Sony's software brilliance still isn't enough ( gamesindustry.biz )

Yea, now that Resistance is completely dead. Sony should only focus on Killzone and that Sony Santa Monica FPS for PS4. Hopefully that way, KZ4 will sell a lot on PS4 (by having a bigger development and marketing budget)

Eh, I'd rather see Guerilla Games start a new franchise with a clear idea on what kind of mp they want. CoDs feel fairly similar, Halo games feel fairly similar. Resistance went from arena shooter with weapon spawns to perks and kill streaks. And the difference between KZ2 to KZ3 mp was only marginally less dramatic.
 
You would be wrong , once again Sony has games that sell just as much as MS expect for Halo cause GT was down this gen .
UC or GOW sell near as much as Gears just not in NA , hardware and software sales are not only NA .

This is correct -- and you could also point out that Gears is developed by a third party and thus could in theory jump ship any time their contract is up. Even if they dont jump ship, it means Microsoft needs to continuously spend a significant amount of money on contracts just to keep the game exclusive.

But now I hope we can step back and see why many objective observers dont feel Sonys first party offerings are very strong. Microsofts first party is considered weak, right? So why isnt Sonys first party also considered weak if they sell a similar amount of first party software in most years?
 
yea people keep forgetting Sony titles actually sell well in Europe and Japan. Didn't Uncharted 3 sell like 100k+ in a week in Japan alone?

Its first week sales were higher than Uncharted 2's lifetime sales. They put a lot of effort into marketing it in Japan. From getting Harrison Ford to do commercials for it to broadcasting a TV drama for it.
 
Have we confirmed that Sony's software is brilliant?

They have doomed themselves from a bad start and inability to differentiate themselves. It's been their MO from the beginning. I like them but they don't innovate enough to differentiate themselves. We don't want clones, we want something new. MS is benefiting from innovating in the console online arena and, somewhat, from motion. Gamers will still demand more next gen.
 
This thread has spun into chaos and poop.

We shouldn't be comparing 1st party game sales, we should be comparing 3rd party sales vs. 1st party sales. Halo and Uncharted respectability sell decently, but finding out much 3rd party software performs on PS3 would be the better indicator of how well 1st party games are selling for the console.

And this attitude of "Ugh, stupid american Xbox 360 owners" is so fucking childish, there's a lot more wrong with this country besides videogame preference. No one has out right said the bolded, but it's not hard to sense that weird attitude.
 
This is correct -- and you could also point out that Gears is developed by a third party and thus could in theory jump ship any time their contract is up. Even if they dont jump ship, it means Microsoft needs to continuously spend a significant amount of money on contracts just to keep the game exclusive.

yea this is a great point. But I doubt Epic will jump ship though, they made mad money with the Gears on Xbox 360. The Microsoft hype machine did wonders for that series.

Its first week sales were higher than Uncharted 2's lifetime sales. They put a lot of effort into marketing it in Japan. From getting Harrison Ford to do commercials for it to broadcasting a TV drama for it.

yea those commercials were fantastic! Great work by SCEJ
 
God of War 3 sold over 1 million in NPD in it's first month. That isn't exactly common even with multiplatform games. Regardless, the 360 has twice the userbase as PS3 in north America. If an action game can sell that much on PS3 alone what makes it so different from genres that are much more mass market,such as shooters, that sell 2-3 million in one month on 360? Especially considering GoW3 did that in March.
 
Software brilliance? Well, I can get better software on certain other platforms for half the price of admission. That's most likely their problem.
 
It's just that there are other brilliant software options on competing consoles.

Sony should keep it up, but if they're expecting to dominate the industry again they have nothing but disappointment ahead. MS and Ninty have stepped up their game and I don't see why either one would all of a sudden fall off.
 
yea people keep forgetting Sony titles actually sell well in Europe and Japan. Didn't Uncharted 3 sell like 100k+ in a week in Japan alone?
Doesn't KOEI games sell more than that?

God of War 3 sold over 1 million in NPD in it's first month. That isn't exactly common even with multiplatform games. Regardless, the 360 has twice the userbase as PS3 in north America. If an action game can sell that much on PS3 alone what makes it so different from genres that are much more mass market,such as shooters, that sell 2-3 million in one month on 360? Especially considering GoW3 did that in March.

I think God of War 3 is the unique PS3 exclusive game that sold more than 1 million in its first month on US. In the second month it sold less than 200k. Plus it was released 4 years after the PS3 launch.
Imagine Gears of War 4 being released in the 4th year of the next Xbox.
 
yea people keep forgetting Sony titles actually sell well in Europe and Japan. Didn't Uncharted 3 sell like 100k+ in a week in Japan alone?
100k+ isn't really much for Japan, UC3 did 122k 1st week but only 164k total. I wouldn't trumpet SCE's Japanese sales in general either, especially given how far their marquee million sellers like GT and Mingol have fallen. PS3 did worst by a large margin in Japan, SCEA easily held on better than Japan did.
 
But now I hope we can step back and see why many objective observers dont feel Sonys first party offerings are very strong. Microsofts first party is considered weak, right? So why isnt Sonys first party also considered weak if they sell a similar amount of first party software in most years?

Hmmm.

Diversity? If they are selling similar numbers, but the various Sony shooters combined aren't in the same league as Halo, the difference must be made up somewhere else. Though it is also possible that both are equally diverse and Sony is as sports heavy as Microsoft is shooter heavy.
 
It's just that there are other brilliant software options.

Sony should keep it up, but if they're expecting to dominate the industry again they have nothing but disappointment ahead. MS and Ninty have stepped up their game and I don't see why either one would all of a sudden fall off.

No one is going to dominate the industry again. This generation is a pretty good indication of that. Everyone ended up doing pretty damn well, which shows that the industry has grown to the point where they can handle multiple successful consoles. Plus no one is ever going to be able to get the level of exclusives that the PSone and PS2 had.
 
No one is going to dominate the industry again. This generation is a pretty good indication of that. Everyone ended up doing pretty damn well, which shows that the industry has grown to the point where they can handle multiple successful consoles. Plus no one is ever going to be able to get the level of exclusives that the PSone and PS2 had.

Microsoft will. Sony can't afford to outspend Microsoft so Microsoft will be able to secure early 3rd support and undercut Sony at the start of the generation. That momentum will define much of the next gen barring lighting striking twice for Nintentdo.
 
This is correct -- and you could also point out that Gears is developed by a third party and thus could in theory jump ship any time their contract is up. Even if they dont jump ship, it means Microsoft needs to continuously spend a significant amount of money on contracts just to keep the game exclusive.

But now I hope we can step back and see why many objective observers dont feel Sonys first party offerings are not very strong. Microsofts first party is considered weak, right? So why isnt Sonys first party also considered weak if they sell a similar amount of first party software in most years?

Well i won't call either Sony or MS super strong that is for Nintendo only .
I don't know how much software Sony or MS sell per year but i can think of a few reason why some people might call Sony first part better , it true or not depends on the person .

1. While both Sony and MS have about the same amount of high selling IPs Sony has more middle and low tier stuff than MS has ( talking about disc base game ).
2. The variety of games could be another reason why some people think Sony has the better first party even if they don't sell huge amount .
3. The making of new IPs .

All of this depends on the person so it all subjective .

If it is one thing MS does do is they make sure there best selling IPs come out at a good rate compare to Sony .
Gears (lets count that ) Fable , Halo , Forza have a game every 2 years or spin off .
If you look at Sony highest sell IPs the only one they did that with is UC .

Microsoft will. Sony can't afford to outspend Microsoft so Microsoft will be able to secure early 3rd support and undercut Sony at the start of the generation. That momentum will define much of the next gen barring lighting striking twice for Nintentdo.

That won't happen next gen , Sony won't be selling there system for 600 and it won't come a year later than MS (year and half later in EU )
Publishers want a multiplatform strategy for there IPs , the only way you going to get a exclusives is by your first party or you paid to get it made.
 
Microsoft will. Sony can't afford to outspend Microsoft so Microsoft will be able to secure early 3rd support and undercut Sony at the start of the generation. That momentum will define much of the next gen barring lighting striking twice for Nintentdo.

Yea I have a feeling that Star Wars 1313 will end up being exclusive to Xbox 720. But Sony's first party devs have been working on PS4 games for a while now though. Nobody know's who will come on top. And even Microsoft can't afford to moneyhat every single developer since the budgets are too high.
 
Microsoft will. Sony can't afford to outspend Microsoft so Microsoft will be able to secure early 3rd support and undercut Sony at the start of the generation. That momentum will define much of the next gen barring lighting striking twice for Nintentdo.

And why didn't MS do this...this gen? They were scrapping for parity with PS3 in terms of third party support, and it came pretty easily because publishers wanted a multiplatform strategy.

They'll want the same next-gen.

I think MS had the best opportunity to manifest the kind of scenario you're painting in the early years of this gen. And they did try. I don't think Sony will throw them the same amount of rope next-gen.
 
This is correct -- and you could also point out that Gears is developed by a third party and thus could in theory jump ship any time their contract is up. Even if they dont jump ship, it means Microsoft needs to continuously spend a significant amount of money on contracts just to keep the game exclusive.

But now I hope we can step back and see why many objective observers dont feel Sonys first party offerings are very strong. Microsofts first party is considered weak, right? So why isnt Sonys first party also considered weak if they sell a similar amount of first party software in most years?
I think it's the variety that garners Sony the respect in terms of 1st/2nd party exclusive games. Microsoft definitely has some heavy hitters, but lets be real, it's gears/halo/gears/halo ad infinitum (I don't know if that's a word). Also I didn't include Forza because that's not a heavy hitter is it? If it is then my bad :(

Sales wise they are definitely on par, but if you're looking about both quantity and quality, as well as variety, one clearly stands on top. Even above Nintendo, in that sense. Of course like someone said it is all subjective. But not liking an IP doesn't mean it sucks, it's just a commentary on your own preferences and tastes.

What perspective are we looking at this again? If we're looking as consumers, their offerings are by far the strongest. If we're looking from a business perspective, they definitely have work to do considering they have far more IPs but aren't on a higher ground than MS in terms of sales. That has more to do with marketing, and maybe variety in the games being a detriment, since filling niches doesn't look as good on the stat card.

Sony is doing what they do best, fostering vidya games. IMO it's not some noble cause for them, though they will claim it is. They do it because it's their only weapon. MS on the other hand has many weapons, most important one being cash to burn when it comes to marketing. They can get more out of less. Sony has to compensate. Consumers win.
 
Microsoft will. Sony can't afford to outspend Microsoft so Microsoft will be able to secure early 3rd support and undercut Sony at the start of the generation. That momentum will define much of the next gen barring lighting striking twice for Nintentdo.

Modern Warfare 3 grossed 775m in 5 days and GTA4 grossed 310m in one day. You honestly expect those two titles to suddenly go exclusive?
 
I own both the 360 and the PS3 but I don't really like either platform's exclusives. Most games I buy these days are multiplatform titles. While multiplatform games' technical performance on the PS3 these days are largely similar to the 360, I tend to go 360 for two key reasons: controller and OS.

The PS3 controller is absolute dogshit and the triggers are practically unusable for games in which they are meant to be used the most: shooting and racing games. You know this is an issue when shooters on PS3 start using the R1 as the default shoot button. Given how long this generation has gone on for, it's ridiculous that Sony hasn't addressed this issue by releasing a new controller. What are they thinking? I don't like the analog sticks either but I think that is far less of an issue than the triggers.

And then there's the PS3 OS and PSN. Online being free is nice and all but messaging friends and actually getting people into multiplayer games is a giant pain in the ass. To be fair, I haven't played multiplayer PS3 games in like a year, I think, so this could have already been improved but the experience has been bad enough to push me to the 360. Additionally, the whole trohies syncing thing is really clunky and slow and used to give me tonnes of errors. I mean, how hard is it get a information on a friend's trophies? The entire OS is just really clunky and the constant OS updates (which would take forever to download and install) that used to come every month or two in the past didn't help either.

Finally, the PSN store is an absolute piece of shit in Asia. Xbox Live has day and date release syncing between its NA and Asia marketplace. Stuff that gets released on the NA PSN Store can literally takes MONTHS to get to the Asia store and that's assuming that they even do get to the Asia store. Some stuff just doesn't make it here ever. It's day and night compared to the 360.

On the whole, Microsoft just makes it so much easier for me to get into a game and start playing by myself or with friends if I need to. The experience is far smoother on the 360 and a lot less frustrating and that's what has counted this gen.
 
And why didn't MS do this...this gen? They were scrapping for parity with PS3 in terms of third party support, and it came pretty easily because publishers wanted a multiplatform strategy.

They'll want the same next-gen.

I think MS had the best opportunity to manifest the kind of scenario you're painting in the early years of this gen. And they did try. I don't think Sony will throw them the same amount of rope next-gen.

Assassin's Creed, GTA, DMC and RE5 all went multi-plat as you've noted. Then beyond that most of the Japanese development was exclusive to the 360 (Tales, Infinite Undiscovery, Last Remenant, Dead Rising, Lost Planet). Later when Microsoft noted Japan's irrelevance, they secured the map pack exclusivity for CoD, exclusive content for Tomb Raider, exclusive modes for Resident Evil (technically ORC), etc.

The 360's launch was hampered by the assumption that the PS3 would be amazing and uncertainty over the Wii. The infallibility of Sony's console was quickly dispelled this generation and there was that developer poll that indicated that Microsoft would be the likely winner of next gen.

So next gen, XBOX8 will still benefit from Microsoft's exceptional ability to secure some degree of exclusivity as they see fit and isn't going to be facing an imaginary sleeping giant like the 360 did.
 
Assassin's Creed, GTA, DMC and RE5 all went multi-plat as you've noted. Then beyond that most of the Japanese development was exclusive to the 360 (Tales, Infinite Undiscovery, Last Remenant, Dead Rising, Lost Planet). Later when Microsoft noted Japan's irrelevance, they secured the map pack exclusivity for CoD, exclusive content for Tomb Raider, exclusive modes for Resident Evil (technically ORC), etc.

The 360's launch was hampered by the assumption that the PS3 would be amazing and uncertainty over the Wii. The infallibility of Sony's console was quickly dispelled this generation and there was that developer poll that indicated that Microsoft would be the likely winner of next gen.

So next gen, XBOX8 will still benefit from Microsoft's exceptional ability to secure some degree of exclusivity as they see fit and isn't going to be facing an imaginary sleeping giant like the 360 did.

You're talking about two very different things here. You quoted my original post about actual exclusive games and said that MS will do that next gen, but now you're suddenly talking about DLC or extra missions. The amount of money that anyone would need to secure the major exclusive titles in the industry now would be through the roof. Devs costs are so high now that devs can't take the risk of only launching on one console when there are others than can run their games. They need to make as much money as possible right out the gate.
 
sleepykyo said:
Microsoft will. Sony can't afford to outspend Microsoft so Microsoft will be able to secure early 3rd support and undercut Sony at the start of the generation. That momentum will define much of the next gen barring lighting striking twice for Nintentdo.

That's not going to happen. Big titles next gen are going to cost so much, and even more importantly take so long to make that artificially-imposed exclusivity is not going to justify itself financially.

To be honest, its going to be interesting to see how MS handles running two consoles concurrently. Unlike Sony and Nintendo, its not something they've had to deal with before and given how conservative they've been in recent years regarding platform exclusive output on 360, I'm really not sure how they are going to handle it.
 
Assassin's Creed, GTA, DMC and RE5 all went multi-plat as you've noted. Then beyond that most of the Japanese development was exclusive to the 360 (Tales, Infinite Undiscovery, Last Remenant, Dead Rising, Lost Planet). Later when Microsoft noted Japan's irrelevance, they secured the map pack exclusivity for CoD, exclusive content for Tomb Raider, exclusive modes for Resident Evil (technically ORC), etc.

The 360's launch was hampered by the assumption that the PS3 would be amazing and uncertainty over the Wii. The infallibility of Sony's console was quickly dispelled this generation and there was that developer poll that indicated that Microsoft would be the likely winner of next gen.

So next gen, XBOX8 will still benefit from Microsoft's exceptional ability to secure some degree of exclusivity as they see fit and isn't going to be facing an imaginary sleeping giant like the 360 did.

The 'imaginary sleeping giant' turned into a laughing stock about 6 months after 360 launched. Things soured for Sony long before MS stopped 'trying'.

As you note, MS tried really really hard in the early years to get a leg up over PS3. The Japanese exclusivities they pursued aggressively bought them nothing in the territory despite those pushes continuing long after things soured for PS3.

Don't get me wrong, I think MS will again try to make things as uncomfortable as possible for Sony, if they have the same underdog hunger they did at the start of this gen. But I expect Sony to make less of an effort to make things as uncomfortable as possible for themselves in addition...it would be foolish for MS to underestimate Sony IMO.
 
Microsoft will. Sony can't afford to outspend Microsoft so Microsoft will be able to secure early 3rd support and undercut Sony at the start of the generation. That momentum will define much of the next gen barring lighting striking twice for Nintentdo.
Don't think so.

No third party is doing anything to limit their potential base next-gen, especially with costs rising.

The only way I see MS getting a major third party is by going down the Gears route again. And they haven't shown that they are willing to do that for more than one or two titles.
 
Sony's problem?
Well first was this
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which made some
sad-gamers.jpg

And they became
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And they now mainly care about
npd-group-logo.jpg

because of this
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and they don't give shit if Sony software is brilliant, because Sony is
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but all seriousness they had a bad start, but I think they've done brilliant considering....thou seeing these article are people still expecting Sony to dominate now?
 
The 'imaginary sleeping giant' turned into a laughing stock about 6 months after 360 launched. Things soured for Sony long before MS stopped 'trying'.

As you note, MS tried really really hard in the early years to get a leg up over PS3. The Japanese exclusivities they pursued aggressively bought them nothing in the territory despite those pushes continuing long after things soured for PS3.

Don't get me wrong, I think MS will again try to make things as uncomfortable as possible for Sony, if they have the same underdog hunger they did at the start of this gen. But I expect Sony to make less of an effort to make things as uncomfortable as possible for themselves in addition...it would be foolish for MS to underestimate Sony IMO.

I also think the same way MS did really good this gen but Sony really help them by messing up big time 600 , year later etc etc .
This is not going to happen next gen and MS would be foolish underestimate Sony.
 
You're talking about two very different things here. You quoted my original post about actual exclusive games and said that MS will do that next gen, but now you're suddenly talking about DLC or extra missions. The amount of money that anyone would need to secure the major exclusive titles in the industry now would be through the roof. Devs costs are so high now that devs can't take the risk of only launching on one console when there are others than can run their games. They need to make as much money as possible right out the gate.

I'm not taking issue with the the caliber of exclusives, but the conclusion that Microsoft won't dominate next gen.
 
I'm not taking issue with the premise regarding the caliber of exclusives, but conclusion that Microsoft won't dominate next gen.

There is no way to say who is going to dominate next gen every maker has advantages and disadvantages .
Even in this gen MS did not have some huge lead over Sony so i don't see why you think Publishers would think so going into next gen .
 
The 'imaginary sleeping giant' turned into a laughing stock about 6 months after 360 launched. Things soured for Sony long before MS stopped 'trying'.

As you note, MS tried really really hard in the early years to get a leg up over PS3. The Japanese exclusivities they pursued aggressively bought them nothing in the territory despite those pushes continuing long after things soured for PS3.

Don't get me wrong, I think MS will again try to make things as uncomfortable as possible for Sony, if they have the same underdog hunger they did at the start of this gen. But I expect Sony to make less of an effort to make things as uncomfortable as possible for themselves in addition...it would be foolish for MS to underestimate Sony IMO.
I think Sony needs to want it, have that revenge in their eye like they did for Nintendo when they entered the console market, because Sony as a company can make things uncomfortable as you put it, they did with the original Playstation & PS2, god knows what happened this gen, they just let everyone walk over them, Sony 2006 was not the same company from 1994, Ohga would not have approved on how things was handled.
Even Idei would be ashamed.
 
Sony's mistake is clearly the Vita. There are so much wrong done on that poor system
- proprietary memory card
- no real answer for psp BC
- ps3-Vita cross play never become fruition since it require buying 2 copies.
- poor 3rd party support
I think the way Sony markets the Vita as portable PS3 is not working at all. It should be clear by now that majority don't care about console experience on the go. It's too niche to make it profitable. Instead, Sony can try turning the Vita into a portable MMO system. It's already happening in Japan with the like of Ragnarock Odyssey (and some other games.. I don't remember the name) and up coming PO2. Online gaming market is still healthy and if Sony can crack that market with its handheld then it is be their big success.
 
I think Sony needs to want it, have that revenge in their eye like they did for Nintendo when they entered the console market, because Sony as a company can make things uncomfortable as you put it, they did with the original Playstation & PS2, god knows what happened this gen, they just let everyone walk over them, Sony 2006 was not the same company from 1994.

You're completely right, and I'd like to add they underestimated both Microsoft and Nintendo.

Sony looked at what happened with the original Xbox and gamecube and assumed a powerful console infrastructure and the new blu-ray format would be enough to make any previous/new game consumer jump on board with the PS3. But we all saw what happened.

The PS3 isn't doing terrible either, it's just Sony didn't do enough early on to keep being number one.
 
This thread has spun into chaos and poop.

We shouldn't be comparing 1st party game sales, we should be comparing 3rd party sales vs. 1st party sales. Halo and Uncharted respectability sell decently, but finding out much 3rd party software performs on PS3 would be the better indicator of how well 1st party games are selling for the console.

And this attitude of "Ugh, stupid american Xbox 360 owners" is so fucking childish, there's a lot more wrong with this country besides videogame preference. No one has out right said the bolded, but it's not hard to sense that weird attitude.

This in spades. It's like reading an N4G post. Frankly, I don't care what Europeans like in games anymore then they do about us here in the states. The difference is, we don't bitch about it.
 
I'm not taking issue with the the caliber of exclusives, but conclusion that Microsoft won't dominate next gen.

How are they going to do that without locking down the major third party titles as exclusives? Games are still going to be what sells these consoles even if they're able to bring in some people through other ways. The PSone dominated because Sony basically made the N64 irrelevant outside of Nitnendo software. That's where the whole "You only buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games" meme started. Sony locked down nearly every major third party title and then did the same thing last generation. The PS2 has sold 154m while the GC and Xbox combined sold 45m.

I just don't see how anyone can dominate the console industry again. Third party software is almost completely multiplatform now and the development prices are too high for most devs to even risk timed exclusivity. I expect next gen to be a lot like this gen. There will obviously be a "winner" but everyone should end up doing well and no one will get blown out like we saw with the PSone and PS2.
 
Sony's mistake is clearly the Vita. There are so much wrong done on that poor system
- proprietary memory card
- no real answer for psp BC
- ps3-Vita cross play never become fruition since it require buying 2 copies.
- poor 3rd party support
I think the way Sony markets the Vita as portable PS3 is not working at all. It should be clear by now that majority don't care about console experience on the go. It's too niche to make it profitable. Instead, Sony can try turning the Vita into a portable MMO system. It's already happening in Japan with the like of Ragnarock Odyssey (and some other games.. I don't remember the name) and up coming PO2. Online gaming market is still healthy and if Sony can crack that market with its handheld then it is be their big success.
Did you sleep through the entirety of Gamescom?
 
The 'imaginary sleeping giant' turned into a laughing stock about 6 months after 360 launched. Things soured for Sony long before MS stopped 'trying'.

As you note, MS tried really really hard in the early years to get a leg up over PS3. The Japanese exclusivities they pursued aggressively bought them nothing in the territory despite those pushes continuing long after things soured for PS3.

Don't get me wrong, I think MS will again try to make things as uncomfortable as possible for Sony, if they have the same underdog hunger they did at the start of this gen. But I expect Sony to make less of an effort to make things as uncomfortable as possible for themselves in addition...it would be foolish for MS to underestimate Sony IMO.

Japan was a powerhouse previous geneartions. MS had to play it safe and pay for support.

Going into next gen, they won't have to front those costs. Japan is now catering more than even to Western gamers and with that, they simply cannot ignore MS' platform.

Next gen, I expect MS to focus heavily on Europe where they can gain traction with the public (unlike Japan). US is more or less taken care of. This is all assuming they don't put out their own version of a Vita and actually have a desirable product.
 
Also a lot of companies don't have the money (and fans) to sustain themselves during trying times.

Sony is trying to turn things around by doing things to change their outlook.

Nintendo went minimal to maximize profits, for instance, no dvd playback to avoid paying licences.

Microsoft. Bled money with the original xbox and had faulty power cords. What did they do? Rebooted, shut down the xbox completely and released the 360. NO hdmi, rushed, etc. RROD? billion dollar warranty. Sony has all the IP's? 50 million to make the game multiplatform. Motion gaming? we have nothing, lets just buy a company and throw a new name on it. remove some of its components too to make it cheaper.


Imaging if Sega had MS like money during its Dreamcast days, maybe they too could have fought off sony.
 
So why aren't consumers buying Vita for Uncharted and Wipeout?

I can't speak for anyone else, but those were the first two games I got at launch. They were contributing factors to my decision to purchase the system immediately at launch instead of waiting longer.

"Stop liking a company because you're a fan of their products, they are a business you shouldn't defend them!!"

I'm not on anyone's side here but the "stop defending Sony!" posts are pretty ridiculous, fan(boy)s are fan(boy)s, even they have the right to voice their opinion :p. But hey, ignore me and go on with the discussion, this is going to end well.

Proceed.

You've got a good point. Lately, I've seen some rabid fanaticism on this forum from all sides. However, I'm particularly annoyed by drive-by trolls who don't like a particular game or system, yet feel the urge to storm into threads about that game/system and label anyone who does like that product as some kind of crazed sycophant.

I love having discussions with open-minded people who don't equate product enjoyment with total brand loyalty, who want to discuss the positive and the negative aspects in the interest of hoping for better products in the future. It's a shame that we couldn't get that here. The article started off pointing out a very good editorial by Gamesindustry, but the potential for discussion quickly degenerated.

I wish Sony was doing better. time and time again, they show that they have some truly incredible developers at their side. Many of the games they just announced look quite clever and creative The Last of Us looks like another hit. They have supported more 'artsy' games like Journey and Flower. Are they perfect? No. But they really offer up a lot more quality titles than Microsoft does (IMO).

Yes, I enjoy Sony's first-party output as well. Between the old standby IPs like Gran Turismo and God of War, new ones like Uncharted and LittleBigPlanet, and their tendency to foster some really creative downloadable games, I feel their first-party games are better than ever.

It's a shame that much of the world might not see it that way. Most Sony first-party games haven't sold in the same numbers they pulled in on PS1 and PS2. I (personally) don't feel that's an indication of a lack of quality, but rather their inability to communicate the message to large numbers of people. If the games have not sold as well, even though the critical reception is there, then there might be need to reassess their marketing and advertising.

In particular, the Vita marketing (here in the US) has been abysmal. The launch commercials weren't that good to begin with. Sony was blitzing some TV shows with the same commercial repeatedly, instead of putting out more varied ads that better showed the range of games available. In the last few months, though TV ads for the Vita have completely disappeared. I sincerely hope that they're holding back now because they want to save their energy for a renewed focus throughout the fall season.

Even the PS3 games that came out this year were released with little fanfare. I don't even recall seeing any commercials for Twisted Metal or Starhawk--they were just tossed on the shelves and that was it. Same could be said for virtually every Vita game. Sony used to have a knack for making every game they released seem like an event, but that seems to be a lost art with them.

As the article pointed out, price drops on the PS3 and Vita would also help. However, I do believe that the marketing and advertising support has to be there as well. When the PS3 dropped to $299 three years ago, they had an excellent commercial that got the point across, and boosted sales as a result. I'd love to see them give similar treatment to both the PS3 and Vita later this year. Put spotlight ads out for the systems, but also have a few game-specific ads focusing on the big first-party titles.
 
This thread really made me take a step back and ask why we have 2 consoles?

I'm excluding Nintendo because they always do their own thing.

But you look at Xbox & PS3 and they are pretty much 1:1 in feature parity (I said "pretty much"...Dont get distracted...)

So it's like...First party titles aside, what is the point? Obviously for Sony & MS it's control. But what's the point for gamers? Sure, competition is good. Especially in pricing. But as far as games, we generally get the same exact games on both platforms. And that's not necessarily a good thing because the developers need to split their resources. Arguably developers could be making at least 1.5 - 2x as many games if all they had to focus on was one console.

I'm not saying anything new, we all subconsciously (at least) know these things. But next-gen, these platform holders really need to own up to something new. If it's another feature parity race between Xbox & Sony, it's going to blow up in someone's face. And let's be honest, Sony has the most to lose.
 
Sony made four big mistakes:

1) launching at 599
2) weak software in PS3's first year
3) let Microsoft get a head start
4) PSN was garbage at first

None of this will happen again next generation. PSN has steadily been improving to the point where I think some people are actually leaving Live in favor of it. They will not launch at 599 again. Developers like Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, and Media Molecule will be there from the very start. They'll launch with or maybe even before Microsoft.
 

Yeah that's kind of how I feel. All of my favorite games this gen have been multiplatform-I own a PS3 slim but I would prefer to have a 360 (I'll probably break down and pick one up eventually) simply because all of my friends have them. MS recognized the value of forcing each player to be part of a community, whereas Sony decided to make Home, a place where only some people go-the rest of us turn on our machines and just kind of play in a vacuum. With every aspect of life becoming social, this type of experience is losing its appeal.

PSN has steadily been improving to the point where I think some people are actually leaving Live in favor of it.


Wait...what???
 
How are they going to do that without locking down the major third party titles as exclusives? Games are still going to be what sells these consoles even if they're able to bring in some people through other ways. The PSone dominated because Sony basically made the N64 irrelevant outside of Nitnendo software. That's where the whole "You only buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games" meme started. Sony locked down nearly every major third party title and then did the same thing last generation. The PS2 has sold 154m while the GC and Xbox combined sold 45m.

I just don't see how anyone can dominate the console industry again. Third party software is almost completely multiplatform now and the development prices are too high for most devs to even risk timed exclusivity. I expect next gen to be a lot like this gen. There will obviously be a "winner" but everyone should end up doing well and no one will get blown out like we saw with the PSone and PS2.
May I just point out that this gen is nothing new, Nintendo & Sega shared the market too, things change
for all we know Nintendo will flop, Xbox3 will dominate & PS4 will be a failure, thou I truly hope not, Sony has managed to keep me happy enough to buy PS4.
 
Sony made four big mistakes:

1) launching at 599
2) weak software in PS3's first year
3) let Microsoft get a head start
4) PSN was garbage at first

None of this will happen again next generation. PSN has steadily been improving to the point where I think some people are actually leaving Live in favor of it. They will not launch at 599 again. Developers like Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, and Media Molecule will be there from the very start. They'll launch with or maybe even before Microsoft.

Well i don't see them launching before MS maybe later but it won't be 1 year later for NA and a year and half later for EU.
They would have to be crazy to do that again .
 
How are they going to do that without locking down the major third party titles as exclusives? Games are still going to be what sells these consoles even if they're able to bring in some people through other ways. The PSone dominated because Sony basically made the N64 irrelevant outside of Nitnendo software. That's where the whole "You only buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games" meme started. Sony locked down nearly every major third party title and then did the same thing last generation. The PS2 has sold 154m while the GC and Xbox combined sold 45m.

I just don't see how anyone can dominate the console industry again. Third party software is almost completely multiplatform now and the development prices are too high for most devs to even risk timed exclusivity. I expect next gen to be a lot like this gen. There will obviously be a "winner" but everyone should end up doing well and no one will get blown out like we saw with the PSone and PS2.

You are only looking for shipments numbers. Isn't Sony in some financial problems? I think most of this is because they lost US and UK. The question is if they will be able to make profit without dominating those markets.
 
controller and OS.

The PS3 controller is absolute dogshit and the triggers are practically unusable for games in which they are meant to be used the most: shooting and racing games. You know this is an issue when shooters on PS3 start using the R1 as the default shoot button.

Hasn't the playstation shooters always used R1 for shooting? I actually only use the triggers/r2 on the 360 controller because I have to. I find the analog stick placement to be horrible and ill placed. it cramps my left thumb after long play time and is awkward for games requiring simultaneous movement, while an old game I don't even want to think about playing indigo prophecy on the xbox/360 with their controller.

The ps3 contoller is small though and the L2/R2 buttons are shit. But size is really the only issue.


Logitech got it right with the ps2 but dropped the ball with the ps3 version.
http://youtu.be/gKkGWYg7G9A


OS wise I just wish the xmb was faster and could do more while in game.

I like some xbox live features but thats more of a server thing and well, ms is a company that makes servers. Drop in and drop out and game invites is something that should be standard on all games/platforms, ms got that right.
 
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