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Sony is kinda lazy when it comes to naming their consoles

Well it's what worked for them so far as the most consistently dominant console brand of the past 25 years. Nintendo and Microsoft can take notes.
 

onQ123

Member
They're cursed if they stray from convention.
PlayStation Portable was their only majorly successful handheld.

Pocket Station, PSP, PSPGo, PSVita

Then look at their controllers
Dual Shock, Dual Shock 2, Sixaxis (failure), Dual Shock 3, Dual Shock 4, DualSense

Now with VR they're also going the obvious route, this will truly test the trend.
PlayStation_VR2.jpg

You forgot about no name controller & Dual Analog
 

NoobSmog

Member
Microsofts playing the long game. Playstation is going to look really silly and behind they times when they get to Playstation360.
 

BbMajor7th

Member
I'd argue that strong succinct branding has been at the heart of Sony's success in the game sphere. Even PlayStation VR is simple and straight forward, rather than Metaquest or Oculus Rift.

Apple does the same: Apple TV, Apple Music, etc.
 

Bridges

Member
I used to agree with you, but after seeing Nintendo shoot themselves in the foot with the "Wii U" and then Microsoft choose a dumb name like "Xbox One" I've come around to thinking that standard numbering is the right call.
 

dcx4610

Member
I like it personally. I wouldn't want every company to do it but it works for them and their brand. Don't be afraid of numbers. It's easy to know which is the newest and works for Apple.
 
And it works going forward because they have the number advantage, which is why Xbox named xbox360 because it would sound inferior to PS3 if they named it XBox 2.
 

HTK

Banned
I know coming into this thread that I would lose some brain cells but I can’t let OP get away with it, he needs to know this thread is a stupid one.
 

CGNoire

Member
Not at all....in fact there naming is genius.

Every generation of 3D graphics is named after there system. Where in the 5th gen of 3d and what do ya know its the PS5 at the fore front.

Its so ingenius that Microsoft had to litteraly change there systsm name to try and match them during the 360/PS3 era. "We cant call it Xbox 2 when our competitor is named PS3 so we are going with Xbox 360."

If I where sony I wouldnt change it for the world. Now with PSVR you mght have a point. Omni sounded alot better.
 

Tommi84

Member
The smallest amount of effort from a potential consumer would remedy any confusion
And yet, this is exactly what happened with Microsoft consoles:

And who should I blame? Consumer who may not be knowledgeable enough or Microsoft who decided on the name?
 
Actually the base name wasnt Nintendo Gameboy, or Nintendo Wii. They were both Gameboy and Wii. Of course there is Nintendo printed on the box, but the brand was not a Nintendo. Just as much as a Playstation is not a Sony Playstation.
I think you are partially right, but in Sony and Ms case, Playstation and XBox are also brand that identify their videogame -product, while Nintendo is directly identified as a videogame brand. So you have, for example, Playstation merchandise or a Playstation mascotte, but you have Nintendo merchandise and Nintendo mascotte.
 
Its fine until they start getting into double and triple digits. Then it starts sounding a little strange.
There are two solutions for this:

1 - The reboot. Call the PlayStation 11 “The PlayStation” and begin anew. By the time the PS11 happens anyway people who will have fondly remembered PS1 will be elderly or dead.

2 - Change to year names, like phones iPads and laptops. It’s just as straightforward and no one ever questions why the iPad 2019 Edition is the iPad from 2019.
 
Yes, I mean calling successive generations of hardware by a number is outrageous.

I think they should have called the original playstation the Box of Fantastical Dreams and then the PS2 something equally wonderful.
 

fermcr

Member
Atari 2600 , Atari 5200 , Atari 7800, Atari Jaguar

NES , Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64 , Gamecube , Wii , Wii U , Switch

Sega Master System , Sega Genesis , Sega Saturn, Dreamcast

Xbox , Xbox 360 , Xbox One , Xbox Series S/X


PlayStation , PlayStation 2 , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 and I have a feeling their next console will be PlayStation 6

Actually no. Sony are the smartest of the bunch in naming consoles. PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 is simple, precise and right to the point. People won't confuse PlayStation 5 for a PlayStation 4. People know right away what is the most recent Playstation console. Always try to use the KISS principle (Keep it simple, stupid!).

For example, the naming Xbox One X and Xbox Series S/X confused the hell of consumers. The naming Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn are absurd.
 
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Allandor

Member
Sony made it right. It is plain simple to know which one is the newest console. It only gets a problem when there are to many numbers behind the brand. But as new consoles are only coming out every 7 to 8 years this problem is only theoretical.
Microsoft did it really wrong. The x360 was ok from the naming but a potential successor would always have it's problems with this name. Xbox one only made this naming scheme worse.
Now they have series x/s. Yes it sounds simple if it would be the only Xbox that ever existed. For me this is quite simple to distinguish between the consoles but for people who don't really use those consoles that much it is really a naming nightmare.
Same or even worse for Nintendo consoles.
NES to super NES, ok everyone understands that, but everything after that was going to get it hard on the name. They haven't even a base console name (like Xbox for the Ms console). Than the N64, GameCube....
How should the customer ever know which is the newest system. Than came the Wii an instead of making the Wii II or Wii 2 they made a Wii U and potential customers didn't understand that this was the newest console from Nintendo.
Maybe Nintendo learned we might see when the switch 2 arrives (or whatever it is called maybe "Switch U" ;) ).
 

nightmare-slain

Gold Member
They seem to be doing fine 🤷‍♂️

Honestly, Microsoft and Nintendo should do the same. Xbox naming scheme is a mess and Nintendo don't need to come up with a new console name.

Next gen should be Playstation 6, Xbox 5, and Switch 2. Microsoft won't want to put out an Xbox 5 when there is the Playstation 6 because people are idiots and would be confused by it. They could maybe get away with calling it Xbox V or just even skip to 6. They skipped Windows 9 so why not jump to Xbox 6/VI? And Nintendo need to calm the fuck down and put out a simple Switch 2 but no doubt we'll get The New Super Switch U 64 or something completely different.

I'd like to see: Playstation 6, Xbox VI (6), and Switch To (2). That way it makes more sense and still makes the names look a bit cooler.
 
It's better this way. Nintendo and Xbox names are confusing and overwrought. While Playstation has been going longer than smartphones, I think Sony got lucky mobile phone conventions match theirs, with consistent numbering. If you're a shop floor assistant, it's easier to explain that a PS4 Pro is different to a PS4, and that a PS5 is better than a PS4: don't underestimate the comfort a non-expert customer can feel when naming conventions are simple to understand.
 

Shubh_C63

Member
They don't need to put MAX and EXTREME to their console name because their consoles always sell regardless of marketing names.
Consistency is king. higher number is better !
 

E-Cat

Member
It's called consistency. Much better than the random Xbox naming circus.
Like, I legit don’t know what Xbox’s latest generation is called. First they rebooted back to gen 1, then Series something, and there’s also a gimped version? Fuck that
 
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MarkMe2525

Gold Member
And yet, this is exactly what happened with Microsoft consoles:

And who should I blame? Consumer who may not be knowledgeable enough or Microsoft who decided on the name?
Hmmm a fluke sales trend, that lasted a day, on the release of a new console where 1000's of bots were deployed to try to grab as much inventory of Series X inventory as possible. I am absolutely sure that there were a few people that ordered the wrong console as people are fallible, but if the naming convention was truly that bewildering, this trend would have continued.

It did not, which points to the strong possibility that a bunch of scummy scalpers had their bots tuned incorrectly.

Edit: Your article even talks about my point, but that's not as sexy of a headline.
 
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Ev1L AuRoN

Member
I think they are the only ones that name their consoles in a tasteful manner.

Microsoft naming scheme is awful: Xbox / Xbox 360 / Xbox One / Xbox Series wtf?

Nintendo and Sega have cool names(mostly) but they don't communicate clearly the generation, we know because we are gamers, for a lot of the young casual crowd, they need to google to know the generations...
 
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