This is something I've been planning of writing for some time. It refers to the '10 year lifecycle of the PS3' based upon how long the PS2 has been selling retail, still with new games, this is not a PS3 is 'doomed', but this is a worth being concerned over if you have a PS3. It's also about games.
First and second party games have always been a mainstay of the Playstation family, PS3 is no different, sure it has taken a little longer to squeeze the franchises out but never the less, the PS3 now has its own stable of instantly recognisable games and icons.
My concern draws from the past. How long will the good times roll? Currently, we're not even halfway through the PS3s lifecycle, we're not even 5 years into it, we're only officially about 2 years, worldwide into this ten year lifecycle. Now my friends, I bring up the concern.
Most games on Playstation franchises are known to be trilogies, perhaps with a bonus game along the way, so far we've had two Resistance games on PS3, Two Motorstorms, we're almost up to Uncharted 2's release and the final installment in the Ratchet and Clank Future trilogy is almost upon us.
The most concerning details about this is the fact that Naughty Dog and Insomniac are nearly at the supposed end if the franchises are usually intended to be trilogies and these are really Sony's powerhouse industry developers.
Take this; in 1999 the last Naughty Dog developed Crash Bandicoot game was released, 'Crash Team Racing', the official ND platform trilogy ended with one game before being 'Warped' a year after CTR, Insomniac released the final game in the original Spyro trilogy 'Spyro: Year of the Dragon' a year after. Immediatly afterwards the release of CTR, Naughty Dog moved onto developing 'Jak and Daxter' for the PS2, in 2001, the characters Jak and the unfortunate devolved loud mouthed ottsel Daxter was unleashed to the world. Following Jak and Daxter a year later came Insomniac's new franchise 'Ratchet and Clank' followed a year after Naughty Dog released 'Jak 2' then releasing sequels very closely.
Both game action/platform series on the PS2 by Naughty Dog and Insomniac ended in 2005 with 'JakX' and 'Ratchet: Deadlocked/Gladiator'. To suffice, the PS2s library lessened without the excitement of a new platform game every couple of years with only Santa Monica filling the void with 'God of War' and the considered swansong of the PS2, 'God of War II'. Naughty Dog and Insomniac then moved onto the PS3, with Insomniac working on a radically different game codenamed 'I-8' whilst Naughty Dog set upon creating 'Project Big', which both came to be known as 'Resistance' and 'Uncharted' in the time of development of these titles, both developers previous franchises got spin-offs on the PSP by offshoot developer teams with 'Daxter' and 'R&C:Size Matters'.
'Resistance: Fall of man' was released in 2006, the next year Insomniac continued the Ratchet and Clank franchise in 2007 with 'Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction' (a play on words of the successful Gears of War franchise on the 360) 'Uncharted; Drakes Fortune' also was released shortly afterwards a year after a downloadable title of Ratchet and Clank 'Quest for Booty' was released in 2008, and later on, Insomniac also released 'Resistance 2' in the same year.
Now in 2009, this is where the concern stems from, so far in the small lifecycle of the PS3, we have seen, two Motorstorms, two Resistance games, the end of the MGS Solid Snake saga, Killzone's sequel, we're almost up to the second Uncharted game (previously looking at Jak 2 and Jak 3, ND's engine hardly changed, case is, this may happen with Uncharted 3) and we're almost at the end of the 'Future trilogy of Ratchet and Clank, which is sounding as if it could be the last Ratchet and Clank, perhaps, ever. Finally, Kratos is about to leave us concluding with chaos.
My point is, judging from a brief look in the past, Perhaps after a particular bonus game in the Uncharted franchise and the final Resistance 3 which should arrive late 2010, that's two of the biggest PS3 franchises over and possibly the end of Ratchet and Clank as a whole. All I can hope for is that both Naughty Dog and Insomniac remain on PS3 for another good 3 years and pump out a new franchise each instead of developing for about 2 years on the next Playstation hardware otherwise the future of PS3 franchises and exclusive games is going to be dark other than future Infamous sequels and hopefully a new Santa Monica franchise.
Anyway, this is my big concern and I hope the rest of you can obviously see all this concern, fact is, it is my belief, unless something is announced NOW or damn soon, our beloved PS3 franchises are all going to end over 2010 and 2011 just as if it was 2006 all over again on the PS2.
Release date and expected launch time for when the Fallout 4 next-gen update will come out along with how to download.
This is a huge release being treated like a patch update but really it’s a monster in disguise…Bethesda being Bethesda, no actual release times or pre load available or file size info, sigh. All that said, clearing space on the SSD and putting the PS5 in rest mode while at work so I can play later, fully expecting snail download speeds as millions bang on their servers.
WTMG's Leo Faria: "A Difficult Game About Climbing is obviously frustrating, and I don’t exactly think it’s a fun pasttime, but it’s exponentially more enjoyable than the horrendous Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy. It’s actually beatable with enough trial and error. Its mechanics, whilst not exactly polished to the brim, work as intended, with no intentional input lag. It’s still clearly meant for Let’s Play youtubers to film themselves losing their minds over it, but it can still be a passable challenge if you’re up for the task."
WTMG's Oliver Shellding: "Overall, I think Stitch is an ultra quaint title that oozes warmth and welcome in gameplay and visual presentation, and is just such a decompression tool after a long day doing literally anything. It gives me such joy and relaxation to bring together the numbers and colors until I’ve made a bicycle or a nutcracker or whatever. I’ll do Christmas puzzles in April, it’s fine and the game doesn’t judge me. Unlock more and more pieces, don’t wait for power ups or villains because there are none, and just keep making yourself happy. If games are art, this one is a sweater my mom made for me, and I’m wearing it to keep out any and all chilly elements. But, just like mom, I’ll only pretend to listen."
But you're only considering 2 of Sony's "powerhouse" devs. Sure, 2 new IPs are already in their second iterations, but those aren't the only new IPs Sony have brought to the table this generation. We've just had InFamous this summer and it's a fantastic title that warrants a sequel(pretty much sets itself up for one as well) and with Sucker Punch at the helm, it can continue on for another couple of games perhaps. Heavenly Sword is a Sony owned IP and if they give it to the right devs, well, we just may have something to hold us over when Kratos's saga is over. Then there's Warhawk and their supposed sequel Starhawk. Given that Warhawk was and continues to be buttloads of fun, we can be sure that Icognito knows what they're doing. Motorstorm, being the racer that it is and a genre that isn't completely saturated can manage to pump out multiple titles. It doesn't need to only end at 3, such as Gran Turismo and God knows how many Need For Speed.
Given how much importance is placed on Online this generation, we also can't forget Sony Online Entertainment and their foray into MMOs such as Agency and D.C.Universe
Plus, franchises we havent seen but are sure to make a comeback this gen like Twisted Metal, Wild Arms, Legend of Dragoon are also heavily rumored to make an appearance.
Like I said, I understand your concerns as they are in fact valid, but even if the titles you specifically mentioned are completed within the next 2 years, that doesn't mean things will end. Sony does have an extensive list of 1st and 2nd party devs and partnerships that unique titles should continue to pump out alongside 3rd party games.
Sure these games are ending, but a new franchise will pop up.
I mean come on, how long can you extend a franchise before it gets boring? Can you imagine still playing Crash Bandicoot instead of Jak and Daxter or Uncharted
MGS series is justified in being a huge series because they released no more than 2 MGS games on the same platform. And between each game, there was a huge leap in gameplay.
Even developers get bored of doing the same all the time.
Bottom line, Every franchise comes to an end, and then, new franchises pop up.
sorry man, this is a pretty crap blog. What the hell do you thing Sony are going to do with their ridiculous number of in house devs?