90°

Stigma around PS Vita could be driving away devs

"When developers I know hear that I am working on a PS Vita project, because of those sales numbers, their typical response to me is 'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.'"

- SCEA veteran and Twitchy Thumbs Entertainment's Jim Buck (Snapshot, pictured) remarks on PS Vita's troubling hardware sales so far, and the stigma of creating games for Sony's handhelds.

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gamasutra.com
GalacticEmpire4221d ago (Edited 4221d ago )

Sonys 'slow and steady wins the race' tactic means they have reliable, near-future proof, quality hardware. However, with that comes cost and an initial cost to the consumer translates into slow but steady sales performance at launch.

Sales, of course, pick up after price cuts but the damage to the peception of the console has already been done, with many writing it off before it has a chance to shine.

If only the economy were in better shape you'd have more devs willing to take a chance on new hardware. I find some of the best new exclusive IPs are created as launch year games for new systems and, while they may not sell as well as they would if they came out later in the consoles life, they open the door for sequels and spin-offs that can take the franchise to new heights and even break into the mainstream.

miyamoto4221d ago

Sony PlayStation needs a reinvention like Apple.

Remember Apple kicked out Steve Jobs its co-father like Sony kicked out Ken Kutaragi the father of PlayStation from SCE?

Crazy Ken needs to come back to Sony continue his vision and reinvent his baby. :-)

andibandit4220d ago

@axelstone

Not just the playstation product, the entire Stony corporation needs a reinvention.

GribbleGrunger4221d ago

Stigma? Now I wonder where that so called stigma is coming from?

Ult iMate4220d ago

Do you mean it comes from tons of endless hysterical doom articles for the last six or seven years? Then I agree.

GribbleGrunger4220d ago

Yes. Sony aren't guiltless though; they have managed their marketing campaign badly... but in general, the only reason Sony has this so called 'stigma' is because of the media (particularly American media). A migrating dollar is an anathema to a country in economic decline.

Anon19744220d ago (Edited 4220d ago )

What always makes me shake my head is there are so many articles quick to trumpet the Vita's "doom" based on slow sales (and more than a few before the Vita even launched) but never do they tell you what they're benchmarking this against or what would constitute "good" sales.

Based on Sony and Nintendo's figures, since the Vita became available worldwide until the end of June it moved roughly 2 million units. During that period, the $80 cheaper 3DS moved about 2 1/2 million units. No one is complaining about 3DS sales for this period, so we must assume that the media is happy with 3DS sales, but we know that the Vita is in trouble, because they keep telling us so.

So my question to the games media, and those who think the PS Vita is in deep trouble, what number during that period would have been acceptable to you? I'm not saying the PS Vita couldn't be selling better, and obviously it's not going to sell the same as the much cheaper 3DS sold during that period, so would an extra 100k make the difference between "doom" and "it's going to be ok"? 200k? Where's the line between "doom" and "ok"? It's a legitimate question that I haven't seen anyone in the games media address while they're moaning about how poor Vita sales are.

Veneno4220d ago

"Oh,I'm sorry to hear that"? Wtf kinda response is that? Being a game dev isn't prison. This guy obviously made a conscious decision to develop a game for the playstation Vita platform. Whats there to be sorry about? Obviously this dev has alot of imbecile friends and talks to alot of imbecile people. If i had to choosemone platform to develop a game for in this time and moment, I would choose the Vita because its the most exciting. Its the most powerful mobile gaming device ever made.

Sanquine904220d ago

Maybe a price drop ASAP and so good first party games as soon as possible:D

( owner of 2 vita's)

vikingland14220d ago

I got a good deal on my Vita. I bought mine at GS and got madden 13 with it plus a 25 dollar gamestop card which I used to purchase Sony Vita ear buds and screen protector. Not quite a price drop but still a good deal.

Sanquine904220d ago

Disagrees , Disagrees everywhere

saoco4220d ago

well it doestn help that the yen is stronger than the dollar. many Jap businesses have this problem.

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140°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos17h ago(Edited 17h ago)

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers13h ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

just_looken23m ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g9h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing9h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H99h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola5h ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn6698h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle8h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg1d 1h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos1d 1h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion1d ago (Edited 1d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola20h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

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techraptor.net
ChasterMies21d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken21d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga21d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken21d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6421d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long20d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197220d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 20d ago
DivineHand12521d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91321d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer21d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91320d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit20d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 20d ago
Christopher21d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6920d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit20d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher21d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken21d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197220d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2321d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218321d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder21d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts21d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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