460°

Sony Jim Ryan interview – ‘Giving away stuff on day one… it’s kind of odd’

GameCentral talks with Sony’s European boss about having enough PS4s to go around, countering Microsoft’s FIFA 14 deal, and The Last Guardian.

theWB273928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

Sony supporters boast about getting so much free stuff...F2P games...PS+ games...PS3 online multiplayer
(As Godchild1020 stated below)
14 days of plus for free with every new PS4 purchase.

Microsoft gives away Fifa for free....and it's odd.

If you are new to how each camp works..that's it in a nutshell.

@sinncross
It doesn't change anything. Driveclub is a day one F2P game...you can buy the rest if you want. But they are offering free games, day one. It isn't odd...it's a stupid way to look at something when you too are doing the same thing.

FlameHawk3928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

Lol do you think everyone is going to get Fifa for free? Only Europe is getting it and it is a limited amount.
You talk about fanboys when you are a Xbox Fanboy? Lol.
And the ONLY reason they are giving Fifa away is they are trying to win over all the people who pre-ordered a PS4 but it isn't going to work because PS4+Fifa 14 is still cheaper.
And don't be mad we get free games.
$60 Xbox Live Gold vs $50 PS+, plus DriveClub, Outlast, Don't Starve, Resogun, Secret Ponchos. Lol Xbox Live is a joke compared to PS+.

And you are complaining about 14 days of plus? I don't see Microsoft giving 14 days of Live.

HammadTheBeast3928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

Europe Pre-orders only.

It's not exactly FREE, so to say, it's $440 for the console, and $60 for the game.

:-)

ErcsYou3928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

Most of Sonys "Free" Stuff is either Sony owned or all ready free on the PC. Also anything received free from PS+ is revoked after the 14 day free trial.( unless you pay for PS+) I think what he was saying is that its odd that MS Paid for Fifa to give it away for free. Deep down we all know why there giving that one away free, to up the preorder count.

sinncross3928d ago

@theWB27

You know what the difference is between FIFA14 w/ X1 and DC with PS+?

Sony owns and developed DriveClub, MS had nothing to do with the development of Fifa.

MS is paying more money to sell launch hardware, whereas Sony are not. Hence why Jim Ryan thinks it is odd: he does not believe that including Fifa14 is going to show a noticeable increase in X1's sold at launch because people are going to buy the new hardware with or without the added game , in his opinion.

So it is not the same thing at all.

theWB273928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

@FlameHawk
Where did I say, or insinuate, everyone received a free copy? No where..I know it's limited to certain amount of preorders.

The only reason...the only reason...so what. People are receiving a free copy...who cares about the reason.

"Don't be mad we get free games." Who gives a crap, I have a PS3... had a PS3 this entire gen...along with my 360 and plan on doing the same thing next gen. A PS4 right next to my X1.

Lol at you people and your nananana look what I have statements.

My PSN and gamertags are on my profile. I don't miss out just because I support Xbox.

@sinncross
Oh...so it's the difference on where it comes from. Ok...holy geez free is free is free.

trafalger3928d ago

people keep suggesting fifa was a response to low pre-orders. how would anyone know this? the far more likely scenario is m$ is trying harder to get europe to buy into the xbox. the uk was one of the few areas where they had great success in. these types of deals are months in the planning. it's not like they see pre-orders are low and call up ea the following week and say "hey, let's make a deal" and the following day they announce fifa is free. we knew well in advance ea and m$ were partnering together. way before pre-orders were even being accepted at retailers.

it's the same reason why the ps4 is shipping in the u.s, and canada first and not japan. it's to have a better competitive presence in a market they want to do better in.

i just hope sony doesn't get too cocky again if the ps4 does really well like they did when the ps2 was such a big success. it looks like m$ is starting to see how arrogant they were becoming with the xbone early on.

PSjesus3928d ago

PSN+ is a service for 50$ not free and instant game collection are equal renting as you are paying yearly for plus and games aren't yours that's the difference
Sony know what they are talking about.
F2P games are developer opinion and strategy not Sony's one

Minato-Namikaze3928d ago

Drive club isnt a F2P game, lol

4Sh0w3928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

Who cares for those who want FIFA they don't care why, they're just happy its free.

malokevi3928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

@flamehawk

Attempting to lure people who preordered ps4? that's ridiculous. If anything, they're trying to capture the droves of prospective Christmas & boxing week buyers.

Spin, spin, spin...

bjmartynhak3928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

Well,

PS+ is a service you pay. Considering I only end up getting the games that I wouldn't buy anyway, it seems to be profitable for them.

F2P games are already F2P on PC, Sony is just bringing them to PS4.

They give lots of days of PS+ vouchers for free, including in some 1st party games pre-orders. I became a subscriber because one of these. Hard to go back. They are providing a small taste of their own service.

Driveclub is a "generous-demo", just as Killer Instinct

BUT deciding on giving a full 3rd-party new game in the last weeks before release sounded like a desperate measure.

Ausbo3928d ago

@flamehawk.

If you pay $60 for xbox live you are freakin retarded. ive never seen it more than $45 on amazon. In fact, ive always seen psn more expensive online.

Oh and those "free games" from psn aren't even yours. Cause they go away if you stop paying for psn.

And just to let you know, if youve tried both xbox live and psn, (like me) than you would realize the overall better service is xbox live.

patsrule3163928d ago

@ausbo: I just bought a year of XBLG for $30 last week. Its for my renewal in January, so I'll have live for all of 2014. Probably my last year for now. I'll keep my 360 active alongside a PS4 next gen.

@ theWB27: I don't think the headline is taking in the context of the statement when it says 'giving away stuff...its kind of odd'. He was saying in Sony's position for the PS4 release, it would be odd to give away a game, since they have already filled up their day one pre-order list. He did say that if you felt you needed to entice consumers, it was a reasonable thing to pursue. I think the headline was more sensational than what he was actually trying to say.

ForgottenProphecy3928d ago

Only day one European consumers get Fifa. This is called an incentive to get the console day one. F2P games are free for life, so that's an incentive to get the console in general. There is a huge difference between the two. The interviewee actually pointed out that Microsoft probably did this to boost pre-orders in Europe because they weren't doing so well.

The_Con-Sept3928d ago

I know there are soccer lovers out there... But I thought that soccor was more of a Mexican thing.... Isn't it?

*GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAA - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLL!

5eriously3928d ago

@WB27. Still waiting for all PS3 articles just to troll. The handout of Fifa14 for free is a consolation for not delivering by M$. These free stuff is just free from Sony to support the Sony supporters, not to try and sell the PS4. That happens naturally all by itself. Sony does not have to backtrack anything to get sales. Sony did not have to fire Cerny and retire off their CEO.

Now think with your brains not with those nuts.

theWB273928d ago

@5eriously
I'm sorry, but where is the father of the Playstation Ken Kutaragi?

Sony CEO Howard Stringer replaced by Kaz Hirai last year.

Sony mobile pres Bert Nordberg replaced by Kunimasa ‘Kuni’ Suzuki around the same time.

Sony's been reshuffling more than a Vegas card dealer...

3-4-53928d ago

@WB27 - Sony isn't giving those away for free day one, those are free ALWAYS.

There is a difference.

Also, what they are giving away, is already being given for free, prior to release on multiple platforms.

5eriously3927d ago

Those were not forced moves due to stupid decisions like in this case with M$. Effectivle both were "fired" for the eXBone debacle and pre-order drought. Big diffrence. Now stop trolling with cr@p and BS.

shinrock3927d ago Show
+ Show (18) more repliesLast reply 3927d ago
sinncross3928d ago

I feel like ppl are not bothering to actually read what he said in the interview.

He is asked about whether Sony will try a game deal for launch like MS did with FIFA14. His reply is

`Giving away stuff on day one of a new platform launch, in my mind it’s kind of odd.`

not because free stuff is bad, but because he believes that the launch hardware will sell well with or without the added game.

Basically, he does not see the point in paying more money for a deal that might not necessarily see an increase in hardware sold at *launch*.

3928d ago
AznGaara3928d ago

Yeah it's a comment from the business point of view. Think about it, it's FIFA and Europe, how much money did MS have to throw at EA for that to happen? Honestly why spend money on that when you can use that money to get some indie games... Oh wait, we hate indie games. Lol

humbleopinion3928d ago

It was never odd outside the realm of Sony...

After all, the NES was famous for including Super Mario - one of its best games - with every console. Nintendo continued with that tradition up until the WiiU today. Similarly the Atari had pac-man game included, but I'm not sure if it was there from day one. Sega followed suit and even with the Dreamcast I had Sonic Adventures bundled with the console.
Actually, even the X360 also came with Hexic HD bundled with every console with a hard drive.

Majin-vegeta3928d ago

Good interview and it's always the Sony people with a since humor.

AznGaara3928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

Yeah I really liked the interview. Seemed pretty chill. But still... I'm telling you all... Last Gaurdian TGS. Confirmed launch title. They need that last "surprise" lol ... Only in my dreams though. :/

Jeff2573928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

I want Kingdom Hearts 2 HD for PS3 announced at TGS. That would go nicely with KH 1.5 coming out this fall. Also Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep for Vita or an HD version of that as well. Also maybe give us a better idea of when KH 3 will be coming out.

Godchild10203928d ago (Edited 3928d ago )

Aren't they giving away 14 days of plus with every PS4 purchase which also allows those people to play DriveClub and Resogun for free, day one?

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, we all like free stuff or just better deals with our purchases.

badkolo3928d ago

yeah ,how this is bad is beyond me, i remeber the days were consoles came with a game, so when you got home you had something to actually play, times have changed so you can play free demos and such but a free game is a free game

wtopez3928d ago

It's really not odd at all.

Show all comments (83)
150°

10 Biggest Xbox Mistakes of All Time (So Far)

The Xbox brand has done a lot of good over the years, but their various blunders are pretty wild to look back on in their magnitude.

Read Full Story >>
culturedvultures.com
piroh6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

Ironically number 9 can save them at this point (releasing games on multiple platforms)

ChasterMies4d ago

By “save them” you mean make more profit for Microsoft. Xbox will still be a dying hardware platform.

OtterX5d ago

You could add the naming scheme for the consoles, it just confuses customers. I know they wanted to avoid traditional numbering bc it would always be lower than their competitor, but this whole 360 then One then Series thing is confusing af. Imagine a Soccer Mom trying to figure this stuff out. I still mistakenly call the Series X the One from time to time on accident.

RNTody5d ago

Don't forget about the Xbox One, Xbox One X and Xbox Series X! Good luck to Soccer moms around the world.

S2Killinit4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

They did that on purpose to confuse and direct attention away from the generational numbering.

MS doesn’t like reminding people that they joined the industry after others had already been involved in gaming.

For instance, they called the xbox “360” to combat PlayStation “3” because they wanted to seem like “more” than “3”, so instead of xbox 2, they opted for xbox 360. Also this had the additional benefit of selling consoles to uninformed parents who might purchase a “360” instead of a “3” by mistake, or because they thought 360 was more than 3. Kind of a disingenuous move.

They have been continuing with their confusing naming patterns for pretty much the same reasons. Frankly, it fits with who and what they are as a brand.

FinalFantasyFanatic4d ago

I can understand their reasoning, but whoever came up with that naming scheme should be fired, bad naming schemes have killed consoles (I'm pretty sure it was the major reason for the downfall of the WiiU). They should have had unqiue names like Nintendo and Sega have had for their consoles, far less confusing for the consumer.

rob-GP23h ago

@FinalFantasyFanatic "They should have had unqiue names like Nintendo..."

lol, you mean:

NES, SNES
GameBoy, GameBoy Advanced, GameBoy Colour, GameBoy SP
DS, DSi, DSXL
3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL
Wii, Wii U
Switch, Switch OLED

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 23h ago
Cacabunga5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

Phil Spencer is the worst that has happened to Xbox.
They built a respectable brand up to Xbox one. Then this guy took over and things became a joke

Reaper22_5d ago

He still has his job. Something you can't say about Jim Ryan.

Cacabunga5d ago

Both bad execs. One is on job and one thankfully retired.

FinalFantasyFanatic4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

I didn't like either person, both people damaged their respective brands and produced worse outcomes, but Phil did save the Xbox brand from being retired by Microsoft. Although in hindsight, he should have just let it die, rather than languish in limbo like it is now.

Rainbowcookie3d ago

Yeah but the one that was "bad" didn't even affect sales.

bunt-custardly4d ago

Phil Spencer was also on the team back when 360 was around, alongside Shane Kim, Peter Moore etc. I think the damage that did the most harm was the Don Mattrick "Always Online" console (ahead of its time basically). They handed Sony and Nintendo a free-pass when that was revealed. It went downhill from there. Then the corporate machine went into full swing to try and recover. They have to a degree as a games company for the masses, and less so for the core gamer. Outside USA, the Xbox brand does not sell as well as Japanese based consoles (citation needed).

Cacabunga4d ago

Want a decision maker. The always online and TV plans was a disaster yes, but they caught up by announcing 1st party games that gamers actually kept the hype going.. until this moron took over and introduced the PC day one release.. e all know where that ended..

S2Killinit4d ago

I dont think they were ever a respectable brand, not since the beginning, when their goal was never to be involved and share in the gaming space. I think the OG xbox was an exception because MS as a brand was still getting its foot in and so the people behind that were people of the gaming industry.

FinalFantasyFanatic4d ago

The 360 was the brand in its prime though, everything went downhill towards the end of that generation. Its staple games like Halo, Forza and Gears are what kept the console relevant and afloat for so long.

MaximusPrime_5d ago

Really good video.

I remember the days with RRoD was big news on here, N4G.

Microsoft had it turbulence number of years.

Looking at the success of Sea of Thieves despite being 6 years old, time to release Halo, Forza horizon 4 & 5 on PS5. It'll help their revenue

shinoff21835d ago (Edited 5d ago )

2 of the 4 games they did already sold really well. So it's definitely going down. Idk about halo or forza but I feel those studios they've bought in the last 5 years, their coming

ChasterMies4d ago

I found this video painful to watch. Can someone list them out?

Top 10 for me from are:
1. 2013 reveal presentation
2. Bundling Kinect 2 with Xbox One
3. RRoD or why rushing to market with hardware is always a bad idea.
4. Buying studios only to close them.
5. Ads on the Home Screen
6. Letting Halo die.
7. Letting Geard of War die.
8. Every console name
9. Charging for Xbox Live on Xbox 360 when Sony let PS3 players play online for free.
10. Cancelling release of OG Xbox games after the Xbox 360 launched.

Show all comments (31)
150°

Microsoft to Add Copilot AI to Video Games

Microsoft recently revealed its plans to incorporate Copilot directly into video games, with Minecraft being the first showcased example.

Read Full Story >>
xpgained.co.uk
Fishy Fingers9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

F*** AI

"Hey Copilot, what's a good meme to prove I dislike AI".... https://giphy.com/clips/sou...

Einhander19729d ago

Two trillion dollar company that just can't wait to put as many people possible out of work as fast as possible.

It feels like every single thing they do is making gaming worse and destroying the industry.

9d ago
9d ago
9d ago
darthv728d ago

....you know it takes people to program the AI.... right? It isnt like it is sentient. We haven't reach skynet level of situation or anywhere close to the matrix just yet.

That's next Thursday.

Einhander19728d ago (Edited 8d ago )

It takes a people to program the AI then that AI is used for who knows how many games eliminating countless jobs which only grows as AI is used for more and more game creation functions.

What you're saying is so ridiculously short sighted and truly larking any kind of understanding and foresight.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 8d ago
CaptainFaisal9d ago

Why all the hate? Im actually excited about this! Always wanted this kind of immersion, and an AI companion with me all the time helping me out knowing the status of my skills/inventory/progress and giving me tips on the best approach or how to craft something specific is game changing for the industry.

Hate all you want about AI, but this is just the start and I can see the potential already. You wont be complaining in the next 5-10 years about this, but rather complain if a game hasn’t implemented it.

MrDead9d ago

Yes we can't wait for the work of others to be used without the need to pay them so that MS can profit even more from the people they fire.

I_am_Batman9d ago (Edited 9d ago )

There is no chance I'd ever use something like this, especially if it's not part of the core game design, but a layer on top of it. It's way too much handholding. Many games already feel like busy work, because they don't let the player figure things out on their own. Having a real-time interactive guide defeats the purpose of playing the game in the first place in my opinion.

If this were to become the standard like you predict, we'll see more and more video games get away with bad design, because people will just be used to ask for help from the AI companion anyway.

Number1TailzFan9d ago

Well Nintendo don't need this with some of their games these days, with invincible characters, items, easy bosses etc.. they do the hand holding built in

helicoptergirl9d ago

Takes "hand holding" in games to a whole new level.

BlackDoomAx7d ago

Because human nature xD Almost every new technology had these kind of comments.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 7d ago
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70°

Activision team is opening a new game studio in Poland 'Elsewhere Entertainment' to build new AAA IP

Microsoft's Activision subsidiary announced today that it is opening a new game development studio to take advantage of the huge talent pool growing in Poland. It'll be the second Activision studio based in the region, joining Infinity Ward Krakow, although this studio is, in fact, not working on Call of Duty.

Read Full Story >>
windowscentral.com
Psychonaut8513d ago

They’re not working on Call of Duty? Give it time.