar and Concord crew and this bald lesbian didn't connect with that audience.

DForce said:
Then how is Aloy relatable?
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She is not a specially great character, but she is ok. Not great, not bad. The main appeal or focus of the game isn't her/her charisma, it's the hunting robo-dinosaurs + great visuals.

Regarding character design, the red haired dreads and using bow and arrows against robot/dinosaurs with explosions and so on are cool stuff that make her appealing. Other than that she is pretty meh and generic hero (which is ok for being relatable). But I wouldn't say she is a bad protagonist. Her moves during action are cool, which also helps when playing to like the game or her.

She is fine, as can be seen on the huge success of her main two games.

I'd say being relatable is more important in games with a bigger narrative/realistic focus regarding their type of game or setting. And that in general (also including more action type games, or fantasy/scifi setting) it's more important being a cool protagonist than being relatable.
 
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Fess said:
How? Because it looked awesome. Go look at the unveil, they nailed everything there, no stupid slow tease and shaved head there it was a couple minutes of gameplay and it's sci-fi, robots, dinosaurs and everything looked cool and spectacular.
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Because it looked awesome?

Then that proves my point. People care more about a game that looks cool than finding a relatable character.
 
Fabieter said:
If Intergalacticprovides a character creator that allows me to design a genuinely cool-looking character, then I won't have a problem with it.

However, as it stands, the game feels offensive and comes across as a lecture about body positivity. If Neil delivers the same level of customization and choice as Baldur's Gate 3 allowing players to avoid being forced into woke messaging—I'll gladly admit I was wrong. But let's be honest, we know Naughty Dog isn't capable of offering that, and Neil doesn't seem to have any interest in doing so. He's as woke as it gets.
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But nothing in the trailer lectures you about body positivity. Now if the game gave you hair options then that would prove that point even more. lol
 
yurinka said:
She is not a specially great character, but she is ok. Not great, not bad. The appeal or focus of the game isn't her, it's the hunting robo-dinosaurs + great visuals.

Regarding character design, the red haired dreads and using bow and arrows against robot/dinosaurs with explosions and so on are cool stuff that make her appealing. Other than that she is pretty meh. But I wouldn't say she is a bad protagonist. She is fine, as can be seen on the huge success of her main two games.
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That's why I believe people are going to care more about the gameplay in Intergalactic than the main character's design.
 
It's funny how he's trying to spin Helldivers 2 as a big win for Sony and a justification to keep trying even though it's not even a game made by a first party studio and Sony merely published it.
 
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You missed a key part in the thread title. Omitted for obvious reasons.

Going forward, we will continue to focus on developing live service titles along with the story-driven single-player titles that our players want.
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