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[nial]

They claim it because those games aren’t first party games.

Yep, just like M&L Brothership, TLOZ Echoes of Wisdom, Paper Mario TTYD, SMRPG, Pikmin 4 and Bayonetta Origins aren't first-party games either.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Personally I feel like first party output has been pretty "meh" across all companies this gen. There's definitely been some here and there, I mean, there's never absolutely nothing. But it has felt extremely light, at least for me.

 

[Banjo64]

Yep, just like M&L Brothership, TLOZ Echoes of Wisdom, PM The Thousand-Year Door, SMRPG, Pikmin 4 and Bayonetta Origins aren't first-party games either.

Yeah sound. You won’t see me disputing the fact that games made by third party studios are not first party developed games.

When Rareware made some of the most critically acclaimed games on the N64, which were published by Nintendo, no one called them first party games.

Although you might want to do some basic fact checking before posting, 5 seconds of Googling Echoes of Wisdom for example brought up the Wikipedia page which lists both Grezzo and Nintendo EPD as co-developers of the game:

Development of Echoes of Wisdom began after the completion of development on the Link's Awakening remake as a new 2D top-down Zelda game for the Switch, originally as an expansion of the dungeon editor system in Link's Awakening before becoming an original game. Grezzo director Satoshi Terada and Nintendo director Tomomi Sano worked on the game with series producer Eiji Aonuma, contributing new ideas such as the echoes system and having Zelda as the protagonist rather than Link. Terada struggled to come up with ideas for echoes because the development team was worried about the problems it could cause, such as being too weak or too strong and having to function in both top-down and side-on views. Aonuma wanted to bring a new creativity and innovation to the series, feeling that Link's Awakening offered a new approach to combining gameplay from these perspectives. He asked Grezzo to work with Nintendo EPD Group No.3 on the game, as it was the first time they had worked on an original Zelda game rather than a remake.[11]

 

[Generic]

This isn't surprising, Sony's output since the PS4 era is lacking.

 

[Three]

They claim it because those games aren’t first party games.

If they aren't then neither were Pixeljunk and Resistance 3. That's his point.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

If they aren't then neither were Pixeljunk and Resistance 3. That's his point.

PS3 inFamous games are 2nd party too btw

 

[AmuroChan]

Yet the PS5 is just trucking along and continue to outpace the PS4. This is another reminder that the vast majority of gamers don't give a shit about stupid console war discourse. Here we'll get a thread every other day where people argue about the definition of a 1st party exclusive game. Most gamers out there will see a game like Stellar Blade and base their purchasing decision solely on whether they want to play it and if it's on a system that they own. They couldn't care less whether the game is developed by an internal Sony studio or by someone else.

What percentage of PS5 owners do you think can even name all the 1st party PS studios off the top of their head without looking it up?

 

[Banjo64]

If they aren't then neither were Pixeljunk and Resistance 3. That's his point.

Disagree to be honest. The statement was:

when people like to claim that *actual* first-party games like ROTR or SB are not.

I’m happy to say that if a game isn’t developed by a first party studio, it’s not first party.

I don’t care who owns the IP or who publishes the games. First party games are made by first party studios. This is how it’s always been. The shift in tone is a modern response to Sony’s first party productivity falling off a cliff.

 

[Unknown?]

Disagree to be honest. The statement was:

when people like to claim that *actual* first-party games like ROTR or SB are not.

I’m happy to say that if a game isn’t developed by a first party studio, it’s not first party.

I don’t care who owns the IP or who publishes the games. First party games are made by first party studios. This is how it’s always been. The shift in tone is a modern response to Sony’s first party productivity falling off a cliff.

If the group got help from first party consultants and/or tech support then I would say it's co-developed.

 

[nial]

Yeah sound. You won’t see me disputing the fact that games made by third party studios are not first party developed games.

In that case, it's pretty weird to see you supporting Nintendo so much when they've released like, what? 4 new first-party games the past *two years* under that logic?

When Rareware made some of the most critically acclaimed games on the N64, which were published by Nintendo, no one called them first party games.

They did, people arguing otherwise were rightfully clowned on.

Although you might want to do some basic fact checking before posting, 5 seconds of Googling Echoes of Wisdom for example brought up the Wikipedia page which lists both Grezzo and Nintendo EPD as co-developers of the game:

I don't need to check on Wikipedia when we have access to the game's credits, and it's 100% a Grezzo-developed project with your usual Nintendo supervising and production work, which is exactly what happens in every other Nintendo-published title.
It's literally no different from claiming that Rise of the Ronin is co-developed by Team Ninja and PlayStation Studios.

 

[Three]

Disagree to be honest. The statement was:

when people like to claim that *actual* first-party games like ROTR or SB are not.

I’m happy to say that if a game isn’t developed by a first party studio, it’s not first party.

I don’t care who owns the IP or who publishes the games. First party games are made by first party studios. This is how it’s always been. The shift in tone is a modern response to Sony’s first party productivity falling off a cliff.

Yes but he replied to a list like this

In 2011 alone:
- Uncharted 3
- Resistance 3
- Infamous 2
- Motorstorm Apocalypse
- Killzone 3
- LittleBigPlanet 2
- Pixeljunk Shooter 2
(this is not a complete list)

Look what happens when you cross out those "not first party" games. Almost half of them are gone. Yet he enjoyed them enough to list it as a good year? Why does this not apply today?

 

[nial]

Disagree to be honest. The statement was:

when people like to claim that *actual* first-party games like ROTR or SB are not.

I’m happy to say that if a game isn’t developed by a first party studio, it’s not first party.

I don’t care who owns the IP or who publishes the games. First party games are made by first party studios. This is how it’s always been. The shift in tone is a modern response to Sony’s first party productivity falling off a cliff.

God help you if you've had a Switch this year.

 

[Seomel]

"Moneyhatted aside" so cherrypicking? If sony was somehow involved, i dont see reason to downplay it. Most games that came to earlier consoles too had more or less some involvment, be it funding, help.with dev etc. Like look at stellar blade, they literary threw money at it and ecouraged devs to make it bigger and louder, after Shuhei Yoshida had a crack at early version.

 

[veterangamerUK]

God help you if you've had a Switch this year.

Typical Sony pony response "b-b-but look over there"

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Look what happens when you cross out those "not first party" games. Almost half of them are gone. Yet he enjoyed them enough to list it as a good year? Why does this not apply today?

You can kinda ignore LBP2 too, because Sony bought MM only 1 year ahead it's release. And that perfectly shows the clowning behind the OPs logic.

 

[Woopah]

Disagree to be honest. The statement was:

when people like to claim that *actual* first-party games like ROTR or SB are not.

I’m happy to say that if a game isn’t developed by a first party studio, it’s not first party.

I don’t care who owns the IP or who publishes the games. First party games are made by first party studios. This is how it’s always been. The shift in tone is a modern response to Sony’s first party productivity falling off a cliff.

But that isn't how its always been.

Titles like Bayonetta 3 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance are Nintendo first party games. Spiderman on PS4 was first party before Sony acquired Insomniac.

This isn't a "modern response to Sony’s first party productivity falling off a cliff" but instead because the first/third party definition depends on who the publisher is. If a game is published by Nintendo, its sales are counted as first party sales.

For those titles, the proportion of actual Nintendo employees who worked on it might be 5%, 50% or 95%. They are still first party either way.

Same for Sony. Stellar Blade had more Shift Up people working on it than Sony people. The Smash Bros. series has always had more non-Nintendo people working on it than Nintendo people. Those are still first party games.

 

[Seomel]

I'm happy with my PS5 but I'm not thrilled with this generation's output. Nor am I a fan of Sony's direction the past few years. Feels to me like they got blinded by greed and hoodwinked by people pushing an agenda. Just one guy's opinion.

Early on they were fine(demons souls, returnal, ratchet and clank etc, not sure what happened now, but fwels kinda like slump ps4 too had drom around late 2015 to early 2018

 

[Banjo64]

If the group got help from first party consultants and/or tech support then I would say it's co-developed.

It’s fine if that’s your view, however in my view that’s simply giving Sony credit where it’s not due.

In that case, it's pretty weird to see you supporting Nintendo so much when they've released like, what? 4 new first-party games the past *two years* under that logic?

Supporting Nintendo in what way? Because I’ve got a TotK avatar?

They did, people arguing otherwise were rightfully clowned on.

No they didn’t. They were known as a second-party developer far and wide.

I don't need to check on Wikipedia when we have access to the game's credits, and it's 100% a Grezzo-developed project with your usual Nintendo supervising and production work, which is exactly what happens in every other Nintendo-published title.
It's literally no different from claiming that Rise of the Ronin is co-developed by Team Ninja and PlayStation Studios.

OK then sound, third party.

Yes but he replied to a list like this


Look what happens when you cross out those "not first party" games. Almost half of them are gone. Yet he enjoyed them enough to list it as a good year? Why does this not apply today?

I’m not really sure I’m following but LBP, Motorstorm, Killzone and Uncharted in one year is still miles better than anything Sony have done in one year for the PS5 so his point stands IMO.

God help you if you've had a Switch this year.

You’ve lost the plot mate. There’s plenty of good games to play on the Switch, PS5, on Steam - everywhere. The difference is I’m not trying to say that Nintendo have had a great year for first party games.

 

[Banjo64]

Spiderman on PS4 was first party before Sony acquired Insomniac.

That’s simply not true. Just like Sunset Overdrive isn’t a first party Xbox game.

I hate to defer but in this case I think simply directing people to Wikipedia is more effective. This isn’t some mad concept that I’ve come up with, but the established understanding.

Wikipedia even have a complete list to make it easy. You’ll notice that the FIRST PARTY game developers who make FIRST PARTY games are all owned by Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.

First-party developers​

edit
In the video game industry, a first-party developer is part of a company that manufactures a video game console and develops mainly for it. First-party developers may use the name of the company itself (such as Nintendo), have a specific division name (such as Sony's Polyphony Digital) or have been an independent studio before being acquired by the console manufacturer (such as Rare or Naughty Dog).[6] Whether by purchasing an independent studio or by founding a new team, the acquisition of a first-party developer involves a huge financial investment on the part of the console manufacturer, which is wasted if the developer fails to produce a hit game on time.[7] However, using first-party developers saves the cost of having to make royalty payments on a game's profits.[7]Current examples of first-party studios include PlayStation Studios for Sony, and Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Gaming.

Category:First-party video game developers​

• Category
• Talk
• Language
• Watch
• Edit

The main article for this category is First-party developer.

Subcategories​

This category has the following 4 subcategories, out of 4 total.

F​

• FromSoftware (2 C, 2 P)

N​

• Nintendo (21 C, 31 P, 1 F)

P​

• PlayStation Studios (8 C, 29 P)

X​

• Xbox Game Studios (6 C, 23 P)

Pages in category "First-party video game developers"​

The following 42 pages are in this category, out of 42 total. This list may not reflect recent changes.

0–9​

• 1-Up Studio

B​

• Bend Studio

C​

• The Coalition (company)
• Compulsion Games

G​

• Gaikai
• Guerrilla Games

H​

• Halo Studios
• Housemarque

I​

• The Initiative (company)
• Insomniac Games
• InXile Entertainment
• IQue

J​

• Japan Studio

L​

• Lionhead Studios
• London Studio

M​

• Media Molecule
• Microsoft Casual Games
• Mojang Studios
• Monolith Soft

N​

• Naughty Dog
• Next Level Games
• Ninja Theory
• Nintendo Cube
• Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development
• Nintendo Platform Technology Development
• Nintendo System Development
• Nintendo Software Technology

O​

• Obsidian Entertainment

P​

• Playground Games
• PlayStation Studios
• Polyphony Digital

R​

• Rare (company)
• Retro Studios

S​

• San Diego Studio
• Santa Monica Studio
• Sucker Punch Productions

T​

• Team Asobi
• Team Soho
• Turn 10 Studios

U​

• Undead Labs

W​

• World's Edge

X​

• Xbox Game Studios

 

[Moriarty1889]

Jim Ryan’s live service agenda has derailed them and their first party output this gen. Very poor gen for Sony compared to previous gens.

 

[cash_longfellow]

You should definitely ask the mods to make your thread title more click-baity console-warish.

 

[mayham2199]

I don't think I've ever seen moneyhatted exclusives pushed to the side so much in my life. I feel like this whole year it's the only thing people keep repeating to make PS seem worse. I don't get the point. What is the point of judging PS this year while ignoring the games that PS went out of their way to secure for me as a consumer? Do you think II give a shit if a Sony 1st party made it vs 3rd party? I just want games on my system and PS is going out there and getting that done.

 

[nial]

Supporting Nintendo in what way? Because I’ve got a TotK avatar?

Nah, more like this:

The post I replied to said they will include tent pole third party exclusives in the 2. So in some years Sony’s first party will only put out 1 game? How is that the norm for Sony?

Just a world where 1 or even 2 first party games a year don’t justify a console purchase when everything is coming to PC now.

A. I care about ND, SM, GG and couldn’t give a toss about Xbox. I’ll hold Sony to their own standard.

B. I disagree with your assertion because no matter how shit some of Xbox’s games are, their output is normally better than 1 or 2 games a year (last year being an outlier).

C. You could equally flip it and say look at Nintendo releasing Metroid Prime Remastered, TotK, Pikmin 4, Beyonetta Origins and Advanced Wars this year and that’s not including their crap b-tier stuff like Fire Emblem Engage, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land and Pikmin 1&2 HD. I’m fed up of people excusing Sony’s ridiculous self inflicted bloated development cycle.

Put it in the palm of my hand with an OLED screen and release 4-6 high quality first party games per year like Nintendo does - I don’t understand why Sony get a pass on increasing their own development cycle to 5-6 years to be honest.

This one is pretty funny coming from TOTK's release.

The Switch is the Lord’s chosen.

Something like Echoes of Wisdom will be an absolute banger for the ages, and it’s just something they’re announcing to be released within 3 months.

Another day, another amazing Nintendo game.

Also, come on now.

Nintendo don’t nickle and dime. They charge a reasonable rate for extremely fun and complete games that hold their value. Microsoft nickle and dime.

You’ve lost the plot mate. There’s plenty of good games to play on the Switch, PS5, on Steam - everywhere. The difference is I’m not trying to say that Nintendo have had a great year for first party games.

Suuuure, that's exactly what you always thought, especially when it's such a sudden change of sentiment compared to last year which wouldn't have been as different if you actually believed on what you're saying right now!

 

[HogIsland]

Yes but he replied to a list like this


Look what happens when you cross out those "not first party" games. Almost half of them are gone. Yet he enjoyed them enough to list it as a good year? Why does this not apply today?

In my book, if it's published by SCE it's first party. Rise of the Ronin and Stellar blade pale in comparison to games developed by Insomniac and Sucker Punch.

 

[Woopah]

That’s simply not true. Just like Sunset Overdrive isn’t a first party Xbox game.

​

Here's the Insomniac Twitter account saying in 2018 that it is a first party game.

I hate to defer but in this case I think simply directing people to Wikipedia is more effective. This isn’t some mad concept that I’ve come up with, but the established understanding.

Wikipedia even have a complete list to make it easy. You’ll notice that the FIRST PARTY game developers who make FIRST PARTY games are all owned by Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.

First-party developers​

edit
In the video game industry, a first-party developer is part of a company that manufactures a video game console and develops mainly for it. First-party developers may use the name of the company itself (such as Nintendo), have a specific division name (such as Sony's Polyphony Digital) or have been an independent studio before being acquired by the console manufacturer (such as Rare or Naughty Dog).[6] Whether by purchasing an independent studio or by founding a new team, the acquisition of a first-party developer involves a huge financial investment on the part of the console manufacturer, which is wasted if the developer fails to produce a hit game on time.[7] However, using first-party developers saves the cost of having to make royalty payments on a game's profits.[7]Current examples of first-party studios include PlayStation Studios for Sony, and Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Gaming.

First party developer /= first party game.

Nintendo's reports to investors alwasy include a list of first party titles that sold over 1 million, and we can see an example below.

Game Freak, Bandai Namco, HAL and Platinum Games are not first party studios. But Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Bayonetta 3 are all first party games.

 

[mrqs]

We'll never reach the highs of the PS4 era. That's the new reality we live in.

 

[Banjo64]

Nah, more like this:


This one is pretty funny coming from TOTK's release.


Also, come on now.



Suuuure, that's exactly what you always thought, especially when it's such a sudden change of sentiment compared to last year which wouldn't have been as different if you actually believed on what you're saying right now!

I don’t see anything wrong with anything I’ve said there TBH.

Here's the Insomniac Twitter account saying in 2018 that it is a first party game.

Also the Insomniac Twitter admin:

First party developer /= first party game.

Nintendo's reports to investors alwasy include a list of first party titles that sold over 1 million, and we can see an example below.

Game Freak, Bandai Namco, HAL and Platinum Games are not first party studios. But Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Bayonetta 3 are all first party games.

They’re fudging the books clearly. At this point I’m not convinced Nintendo have ever made a game.

 

[nial]

I don’t see anything wrong with anything I’ve said there TBH.

I see you doing exactly this over and over, but keep going on.

It’s fine if that’s your view, however in my view that’s simply giving [publisher] credit where it’s not due.

 

[Woopah]

I don’t see anything wrong with anything I’ve said there TBH.



Also the Insomniac Twitter admin:




They’re fudging the books clearly. At this point I’m not convinced Nintendo have ever made a game.

What is your point with that Insomniac tweet?

Nintendo are not fudging the books. They are correclty using the term "first party". Collaboraitng with people who aren't Nintendo employees has been part of Nintendo's first party strategy for four decades now.

 

[Unknown?]

What is your point with that Insomniac tweet?

Nintendo are not fudging the books. They are correclty using the term "first party". Collaboraitng with people who aren't Nintendo employees has been part of Nintendo's first party strategy for four decades now.

With this logic, anytime a first party contracts out work, it isn't a first party title.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Apart from 3rd party titles with paid 1-year-ish exclusivity (like SH2 and FFVII: Rebirth), the only titles we saw from Sony this year were Helldivers II, Astrobot and... LEGO Horizon (kek), plus a bunch of needless remasters like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Until Dawn and TLOU Part II and (potentially) incoming announcement of a native PS5 version of Days Gone. Concord as well, but it's already dead so it's not worth even talking about.

In the meantime, this console generation is already halfway done, so the promises of big games and substantial output become even less trustworthy. Apart from Ghost of Yotei, ND's new sci-fi game and whatever SSM is working on, will there be anything of actual substance until PS6 arrives?

They've been largely killing it for the past 15 years when a strong first party. I am not going to claim doom and gloom when they have a down year.

Nobody with a functioning brain should do that.

 

[Woopah]

With this logic, anytime a first party contracts out work, it isn't a first party title.

How so? When Nintendo contracts Bandai Namco to work on first party titles, those titles are still first party.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

We know what it takes to have a consistent AAA game release schedule; to be the PS3 and have the studios pushing out games with no regard to profits.

When Sony does that, people praise them, but it also completely burns money.

What Sony does now with PS5 is about sustainability. The console war is over, now is not the time to take risks. Note that despite Concord being written off, Sony's bottom line was not affected. They have managed to stay profitable because they were conservative with spending. But doing so does mean slower output of games.

If you want things to change, then you need a new console to enter the market. Sony is currently coasting and playing it safe.

 

[Unknown?]

How so? When Nintendo contracts Bandai Namco to work on first party titles, those titles are still first party.

He was saying even if a company works with Nintendo or Sony, it's not first party. Using that logic, he should say anytime, say Naughty Dog, contracts out work they aren't making a first party game.

 

[Mortisfacio]

We'll never reach the highs of the PS4 era. That's the new reality we live in.

Given the cost of AAA and that so many games seem to be formulaic, possibly. That 2015-2018 was just really solid for Sony. I haven't really felt "must buy" from a Sony title since The Last of Us 2 in 2020.

Since then, all my favorite games are 3rd party.

What's really been surprising to me is despite the billions Microsoft spent in acquiring devs, they haven't really forced Sony to actually need to churn out bangers. Their biggest release was Starfield and it fell flat. Personally, the most hyped game I have in their lineup going forward is Doom and it's multiplat.

 

[Woopah]

He was saying even if a company works with Nintendo or Sony, it's not first party. Using that logic, he should say anytime, say Naughty Dog, contracts out work they aren't making a first party game.

Ah I see! Yes I understand what you're saying now.

 

[Banjo64]

I see you doing exactly this over and over, but keep going on.

I don’t know what you mean.

What is your point with that Insomniac tweet?

Nintendo are not fudging the books. They are correclty using the term "first party". Collaboraitng with people who aren't Nintendo employees has been part of Nintendo's first party strategy for four decades now.

Do you think the Insomniac admin is a good source?

I can only speculate as to why Nintendo are using the term first party for third party developed games.

It could be because, as with the case of Zelda, they retain full creative control of the development process, control the IP fully and have the series director overseeing the project.

It could be in the case of Pokemon because they own 33% of the IP alongside Game Freak and Game Freak’s office is based inside Nintendo’s.

Spider-Man is an IP that Sony don’t own, developed by a third party studio that they didn’t own. Same for Death Stranding, Steller Blade etc.

Ultimately, interesting discussion aside, the thread title is:

Sony's first-party studio output has never been worse in their 30 year history.​

So a discussion around third party studios is moot, because OP is talking about the first party studios, and he’s right.

 

[Unknown?]

I don’t know what you mean.


.

Ultimately, interesting discussion aside, the thread title is:

Sony's first-party studio output has never been worse in their 30 year history.​

So a discussion around third party studios is moot, because OP is talking about the first party studios, and he’s right.

Singling out a single company for a problem that is also industry wide is kinda moot.

I agree, 1st party could be better but saying the worst in history isn't correct either.

 

[delirium trigger]

The PS4 exclusives were kind of new and fresh. Traversing Manhattan was really fun in Spiderman but I wasn't all that excited to do it again. Same for Horizon and even FF7 Rebirth to an extent.

 

[nial]

I don’t know what you mean.

Yes, you do.

 

[Sebastian1295]

I have a ton of games to play on my ps5. I just recently got persona 3 reload, zero escape: the nonary games, zero time dilemma, and master detective archives: RAIN CODE plus. I'm feasting right now and excited to start all 4 of these games lol.

 

[Banjo64]

Yes, you do.

I don’t.

Singling out a single company for a problem that is also industry wide is kinda moot.

People mainly compare PS to Xbox and Nintendo. Nintendo don’t have the same problems as Sony. Microsoft’s internal studios have been terribly ran for 15 years. They’re being singled out in that context.

In terms of industry wide issues (bloated dev times, bloated stories, bloated game length, bloated costs etc) Sony are one of the pioneers of this approach in my view.

I agree, 1st party could be better but saying the worst in history isn't correct either.

To be fair he’s saying it’s the worst in Sony’s history and the only reason I disagree is that the PS1 had an unbelievably bad first party line up.

 

[nial]

I don’t.

Yes, you do.

 

[Woopah]

I don’t know what you mean.


Do you think the Insomniac admin is a good source?

I can only speculate as to why Nintendo are using the term first party for third party developed games.

It could be because, as with the case of Zelda, they retain full creative control of the development process, control the IP fully and have the series director overseeing the project.

It could be in the case of Pokemon because they own 33% of the IP alongside Game Freak and Game Freak’s office is based inside Nintendo’s.

Spider-Man is an IP that Sony don’t own, developed by a third party studio that they didn’t own. Same for Death Stranding, Steller Blade etc.

Ultimately, interesting discussion aside, the thread title is:

Sony's first-party studio output has never been worse in their 30 year history.​

So a discussion around third party studios is moot, because OP is talking about the first party studios, and he’s right.

That Insomniac employee might not be able to predict the future. But they know what first party means.

We don't need to speculate about Nintendo. We know why they use the term first party for games that other studios are involved in. It's because they are the publisher and so the games are first party.

Some people who on the games are employed by Nintendo, some are not. Just like some people who worked on Stellar Blade are from PlayStation, while others are not.

Out of curiosity, could you list all the games from 2023 and 2024 that you consider to be Nintendo first party titles?

And yes the OP did use "first party studios" but then it also talks about Helldivers 2.

 

[Unknown?]

I don’t.


People mainly compare PS to Xbox and Nintendo. Nintendo don’t have the same problems as Sony. Microsoft’s internal studios have been terribly ran for 15 years. They’re being singled out in that context.

In terms of industry wide issues (bloated dev times, bloated stories, bloated game length, bloated costs etc) Sony are one of the pioneers of this approach in my view.


To be fair he’s saying it’s the worst in Sony’s history and the only reason I disagree is that the PS1 had an unbelievably bad first party line up.

Nintendo does have those problems, they are just slightly behind and will get worse the more complex the games get. They only did one mainline Mario on Switch and couldn't even be bothered to do more than one Mario Kart and it was a remaster.


Nintendo will be even slower with Switch 2. Regardless, every company is having this problem.

 

[M1chl]

I think general gaming industry trend is moving downwards with quality longer we are since PS3/X360 era. There was pretty much reason to be excited all the time (outside of summer), nowadays such feeling is almost non-existent. Well lets say without Cyberpunk and Stalker this gen would be waste (for me), but I can easily replays old classic, either on XSX or Xenia, RPCS3 and they are still good. Most games I played this gen was either MP games or single player games, I have no desire in replaying outside of few. And based on statistic, I actually play for longer, for some reason. So no I am not "sick of gaming", I just think the quality is lacking. This is industry wide problem, so no reason to single-out Sony.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I think general gaming industry trend is moving downwards with quality longer we are since PS3/X360 era. There was pretty much reason to be excited all the time (outside of summer), nowadays such feeling is almost non-existent. Well lets say without Cyberpunk and Stalker this gen would be waste (for me), but I can easily replays old classic, either on XSX or Xenia, RPCS3 and they are still good. Most games I played this gen was either MP games or single player games, I have no desire in replaying outside of few. And based on statistic, I actually play for longer, for some reason. So no I am not "sick of gaming", I just think the quality is lacking. This is industry wide problem, so no reason to single-out Sony.

Facts. There was always something to be hyped about right around the corner in the PS360 era. Also we had summer of XBLA in the summer which produced bangers like Super Meat Boy and Braid.

I’m still playing a lot of games but it’s not like it used to be.

 

[SlimySnake]

I mean, I only recently got myself a PS5 and I am figuring out what amazing game to play first. I feel spoiled.

I mean this is so silly. You have a 4 year old library to play through while the rest of us who have been there since launch have already been there and done that. And having played them all, i can safely say that they are simply too formulaic and too samey. I dont feel spoiled. I feel bloated being fed the same thing over and over again.

 

[tkscz]

Yup, pretty much the same narrative from Sony doomers. Yet if one take a look at this year TGA contenders for GOTY. The only platform where you can play every single game is a PS5.

Maybe I'm reading the OP wrong but didn't he say first party games? As in made by Sony. I'm only seeing one there that counts under that.

As for OP, I wouldn't say the quality wasn't as good as it used to be, but definitely the quantity. Sony's first party use to have a massive amount of different games, but as game development gets more expensive, you can't really have that. Even Nintendo had to admit this to investors earlier this year.

 

[SlimySnake]

I think general gaming industry trend is moving downwards with quality longer we are since PS3/X360 era. There was pretty much reason to be excited all the time (outside of summer), nowadays such feeling is almost non-existent. Well lets say without Cyberpunk and Stalker this gen would be waste (for me), but I can easily replays old classic, either on XSX or Xenia, RPCS3 and they are still good. Most games I played this gen was either MP games or single player games, I have no desire in replaying outside of few. And based on statistic, I actually play for longer, for some reason. So no I am not "sick of gaming", I just think the quality is lacking. This is industry wide problem, so no reason to single-out Sony.

There is definitely truth to this. Sony isnt the only one. Ubisoft, Microsoft, EA and Activision have also been underwhelming at best.

The problem is that Sony was absolutely amazing last gen. Especially if you like action adventure games. So by their own lofty expectations, they have underdelivered. And being one of the two publishers who sold us a $500 console, they deserved a lot more criticism than third party ones.

Their GOTY track record was insane last gen. Even if they didnt win the VGA one year, they would clean up the awards elsewhere. There was a GOTY tracker website that tracked GOTYs from all critics and users, and Sony topped in
2020- TLOU2
2019 - Death Stranding
2018 - GOW
2017- Lost to Zelda but HFW was a runner up
2016- Uncharted 4
2015- Witcher 3 won but Blooodborne was second runner up after Fallout 4
2013- TLOU1

Thats just an insane level of quality that they simply havent been able to replicate since.