130°

Playstation Vita: Struggling to find an Identity

From the article:

"Whilst Nintendo's platforms 'soul' comes quite naturally. Sony have never really managed to establish their identity in the portable market. Thankfully developers like Capcom managed to do so for them with impressive, exclusive titles like Monster Hunter, but with Monster Hunter now on the 3DS this leaves Sony to shape the identity of their own console, unfortunately it doesn't seem like their own launch lineup is liable to cut it."

Titanz4339d ago

-On Topic-
Catering to a specific group, isn't always the answer. Why do you believe the Wii was so successful? It never stood a chance against the PS3 and Xbox 360, fighting over the traditional based gamer crowd. Instead, Nintendo reached out to a new demographic of gamers, all-the-while retaining to their usually consumer base.

Bottom line: The Vita needs more than its "core" premise it's built on. Sure, they have facebook and other social apps, but is it enough to steer people away from their smart phones, androids, and tablets? In the 3DS's case, price is certainly a factor why it's recovered, thus far, and its software (3DS) is the reason why people are committed to the purchase, of said device.

I actually put some thought into this post, and I would definitely respect your response in my inquiry of Sony's Vita device.

Snookies124339d ago

I definitely agree with most of what you said. Though you also have to take into account with the 3DS that more parents are going to buy their kids one because they equate Nintendo with Mario and other family friendly type games. The main problem with the Vita isn't the fact it's 250-300 dollars, it's the overpriced memory cards that kill it for people. I mean sure there are the 4-8 gig options, but that REALLY gets you nowhere. I found that out quick after buying an 8 GB card initially.

Either way, the Vita will gain traction once it gets some more great games announced. The games on it now aren't for everyone, and I respect that. Just give it some time, because it's a beast of a machine and Sony did a LOT right with it over its predecessor the PSP.

MaxXAttaxX4338d ago (Edited 4338d ago )

Internal memory would mean higher price which means more bitching.
Just look at the PSP-Go with internal memory costing almost $100 more than a normal PSP.
I do agree that they did a lot more right with the Vita than they did with the PSP.
___

[ON TOPIC]

Struggling to find an identity? How so? Because it doesn't have a specific gimmick like a 3D effect?
But that's the thing. The PS Vita has quite a lot of features and it's capable of playing virtually ANY type and variety of games you can throw at it.
You can't just pigeon-hold a system so versatile.

Snookies124338d ago

@NathanExplosion - I didn't say they should do internal memory lol, I'm saying they need to lower the prices on the cards to something more reasonable...

ChronoJoe4339d ago

Sorry. I fixed the link, next time use the report thing on the right hand side :) It sends out a notification and lets authors address issues immediately.

miyamoto4338d ago (Edited 4338d ago )

"Sony have never really managed to establish their identity in the portable market."
"fresh IPs like Kid Iccarus"

Establish their identity my arse!

And they are paying you to write this?

Are you kidding or is your new site desperate for hits & clicks?

Its too obvious.

The PlayStation brand, like Nintendo, is a name synonymous to gaming even today.
Go ask Barack Obama.

In Japan the PSP is the King of RPGs!
That is why the 3DS is marketed & geared to go after the PSP's market, huh MonHun?

In Asia, my homeland, it is cool for every kid carry a modified PSP! Its also a fashion statement.

If handhelds were guns there, the PSP is a man's gun & the DS/3DS is a sissy's gun.

Here in NA every house hold I know that has a DS also has an obligatory PSP to stop the jealousy.

Get out of your cave, man!
Wipe the fanboyism off your eyes & see clearly.

Nintendo has firmly established their gaming devices with a kiddie friendly identity that mom & dad can totally rely on.

In fact Nintendo is always at the gates of the gaming industry eagerly awaiting the next batch of babies that would play with a new rehash of Mario, Kirby & Pokemon.

Sony on the other hand, since 1994, has completely gone up the opposite direction to make games for the 19 & up who likes fear & blood, your big brother who likes destruction & explosions & your dad who likes Heavy Rain.

I can see that this is the part you failed to understand.

The kiddie mass market that Nintendo targets will always outnumber Sony's older gamer market and sales figures prove that.

You gotta accept that this is how Sony & Nintendo has rolled through the years whether you like it or not.

But now since both are threatened by a new gaming beasts like smart phones & tablet, that is about to cahnge.

Sony & Nintendo must try to eat up on each others territories.

Nintendo going after PSP & PS3 market with 3DS & Wii U.

And Sony going after Nintendo's younger market with PS Move & PS Vita, hence the move from PSP@ moniker.

Do yourself a favor & better fix your identity as a writer, Joe.

Chitown712914338d ago

Yea Im with Snookies12. Imo this really should've had some type of internal memory in it. Im pretty sure it will come with the revision of it. But the Vita is a beast! They should really focus on the interactivity between it and the PS3 . That way they could help each other sell, kinda of the way how Apple's products "talks" to each other.

MrMister4338d ago

Vita's only been out since February or late January. It's not even half a year old yet. When I was that young, I didn't even know I was alive. You got to give it time to get its stuff together. So far, it looks fine to me.

Chitown712914338d ago

"I didn't even know I was alive" LMAO!! Classic

joeorc4338d ago (Edited 4338d ago )

Its like you guy's are still stuck in that Time LOOP!

Why do you think Sony is putting more investment into the entire mobile market as a whole, and not just only in their Game Handheld's?

If you are saying Smartphones and Tablets are a problem for Sony they are also a problem for Nintendo. and right now they are more of a problem for Nintendo and here is why.

For many people that still do not get it.
Its pretty freaking Simple. Its by the number's. It takes how long for a game console manuf. to reach 100+ million consumer install base? like what over 7 year's right?

well smartphones are reaching that in a much shorter time, Even Sony already has over 22 million Xperia line of smartphones in the market with 8.6 million more shipping /Sales Quarter and they are shipping more per Quarter than they were 7 months ago, with a 80% sale through rate.

Once again that is over 8 million unit's per Quarter. the Playstation Suite run's on every freaking one of those Handset's. the key is to sell Software right?

well got news for people the dedicated Hand held game's software sales are in the minority not the majority.

Sony understands this. Sony is not just relying on the d@mn PSVita as their only Game centric handheld, once again there is a reason for this. the PSVita is using Arm core CPU/and Power VR GPU the very same chip's that Apple uses and pretty much many of the other smartphone maker's. or the very same Arm Core SOC's from QUALCOMM Snapdragon line etc. that are in 97% of smartphone's and Tablet's use.

the Playstation Suite is not UNLIKE THE XNA development platform as a matter of fact it uses C# as part of it's core. WWhy do you think Sony did that?

When are some of these people going to get it, the support is there already for a freaking device that has not even been on the market for even half a year. and yet you get the same talking point's about how the PSVita need's a boost to make sure it can survive.

Here's something, it already Sold over 2 million+ unit's..but..but..it's not enough, yet already the PSVita is and keep's getting support. More App's and More Game's.

the only system;as another option other dedicated Handheld game system offered by another company other than Nintendo is Sony.

So what that is its one of two thing's it would be Nintendo in 1st place and Sony in 2nd place or vice versa. if you want to add in smartphones or tablet's oh we can but that would place even Nintendo no longer in 1st place also. you cannot have it both way's add in smartphones in your argument it does notr only effect the market share standing of just Sony.

but that's how it seem's people are running it with this talking point, that is frankly Moot.

Lmao

ChronoJoe4338d ago

Sony make most of their money by selling other peoples software on their hardware. Not their own.

Running on third party platforms makes this impossible. They are trying to get other games to enter into the 'Playstation suite' but in the end are going to end up settling for a very small portion of market share on android / iphone with this.

Also this isn't helped by their gaming orientated mobile devices (phones) being pretty crappy pieces of hardware relative to their competitors. Even the Xperia play, which was allegedly the epitome of mobile gaming is a pretty pathetic device, the hardware-controls just make it a viable purchase for some more dedicated consumers.

Shame they don't just sell a model Vita with phone functionality. I'd be happy to ditch most of androids apps in place of some quality games that the PS Vita's library is sure to provide (assuming that if it did become a phone it would be running Vita OS rather than android).

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4338d ago
Tired4339d ago

'Whilst Nintendo's platforms Soul comes quite naturally...'

Yup that's me done reading.

Seriously you've gotten to the point of incorporeal personification for a sodding gameboy!?
That there is fanaticism to the Nth degree. I'm guessing the rest of the article is equally full of crazy.

ChronoJoe4339d ago

The term soul was used in reference to an recent interview where the Vita was accused of being soulless.

Basically I wrote this article, but it wasn't me who coined that term in that context. If you have a problem with it, take it up with CVG.

Tired4338d ago

But my problem is with your terrible journalism not anything CVG has said. To say something is 'soulless' means one thing. The opposite of soulless does not give the object soul or A soul.

CVG: 'Oh and we don't agree that the Vita is soulless, it's a brilliant little device with a bright future ahead of it.' See you can say that you don't agree it's soulless, or you could agree and say you think it is. But you can't say you think the comparative device actually has a soul. That would be sodding nonsense. It would be...'incorporeal personification for a sodding gameboy.' An electronic device cannot be soulful, cannot have soul (terrible English)or in fact a soul. It can however be soulless, meaning it is lacking something.

You have clearly misunderstood a basic ecumenical premise. This in itself is forgiveable had it been made clear that you were in fact reacting to a previous statement (albeit in the wrong fashion). But you make the statement bold as brass, before you even get to the article proper. It's your opening salvo on the n4g page, the crazy is there plain as day.

You say it wasn't you who coined the term in context, fine, but your the one taking the information out of context...misunderstanding the meaning and perpetuating misinformation.

Does your site not have an editor? Do these things not get proof read?

Leucitanious4338d ago

'hawkboi' discussing english and semantics, that's a laugh

obviously by soul he just meant character, guess someone on the internets got to get all anal over it though lol!

1 less bubble for you bro, down to 1 soon.

ChronoJoe4338d ago

Sorry if I anthropomorphized a video game. Of course I don't believe video games themselves have souls, I just used the term which I felt made sense in context.

Sorry if you do not, in future perhaps try to avoid being rude about it, then again looking over your post history I can see that's unlikely to be possible.

hardandsloppy4338d ago

Struggling to find some hits ;)

Xof4338d ago

Sony consoles simply do not have an identity. Microsoft is Master Chief. Nintendo is Mario. And every Sony console is a strong and diverse line-up of quality titles from a diverse and numerous base of third-party developers.

This is Sony's strength, and not something they need to fix. Yeah, one big game may have turned things around for the 3DS, but for the Vita, it's not going to be any one game. It's going to be a whole lot of 'em. Disgaea. Gravity Crush. Final Fantasy. Uncharted. Persona. Hell, even Project Diva and artdinks latest mech game go a long way toward "proving" the Vita.

Unlike Microsoft and unlike Nintendo, Sony has yet to actually "fail" with a gaming console, so I think it's really only natural to give them the benefit of the doubt, even if they do make really stupid decisions from time to time.

morganfell4338d ago (Edited 4338d ago )

Bubbles for insightful remarks.

EDIT:

@kingdavid, so one spelling error removes the truth of his comments? Sorry, but I have to disagree. It's one letter, known in Japan as Gravity Daze. The addition of the letter 'C' to Gravity Rush hardly invalidates the facts behind his statements.

kingdavid4338d ago

I would normally as well but he called the game "Gravity Crush"

JokesOnYou4338d ago (Edited 4338d ago )

I agree with everything except Sony not failing with a gaming console, maybe not a home console but the PSP Go was a pretty big failure for Sony in the portable market, and this is about Sony's latest portable correct?....so just using your own logic, no they shouldn't be given the benefit of the doubt.

That said I think the Vita will do fine selling to most of the same fanbase of the PSP...but as I said before in today's market dedicated game portables like it or not are not in demand outside of the hardcore fanbase and will continue to face strong competition from cell phones because many casuals are fine with short mini-games like Angry Birds on their portable device which has the most important feature they need= cellular communication. Most dont want to carry both. The 3Ds caters to a younger audience many of which either dont have a cell bill(mommy or daddy pays for it) or dont have the latest smartphone so cell phone market doesn't really impact it as much as with the Vita.

BitbyDeath4338d ago (Edited 4338d ago )

Probably depends on how you look at it.
Obviously the PSPGO did GO down like a lead balloon but then again it is of the PSP series and can therefore could be classed as one of Sonys "stupid decision" rather than a complete failure as the PSP itself did pretty darn well overall.

The product itself was likely a test to see how the market would react to an online only device and therefore see if said function would be suitable for their nextgen device. (Orbis)

JokesOnYou4338d ago (Edited 4338d ago )

Still it was a seperate launch of a redesigned portable, which failed miserably AND it was their last effort in the portable market, which you yourself acknowledge was a "bad decision", therefore my point stands that Sony certainly has left room for doubt based on their last effort, contrary to Xof's statement, specially given the current market competition from smartphones.

Now again saying all that, I believe Vita will do fine maybe close to PSP lifetime sales in the end based on psp hardcore fanbase, but really dont expect much more, portable market is in decline, I doubt it will ever have sales on par with 3Ds for the long term.

MaxXAttaxX4338d ago

It's still a PSP. Same gen. Same games and capabilities. Different design.

IHateYouFanboys4338d ago (Edited 4338d ago )

"Unlike Microsoft and unlike Nintendo, Sony has yet to actually "fail" with a gaming console"

despite what you might think, the original xbox didnt fail. it did exactly what microsoft intended it to do - get them a foothold in the market.

it was NEVER even remotely expected to sell 50+ million consoles. it wasnt expected to beat the PS2. it was merely there as a foot in the door for microsoft, and it did that very well. it showed developers that microsoft will use HDDs, have a robust online offering, use PC-like architecture, and that microsoft are not afraid of throwing money around at developers.

this gained them MASSIVE ground on sony, and as we see with the 360, its gotten them nearly ALL of the formerly sony exclusive 3rd party games along with some of their own, and exclusive/timed exclusive DLC.

and depending on how you look at it, sony have "failed" with a console. the PS3 lost them MASSIVE amounts of money (all of the PS2s profits and then some actually) and lost them MASSIVE amounts of marketshare to both Microsoft and Nintendo.

kikizoo4338d ago (Edited 4338d ago )

Wow "hehateshimself", strikes again, denial much ?

xbox was a monster fail, they have to give the console, gift, refund, to sells some consoles, and they don't..360 was just here before ps3 + millions marketing, propaganda, paid medias, even without first xbox, they would have sold 360.

lol@i your studid sentences for ps3 failure, despite the launch difficulties with the best hardware and cost (+ medias, propaganda, etc toward them) it's a big success, selling more than 360 since day one over the world, more games since 2,3 years (+ bluray success and royalties due to ps3)...japan is fighting against crises, and it's even harder with incredibly strong yen (+25% !), that is a fact, and we should reward sony to offer (again) the best hardware, the best and more games, in this economy.

"3DS has something that just makes it feel like a special handheld something the vita doesnt have."

in your head, probably, but not in reality (it's the exact opposite), it's like "souless",etc : ridiculous and delusional subjectivity (even if i know 3Ds is the past compared to vita, like ds was for psp, even if i ahe already sold my 3DS, i'll never say "souless" for a product, but a i understand that fanboys without solids argument for gamers, like hardware, screen, graphics, library, etc are using this kind of silly words)

NotSoSilentBob4337d ago

How can the PS3 fail when this Generation of console isn't over yet? And to mention that fact that it has almost sold as much as the 360 even though the 360 had a year head start and a year and a half in most of the world?

Show all comments (49)
260°

PlayStation Boasts Record 123 Million Monthly Active Users, Shows Glimpse of Gravity Rush Movie

Sony is hosting its traditional conference just before the 2024 International CES in Las Vegas. Of course, PlayStation played a part in the celebrations.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
98d ago Replies(4)
Barlos98d ago

Forget Gravity Rush movie, give us another GR game!

porkChop98d ago

I didn't even know a movie was coming. If they can get the visuals and everything right I'll watch it.

Barlos98d ago

I didn't either, until this article. I'm also surprised, since GR was a commercial flop. Seems weird that they'd want to invest money into making it into a film.

I think the games are great though, especially on Vita. I think the move to PS4 killed the experience a little, but I'd still like to see a new one.

1Victor97d ago

I didn’t know it was in development ether but it makes sense after they saw the first doctor strange movie and the far from home fight, if it’s like that’s it’s going to be one of those Oscar nominees

Cacabunga97d ago

GR movie and shutting Japan Studio.. so stupid

porkChop97d ago

@Cacabunga

Oh yeah... Well there goes any hope for a new game. Shuttering Japan Studio was a really bad decision.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 97d ago
purple10198d ago

Surely you’d think if the movie is coming so is another game

And I couldn’t be happier.

Only played the demo of gr2 but let me say it’s one of the most artistic and inventive new games. Ps5 will power gr3 to new heights
Fingers crossed

Made my day hearing this.

Finally, something innovative

Redemption-6498d ago

GR2 flopped, which would they make a new game? A movie has more appeal and a successful hit at the bix office, could lead to a new game for the franchise

ChasterMies98d ago

Ok, I’ll stop sitting on Gravity Rush 2. It’s been in my library for only 8 years.

Chocoburger98d ago

Play Gravity Rush Remastered first if you haven't already, the stories are linked together. GR 2 is a fantastic game, it has a lot of stuff to see and do. In fact I have purposefully not completed the game 100% because I simply didn't want the game to end. I still have some trophies to collect, and a whole free story DLC chapter to play through.

Gravity Rush 3 would be amazing! But the team that made parts 1 and 2 were shut down, so I don't expect it to happen. This was Jim Ryan's biggest sin of all, shutting down PlayStation Japan Studios. What a shame.

FinalFantasyFanatic97d ago

Why not both? I really like the games and was disappointed we didn't get a third game to finish off the story, but I wouldn't mind a movie either if it's well done. Maybe it'll drum up enough interest to get us that third game.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 97d ago
gold_drake98d ago

damn that is aaalot of ppl

id rather have another Gravity Rush game than a movie tbh

DarXyde98d ago

Same. This series really resonates with my gaming spirit. I love these games so much that I got four platinums out of two games. I was always dreading that we would never get another game after Japan Studio's closure, but I'm feeling hopeful in them not giving up on the franchise with this move. My guess is that they're going to use this as a funding point

MrNinosan98d ago

That is the same amount as daily loading screens... never mind

Show all comments (35)
600°

Sony Cites Redfall’s Harvey Smith After Cancellation of PS5 Version in Its Response to the CMA

Sony and Microsoft have responded to the CMA's revised findings with Sony citing Redfall's Harvey Smith about the cancelled PS5 version.

Read Full Story >>
wccftech.com
sparky77376d ago

Sony: "If PlayStation received a degraded version of Call of Duty, it would "seriously damage our reputation. Our gamers would desert our platform in droves and network effects would exacerbate the problem. Our business would never recover."

Wow Sony just admitted that their 1st party titles are meaningless to the success of the platform, so much for exclusives matter lol.

MS will literally have the existence of the Playstation brand in the palm of their hand if Sony is being truthful.

Christopher375d ago

CoD is 10% of their annual revenue and similarly so for Xbox. If gamers move elsewhere for CoD, the biggest game out there, then they will also buy other third parties elsewhere.

Zero platforms survive on exclusives and rely primarily on third party titles (even Nintendo).

Losing a huge portion of your revenue stream means you can't compete as well and your competition gains what you lose.

This isn't rocket science. Why are you acting like you've figured out some sort of gotcha moment when saying exclusives matter isn't the same as saying they determine the profitability of your company.

The problem is that CoD is too big of a game and people are acting like it isn't. It is the juggernaut in the industry. It is the Usain Bolt of video games, no one is catching up to it and it keeps running.

sparky77375d ago

I am just quoting Sony if you think they are lying that's up to you to believe that.

Christopher375d ago (Edited 375d ago )

You're miscontextualizing their quote, not quoting them. You're essentially saying that someone that says they prefer hamburgers will never eat pizza. They never said what you said, which is that exclusives are all that matter.

TGGJustin375d ago

Well said Chris. People really don't think about all the facts

Sonic1881374d ago (Edited 374d ago )

I agree with this. Well said Chris

Obscure_Observer374d ago

"Zero platforms survive on exclusives and rely primarily on third party titles (even Nintendo)."

Not true. Nintendo´s Switch TOP 20 best selling games is literally made of Nintendo´s first party games ONLY. Check your facts.

So yes, unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo relies on their first party first and foremost to survive.

Jim Ryan´s statements is just stupid and irresponsible. Playstation ain´t going nowhere with or without COD, all he´s doing is downplaying Playstation first party games and developers every time he opens his mouth by calling COD the holy grail of games.

343_Guilty_Spark374d ago

Why would they move if the game is still on PS5?

Christopher374d ago (Edited 374d ago )

***Why would they move if the game is still on PS5?***

Did you miss the first part of sparky77's quote? "If PlayStation received a degraded version of Call of Duty, it would "seriously damage our reputation."

I'm replying to sparky, not the title of the submission.

***Not true. Nintendo´s Switch TOP 20 best selling games is literally made of Nintendo´s first party games ONLY. Check your facts.***

Guarantee fortnite and Minecraft make more money than any of those best selling games. Being best selling doesn't mean saving the entirety of the platform. Those are also the titles that cost Nintendo the most to put out. Third parties are literally w/o any production/manufacturing costs. Just a percentage of sales, including MTX/DLC.

ApocalypseShadow374d ago (Edited 374d ago )

Obscure, Jim's not downplaying anything. He's stating that if Microsoft takes away 10 percent of their revenue that comes from cod, that extra money they make to use on creating first party games, getting exclusives from third parties, investing in indie developers, releasing innovative hardware like PS VR 2 would be lost because of Microsoft's monopolization of publishers and franchises.

You can't just quickly recover from a big portion of your money being taken away. Microsoft could easily recover because Daddy Warbucks is footing the bill of a loss leading platform. Sony's PlayStation platform makes money on its own.

But you guys want to make it seem he's saying that internal games are worthless. Which isn't the case. And Sony's teams know that. They know what it means as well to lose money to create games besides from exclusively created game revenue.

darkrider374d ago

Because they don't have arguments. They want to put under the rug the impact of Cod. So they are tryng to say it's just Cod.... For me it's the Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi of videogaming. Every year means billions. No other game does this. Fact

Obscure_Observer374d ago (Edited 374d ago )

"Guarantee fortnite and Minecraft make more money than any of those best selling games. Being best selling doesn't mean saving the entirety of the platform."

And guarantee that you won´t see Nintendo crying over the possible loss of any of those.

Nintendo always had and will continue to rely on themselves, period! They never needed some third party GaaS games to survive and never will.

gleepot374d ago

Nintendo absolutely doesn't not primarily rely on third party titles.

zekk374d ago

@Obscure I'm pretty sure the WiiU pretty much failed because they made it difficult for third parties to put games on the console

Christopher374d ago

***And guarantee that you won´t see Nintendo crying over the possible loss of any of those.***

I think you'd be surprised.

***Nintendo absolutely doesn't not primarily rely on third party titles.***

I guarantee the majority of Nintendo's profits from gaming comes from third-parties. People forget how much it costs to make your own content and how that eats into profits compared to the 30% off of other people's work.

rlow1374d ago (Edited 374d ago )

So a lot of people have commented on Sony receiving an inferior version of the game. It seems that most people on here haven’t read or heard of the remedies/concessions MS bound itself to.
The biggest of which is an independent oversight committee that is paid for by MS and its members chosen by the government agencies. Their job will involve ensuring parity on quality and content. They will have the power to stop the game releasing on all platforms if the standards are not met.

So all the fuss over an inferior version is mute.

374d ago
RedDevils374d ago Show
IamTylerDurden1373d ago (Edited 373d ago )

Well said.

To add on, obviously Sony is going to push this sentiment just as MS pushed the fact that Sony is dominant and they can not compete with them. Each company will play to the legislative powers and appear more weak and vulnerable than they are in an attempt to sway the results. For ppl to use either as a "gotcha" moment is ignorant.

While both are technically true, Sony's reliance on CoD and Xbox being less successful than PlayStation, each company is embellishing their particular ssentiment.

IamTylerDurden1373d ago (Edited 373d ago )

Obscure_Observer

"PlayStation ain't going nowhere with or without CoD"

I'm sorry but this guy depicts the worst of fanboy culture. I'm bias to a degree. I have preferences and i pull for a particular platform more than others bc i enjoy that product more. However, the inability to give any credit or at least be realistic about the opposition is weak.

Are you insinuating that PlayStation isn't or won't be successful in the future? They are dominating. PS5 projections are outlandish. They are breaking revenue records. Demand is insane. They are pushing more hardware, software, and studios than ever. Your agenda is so bluntly obvious and weak. Yeah, PlayStation is clearly struggling and has no future. Ppl who live by the "wait til next year" mentality do so bc they are failing in current day.

VariantAEC369d ago

@zekk
"I'm pretty sure the WiiU pretty much failed because they made it difficult for third parties to put games on the console"
All the way wrong, couldn't be anymore wrong if you tried. See Wii U had Watch Dogs, NFS and even Batman: Arkham Asylum (or some other Arkham game) and at least one or two CoD games, but it sold less units than PS Vita (which had some version of CoD that was poorly received)...
Nintendo really might be fine without third parties until we consider Pokémon. Without Pokémon Nintendo might really be hurting, as far as I'm aware it actually is a third party game, Game Freak and The Pokémon Company can pull their support for Nintendo and Pokémon revenue disappears... even so Nintendo games are some of the best selling out there and more often than not these days they include MTX and/or subs to unlock things or to play at all like Splatoon does.

+ Show (16) more repliesLast reply 369d ago
Lifexline375d ago

We’ll yeah call of duty is a very important game in the industry probably the most important one right now. So not surprising they think that it’s the truth. It moved consoles and gives them a lot of money so they obviously don’t want Microsoft in control of that.

But on topic I guess it’s good Microsoft never promised anyone that they wouldn’t make Bethesda games exclusives so they are doing nothing wrong. If that was a stipulation for buying Bethesda then okay I get it but it wasn’t.

shinoff2183375d ago

Supposedly it was said by ms that whatever was in development for ps would still be put out. Therefore shutting down development of said game by ms was a bs move. Pretty sure that's it

Lifexline375d ago

@shinoff come on your smarter then that.

Vanfernal374d ago ShowReplies(3)
Flawlessmic374d ago ShowReplies(2)
Sonic1881374d ago

@Sparky

You need to think before you type. What a dumb comment 🙄

Chevalier374d ago

@Sonic

Great suggestion! Only problem is they would need to think. So.... seems unlikely.

374d ago
Stanjara374d ago

You also forget that all Cod players buy Playstation Plus.

That is also a huge financial hit if those players switch platform.

Crows90374d ago

Finally... In some way you finally get it. Yes their monopolistic to tendencies are fatal for other companies...hence why the deal shouldn't go through...and as Christopher said....you're also misrepresenting their quote.

TheKingKratos374d ago

Sparky, i truly trying to figure out why you care so much act like Sony is the bad guy here for trying make this multiplatform publisher stay independent and making games for every one

I hope you have this strength when Sony is doing the same and i hope to see you defend the decision when buy big publishers like Capcom and Square Enix or From Software etc etc

Petebloodyonion374d ago

Sony: "If PlayStation received a degraded version of Call of Duty, it would "seriously damage our reputation. Our gamers would desert our platform in droves and network effects would exacerbate the problem. Our business would never recover."

But we have no issue with giving a degraded PC version of our game or paying to ensure that the PS4 version of COD has exclusives features
As we said in the past PLaystation is the home of Call of Duty

SoulWarrior374d ago (Edited 374d ago )

Hey lets just take everything out of context and present it as fact, truly emulating Phil and MS!

Abracadabra374d ago

Sony are a monopolistic cancer in the gaming business.
Just plain hypocrites.

374d ago
FinalFantasyFanatic374d ago

I actually fear the damage Microsoft would moreso do to the gaming sector than Sony would, Microsoft is just throwing money around to buy themselves a monopoly, truely cancerous behavior.

And I'm had much more quality experiences with Sony than I ever have with Xbox.

IamTylerDurden1373d ago

Just like MS admitted they are getting dominated by Sony and have no chance to compete. Read between the lines. Each company will make themselves appear weak or vulnerable in an attempt to influence legislation. Stop with the bs. I seriously wonder if ppl are naive or just pushing their agenda.

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375d ago
XiNatsuDragnel375d ago

COD is too big an IP to be handled by 1 company and COD fans will move to xbox easily.

Traecy374d ago

Highly doubt that unless someone bought a PS solely to play COD otherwise PS fans,loyalist & owners will continue to support the PS platform.

Crows90374d ago

Again...the lack of brain activity is incredible.

Yes! There are many who buy a console based on what other are purchasing and aren't entirely loyal to one brand. They will easily move if one of their biggest games goes to another platform. Heck I already know a few individuals purchasing Xbox over PlayStation because of starfield. They were originally going to purchase PlayStation but when I told them about starfield exclusivity...of which they had no idea...they changed their mind on which to purchase.

Traecy374d ago (Edited 374d ago )

@crows Having a lack of brain activity is incredible. It seems you don't know what fans & loyal customers mean. Most loyal customers & fans of PS do not own a PS console solely to play COD though you may have some casuals that buy a PS console to play COD only with their casual friends that only play COD. I play COD but I only play the campaign then I'm done with it. I've bought all generations of PS consoles & it wasn't to play COD & I'm quite sure there are millions of PS owners that have the same mindset. That's a ridiculous notion to think PS fans & loyalists will drop PS if it was exclusive to XB. They would play it on PC, finally buy an XB alongside their PS or they won't bother to play COD at all.

343_Guilty_Spark374d ago

Good.

Except the game will be on PS, PC, Nintendo consoles, and streaming

darkrider374d ago

Nintendo doesn't care. Look at the sales of Nintendo without Cod... If they wanted activision would be jumping at their door. Streaming... No words... Pc got lackluster sales. Let's see what will haopend

Petebloodyonion374d ago

If the case then why is COD back on Steam instead of just Battle.net?
Or how come EA games are back on Steam too?
Surely it's cheaper and easier to install a FREE launcher compare to buying a 500$ console + subscription.

badz149374d ago

"FREE" launcher on your FREE PC?

Petebloodyonion374d ago

@Badz
I'm pretty sure that Steam users do own a PC.
So again my question Why did Blizzard Activision or EA decide to come back to Steam when it's free to install Battle.net or EA Origin?

wesnytsfs374d ago

Crows90, PS is still getting Call of duty. The only changes are so are Nintendo and Gamepass.

374d ago
+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 374d ago
Sonyslave3375d ago

All Ms gotta say is look at Stellar Blade it was announced for Xbox in the trailer and it not all the suddenly.

Street Fighter 5 your honor the previous Street Fighter 4 was on all consoles and was best played on Xbox for Evo tournament and Sony paid Capcom a huge amount of $$$ to skip Xbox and Nintendo for a whole generation.

Sonyslave3375d ago

Lol also CMA already know about RedFall being Xbox/Pc in their last report.

🥸

derek374d ago

@343, don't be ignorant get informed. Capcom was in bad shape back then and would not have made street fighter 5 but for Sony funding the game and publishing it. Capcom since then has recovered financially and therefore sf6 has returned to being multiplatform. Doesn't matter xbox players don't buy games anyways.

shinoff2183375d ago (Edited 375d ago )

How do you know stellar blades still ain't coming to xbox 6 months to a year later.

Street fighter I've read Sony played a part in helping develop that. Maybe it's not true. Eh I ain't looking it up

Sonic1881374d ago

Its true. Sony did help develop and publish it

343_Guilty_Spark374d ago

This lie that “Sony helped” needs to stop.

SF6 is coming to Xbox. Did Sony help with SF6. Did it help with SF4. Read between the lines they paid to keep it exclusive.

Lightning77374d ago

It won't. Sony never said it was timed or anything. They funded the rest of the game and took away the already announced and planned Xbox version.

There's no "what ifs" Don't even begin to make excuses. .

sinspirit374d ago

@343

Is it also a lie that FF16 was helped developed by Sony? This partnership ives Sony a few months of exclusivity, but the game itself would have taken that many months or more of development without Sony anyways. The first FF game to have no development troubles in who knows how long. Interesting how people can point out supposed "lies" on one side and not apply the same attention to detail or reading between the lines of another to provide criticism for.

IamTylerDurden1373d ago

343

It's foolish to use SF6 as an example of why Capcom didn't need Sony's help with SF5. Capcom is vastly more successful now as opposed to the inception of SF5. The resurgence of Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, etc gives them the financial freedom they lacked back then. Around a time when RE was floundering, Monster Hunter was on essentially one platform, and Deep Down and Panta Rai were draining money. Look at RE6, MvC Infinite. That era of Capcom was largely a flop. They are much stronger now.

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IamTylerDurden1373d ago (Edited 373d ago )

And Tomb Raider was the same thing. Titanfall, Dead Rising 3, The Gunk, Pugb, etc. Both companies have done and continue to do this with 3rd party games. How many timed deals are on Game Pass? Stop clinging to Stellar Blade and FF like MS never did the same thing.

If anything, 3rd party deals are common. However, publisher acquisitions that cancel in development versions of games for a particular platform and banish IP from a particular platform forever are less common to the point of nearly unprecedented. Not saying either is good for fans but to act like timed exclusivity on Stellar Blade is equal to the Bethesda and ABK deals is ignorant.

And the only reason MS doesn't acquire bigger 3rd party exclusivity these days is bc Gamepass limits their ability to do so. But even last generation as the vastly inferior platform they still had major 3rd party exclusives timed or otherwise via Tomb Raider, Titanfall, Pubg, Ryse, Dead Rising, ReCore, Quantum Break, etc. Early 360 they had deals for Mass Effect, Oblivion, Bioshock, Alan Wake etc. You guys cling to Stellar Blade though. Funny.

Lightning77373d ago (Edited 373d ago )

You still missed the entire point if the argument. 3rd party has been goin on for ages it's fine it's normal. "times deals on gamepass" is something you clearly made up I don't even know what that means.

"And Tomb Raider was the same thing. Titanfall, Dead Rising 3, The Gunk, Pugb, etc. Both companies have done and continue to do this with 3rd party games. How many timed deals are on Game Pass? Stop clinging to Stellar Blade and FF like MS never did the same thing."

But how many times has a game that was announced to the world as a multiplatform game only for MS to take over and rid of said PS game?

Let me say it again. People like you have trouble reading.

Again ANNOUNCED to world as a multplat? How many times has MS done that? You have no excuses for Stellar Blade. If you make excuses then it's only ok for Sony to do it right? Since you love defending terrible buissness practices.

"Not saying either is good for fans but to act like timed exclusivity on Stellar Blade is equal to the Bethesda and ABK deals is ignorant."

Hifi, Redfall and Starfield are own by MS. No contracts or obligations were done by Sony (they almost got Starfield though) those games were never announce just to take away like Sony did with Stellar Blade. A game and studio Sony doesn't even own. Owning with no contracts or obligations vs none owning and canning the announced Xbox version. Which ones worse?

You lost this argument.

Ryuk_2007375d ago

The CMA did not care if Bethesda made their games exclusive to Xbox. Also they already knew about Redfall's cancelled version. Doesn't matter what Sony says now.. the CMA doesn't care.

Obscure_Observer374d ago

"Doesn't matter what Sony says now.. the CMA doesn't care."

Jim Ryan is desperate, he just called CMA irrational yesterday and now he´s trying to bring them some "sense" by mention Bethesda. What a loser.

gold_drake374d ago

its a fair argument to make.
but you'd know all about losers.

Obscure_Observer374d ago

@curtain_swoosh

"but you'd know all about losers."

Yeah, I can easily tell that bozo is gonna lose this case and will be begging at MS´s door in no time.

derek374d ago (Edited 374d ago )

@Ryuk, Jim,Ryan is,right, the CMA did a complete 180 from their own stated position (supported by their own extensive research) just 2 months ago. Was their logic/research completely wrong just 2 months ago? Lol. I doubt it. Any reasonable observer would find such behavior on the part of the cma "irrational " .

kingnick374d ago

Evidently MS and others made a more compelling case then Sony for the merger to be approved.

If Sony wasn't in such a dominant position in so many markets the merger may have been blocked, success can be a double edged sword.

derek374d ago

@king, it was never Sony's job to make any case, I'm talking about the cma's own findings a few months ago. Anyone who knows a little about administration law knows that regulatory bodies are very careful when giving findings, the cma was not nuetral at all on their last report about this purchase they said definitively it would reduce competition. A complete reversal on their own findings call into question the validity of all their reasoning on this issue. I don't like conspiracies but I believe Microsoft recent purchase of a sizeable portion of the London stock exchange influenced this decision to change course.

Extermin8or3_374d ago

@derek what is this about London stock exchange?

@kingnick MSs case and details of it are completely public and it was not compelling AT ALL. Infact it was deeply flawed as is the CMA's new position. Their new position, makes no sense and by the same logic they are using elder scrolls 6 should still be on PlayStation as should redfall and no titles should go to games pass fay 1 as they are causing MS tonloae out on alot if money. It assumes microsofts gsme isn't to destroy competitors revenue streams vs increase their own. They have plenty of form in such practices.

FinalFantasyFanatic374d ago (Edited 374d ago )

It's pretty suspicious behavior from the CMA, I can imagine some "greasing of the wheels" may have happened, but I don't have any evidence to suggest this was the case, it's just a weird turn of events anyhow.

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badz149374d ago

yup, when the eyes are already blinded and ears already closed by money from MS, nothing else matters

IamTylerDurden1373d ago (Edited 373d ago )

But they should have. Bethesda alone banishes future iterations of IP like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Starfield, Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake, Redfall, and potential future iterations of Dishonored, Evil Within, or other IP from Arkane/Tango etc. That's so many impactful multiplat IP to strip from a particular fanbase. Pretty egregious. Pretty unprecedented.

Then factor Crash, Diablo, Overwatch etc. Even if CoD remains multi the potential that all of these other IP could eventually be taken from a fanbase is unconscionable.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 373d ago
Show all comments (108)
760°

11 members of Congress argue Sony is unfairly hurting Xbox in Japan-Axios

In letters obtained by Axios, reps blast an “imbalanced Japanese video game market.”

SinisterMister385d ago

So the government is getting in on this now, huh

sparky77385d ago

As they should, Sony is preventing Xbox gamers playing JP games like Final Fantasy which is why they dominate in JP. And since Sony doesn't count Nintendo they have a monopoly.

Sony shouldn't have poked the bear that is MS, you can bet after the deal is done they will go scorched earth on Sony.

MS has the money and power to make Sony disappear so they best keep silent from here on if they want to remain relevant.

blackblades385d ago

Sony hasnt done much like Nintendo is getting JP games as well. The only company is square that they are doing a couple of deals outta dozens of games.

isarai385d ago

They dominate the Japanese market because it is a Japanese company. And not all PS exclusive jp titles are exclusive due to exclusivity deals. Yeah FF for sure is, but there's dozens if not hundreds of jp games that are exclusive simply because they dont see the point in putting it elsewhere. Also MS has exclusivity deals too, doesnt matter where they're from. If MS was that concerned about it they would have finished Scalebound or Phantom Dust

shinoff2183385d ago

Kinda like ms has already gone and cornered the western rpg market. From things I've read ms doesn't even try in Japan anymore. They did during the 360 and after about 4 5 jrpgs they just said nah. That's on ms

Outside_ofthe_Box385d ago

"unfairly"

Would Sony buying SE make it fair?

Servbot41385d ago

Why would Yoshi-P make a game for Xbox when Microsoft specifically said "no, we don't want your previous game, FF14n on our console."

Redemption-64385d ago

Yeah, like making donations to some of these politicians right? You Xbox fanboys would co-sign corruption if MS does it. You claim MS has money and power, yet they refuse to invest in the Japanese market, yet their have enough money to encourage some politicians to spread lies.

Microsoft can literally work with more Japanese studios, open Studios and releases games that appeals to the Japanese market, they can also advertise their products in Japan, they don't and cry about the Japanese government or Sony getting in their way.

Huey_My_D_Long385d ago

What the fuck are you on about? I didn't realize this gamer shit is becoming a fucking national issue.
Sony dominates Japan if we don't count Nintendo? Well no shit...not sonys fault MS is a real competitor over there.
I like how Apple does well in japan.
Shows if a foreign company actually wants to make headway in Japan, they totally can.
MS never gave a fuck about Japan.

notachance385d ago

some shitty efforts from MS for further appeal to ABK deal there with obvious lobbying lmao

conveniently skipped Nintendo and PC overwhelming dominance over Sony in japan with ultra specific “high-end console market space” phrase, when in any other day they’d claim PC is one of their environments until their throat is sore

what’s funny is how these congressmen suddenly understand “high-end console market space in japan” as if they’ve been a game connosieur all their lives, I don’t even think they can even name all Xbox console right.

Justo909385d ago

Before its wait for E3 now its wait for activision deal is done LMAO! xbox 3rd place for life.

TheRunup57385d ago

Your rantings are like those of people that love the sound of their own voice. I know you're enjoying spending time in the fantasy world you've created for yourself though.

385d ago
fr0sty385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

Rep. Kevin McCarthy: Those people are stopping American businesses from selling those play things in Japan, and this will not stand! We want the PlayBoxes to be fairly sold worldwide, we demand it! IF you do not start selling more good ol' American-made Nintendos in China, we're going to call for an investigation and subpoena Xi Jinping to testify before Congress!

kayoss385d ago

Sony nor Nintendo is preventing anything. Playstation and Nintendo sells more consoles so developers makes games for those consoles. Why would japanese developers make games for a consoles that only sales 300 consoles per month?

385d ago
lucian229385d ago

Xbox gamers don't like Japanese games. They just okay halo, gears and forza. That's why Sony dominates there.

Gamer_Dude385d ago

Yup, this is going to blow up in Sony's face. They should have taken the 10 year deal.

MeteorPanda385d ago

They released a few games on xbox..they don't sell man. lol You can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. The community on xbox simply don't play jrpg.

Lost Odyssey was a damn hit of a game that deserved way more sales than it got.

1Victor385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

@ sparky Kid here’s a lesson in business, companies follow the money if your distributor isn’t promoting your product and have it in the back of the store with a broken light while the distributor competition have it at the front door with bright lights, sales signs and sale 10x the other who do you think the company will look for to sale their product, the one that barely sale it in the back or the one that sales 10x by the front door, I know it’s hard to use logic but think about it.

SPOILER ALERT 🚨
It’s the one that sale the most and the company will keep going to the one that sales the most

EvertonFC385d ago

Go see a therapist fella, you need serious help

tay8701385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

Lmao ah ok. How long has MS had that same power and money to make Sony "disappear"? They have been in the game business now for what like 20 yrs now, and they ALWAYS finish last. Lol Sony are a smaller company, but they are FAR better at making games. Call me when they have blockbusters like the last of us, God of war, spiderman, uncharted etc. The only way they can try to compete is to buy up publushers like abk. It's really sad.

RedDevils385d ago

Some of these Xbox fanboy is beyond stupid, maybe is a next gen thing lmao.

dnawesum385d ago

"MS has the money and power to make Sony disappear so they best keep silent from here on if they want to remain relevant."
You just described the actions of a monopoly using threat, force and intimidation to further their means.

Congratulations, you played yourself.

Kekewei385d ago

Not just Japan, Sony dominated in certain countries because they care about the market outside of US. While MS is crying about Japan, Sony is pushing their investment to Korea, China, India , Thailand... "China Hero" project, Playstation studio Malaysia , just today they released a playstation story commercial in Thai.
And most importantly, the xsx supplyment to Asia is SHIT compared to PS5. The price of xsx here are much higher than PS5 because of that. By what Chinese says here, MS is treating us like monkeys, their console supply is like throwing bananas to monkeys just for fun.
MS's failure in Japan reflects his ignorance to the whole east. They have much to cry about, and it's def not because of one or two exclusives titles. Even in this case, MS pretend they care about Japan, but in real they are just using this as leverage to make Sony bend.

Vengeance1138385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

Go touch grass xbot fanboy, you sound just like Microsoft, butt hurt and crying like a little baby.
MS can have all the studios it wants and it won't make a single difference lol they'll all just be mismanaged and closed years later. How's Halo working out for you? Oh that's right, its dead now.
How's Rare doing? Oh right they were mismanaged into oblivion.
How's Playground Games? Ahh all top veterans quit! Hahaha LOL I'd expect CoD to be a very dead franchise soon.

Binarycode385d ago

Japan doesn't buy American Consoles and never has. They are not interested and besides that.

Nintendo rules the roost in Japan and I don't ever see that ending.

One reason is the handheld market. It's massive out there.

SDuck385d ago

you speak of both companies as a whole in a contained market rivalry. MS ain't putting all their resources onto this. The sub division of MS dedicated to gaming is! Same goes for Sony's side. Translated into simple terms, Sony is bigger than MS in the gaming department

MrNinosan385d ago

Here is some of the jrpgs that was exclusive to Xbox, and they all flopped badly just for that reason.
We have no idea what games has been paid for time exclusivity or life time exclusivity, what we do know however is that Square and many other Japanese companies doesn't see profit in putting games on Xbox anymore, even thou they tried over and over again.

The mindset that only Sony reach out to SE is getting childish, as it's so far from the truth.

Eternal Sonata (Bandai Namco)
Octopath Traveler (SquareEnix)
Lost Odyssey (Mistwalker)
Blue Dragon (Mistwalker)
Infinite Undiscovery (SquareEnix)
Star Ocean: The Last Hope (SquareEnix)
The Last Remnant (SquareEnix)
Crystal Defenders (Square Enix)

Abear21384d ago

If by “scorched earth” you mean a couple legal treadmills and wasted dollars, sure, but you talk like MS if gonna go Taken on Sony, drop the phone and find them in their sleep, jeez, it’s legal video game BS, calm yourself

chrislinc79384d ago

Final Fantacy has nothing to do with it. MS just does not appeal to the JP. How well did the 360 do in JP, it had final fantasy and other rpg games. Maybe, just maybe it MS

Mr_Writer85384d ago (Edited 384d ago )

"As they should, Sony is preventing Xbox gamers playing JP games like Final Fantasy"..

And..........Oh is that it? Do you have any more examples of Japanese games Sony has blocked? And I mean where Sony have a written down deal that specifically excludes Xbox and not because of poor Xbox sales in Japan.

Another Xbox fanboy made a similar claim on Eurogamer, but funny enough they couldn't think of any more examples.

"Sony doesn't count Nintendo they have a monopoly" do you have a link to this claim?

sadraiden384d ago

How is that an American congressional area of concern?

How is it of the American Congress' power to affect the behavior of a Japanese corporation over another?

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blackblades385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

They need to stay out of it honestly, they don't know nothing about video games to begin with. Like the time they tried to blame video games for gun violence.

shinoff2183385d ago

Exactly. Maybe a handful of them literally but the rest of them old ass white dudes don't know dick about gaming except its an easy scapegoat for a mass shooting. Also the first 1 that jumped on this bandwagon was a politician from Washington state itself. You know what company of the big 3 console makers is from Washington state right

Lifexline385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

No what they are doing is the right thing sony needs to be fined what they are doing that’s actually anticompetitive. They need to be regulated Japan needs to stop showing preferential treatment to Japanese companies if not the US should do the same

To pay a developer in Japan to exclude a game on Xbox definitely needs to be checked whether it sells or not is not the point. They shouldn’t be bitching about call of duty if that was the case. They brought this on themselves now need to be looked at closely and have their practices scrutinized and fined or file a lawsuit on.

wiz7191385d ago

@blackblades that’s because we are morally sane individuals , but it’s some ppl who are crazy asf out there that will see stuff in movies and games .. then try to reenact something’s on real life

lelo2play385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

Well, Sony open the the hornet's nest. Now they must deal with the consequences.

Many people claim Final Fantasy doesn't sell on Xbox. Basically, Sony doesn't need those Final Fantasy exclusives deals, since the Xbox market is irrelevant for japanese games. So by their logic, Sony is just throwing away money on these deals... apparently, the American Congress doesn't agree with those people.

CrimsonWing69385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

That’s the thing.

If Sony didn’t go full-r*tard on this and make all these outlandish claims to stop what is the 4th biggest revenue income publisher for them, under them no less, these things wouldn’t have come to light.

Now, all their scum bag practices got aired out. Officials declare MS acquisition not to be anti-competitive or a monopolistic move and as a result Sony is now being questioned by all the revelations that came about these court proceedings.

Should’ve just taken the deal…

shinoff2183385d ago

Sony opened the honest message. What are you 12. We're you even alive during the Xbox 360 Era for fuks sake.

DarXyde385d ago

I would say it's fair enough that Sony is getting grief for this. I've said it before, but I fully understand their interests in trying to block the deal, but when you go to court and you're doing shady stuff, you CAN'T be upset when it comes to light that you've got some trade secrets and panic when they get aired out. In this regard, Microsoft did nothing wrong and Sony goofed.

And you make an interesting point on Sony essentially throwing away money. The only benefit I can see to this strategy is essentially commissioning publishers and developers to make the one console version the best that it can be. An incentive, if you will.

As for the American Congress, well... It's pretty much a democratic senator from Microsoft's home state and some right wing House members (who, if you don't know, are quite corporate capitalists; Democrats are too, but let's just say republicans are just more honest in how terrible they are). If Microsoft opens up their wallets even more, I'm sure they'll get the support they need from legislators with a price tag. If we see McConnell and/or Manchin get in on this, you'll know what's up.

Godmars290385d ago

Sony started this by buying a major publisher and several IPs? Having the money to do so yet failing to develop its own in-house games years after, decades, being in the industry.

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S2Killinit385d ago

Oh yeah, MS is pulling its lobbyists in congress.

tay8701385d ago

Yah they are probably fearing them buying up a smaller Japanese publisher or 2. I'd trade ABK for Capcom and square all day long.

S2Killinit385d ago

I like how 6 people disagreed with my comment like there is any other reason. Lol

@tay8701
Same here. Also there are rumors of a certain large publisher that is in Sony’s crosshairs. At this point the rest of the multiplatform publishers are all for grab with the legal precedence that is about to be set by MS’s aquisition of Activision, so I hope Sony goes after some instead of some other corporate giant like tencent, apple, google, etc.

MADGameR385d ago

You know Bill Gates and the Builderbergers are in on this too

SullysCigar385d ago

He still has a big portion of his personal wealth in Microsoft, which means strings are being pulled, because he'll want to protect that. Big tech needs putting in it's place, THAT'S something congress should be involved with, not helping them to amass more power. They're only doing this because of orders from above and/or for personal interests.

DarXyde385d ago

This topic again..

Not gonna harp on it, just want to say that the timing is suspicious and you would be foolish to believe this uncritically.

Very curious about recent lobbying efforts.

Jin_Sakai385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

Japan don’t care about Xbox. But hey let’s blame Sony. And ignore the fact Nintendo is the one actually dominating.

Jin_Sakai385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

“As they should, Sony is preventing Xbox gamers playing JP games like Final Fantasy which is why they dominate in JP.”

Square Enix could’ve easily said no to PS5 exclusivity but they didn’t. It’s not a one way street.

Jin_Sakai385d ago

Sony should buy Rockstar and tell Microsoft they have 10 years to come up with a GTA competitor.

tay8701385d ago

It would be hysterical if that were to go down. They would be in full meltdown mode. Then all of the sudden It would be bad that Sony buys up a big publisher, when they have been screaming IF MS and ABK wants to do it, they should be able to.

S2Killinit385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

The legal precedence set by MS’s acquisition means the rest of the industry will go the same route, there will be a frenzy of mergers amd acquisitions. There is already rumors of Sony aiming for exactly what you mentioned. Other mega corporations will also be aiming for the rest of the publishers so they can create their own services.

1Victor385d ago

🤦🏿 they( politicians) gotta protect their donors interests

ActualEngineer385d ago

Yeah, it's all a big plot so that Japan is forced to let MS buy Sega and Namco and have all 4 classic characters as their mascot. They will then replace the X in a circle with an X over pacman's face, as their logo. We will also see adds in the likes of Crash, Spyro, Sonic and Pac-Lady around an MS logo with the caption "the way it's ment to be plaid" 🤣

SullysCigar385d ago

The government is in bed with Microsoft, has been for years. How is this not a conflict of interests? How is this not straight up nepotism?

They do this kind of thing all the time at that level, looking after their buddies. (See: Ursula Von Der Leyen (AKA Ursula Fond o' Lyin') and her hubby's links during the vaccine rollout). Why should congress waste the tax payer's time and money dwelling on what happens in a foreign market that may or may not hinder the progress of a company that happens to be American? It's outside of their jurisdiction. Which is why it's plain to see it serves the interests of the individuals in congress rather than the American citizens...

neutralgamer1992385d ago

And why did Microsoft buy zenimax and Activision along with 10+ other developers ?

US congressmen can't work on bill that could be improving American lives, we still have homeless people under the bridges, many of whom served in the military but instead these congressmen areworried about japanese gaming market. This is all Microsoft and their resources talking

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 384d ago
bleedsoe9mm385d ago

It's about time somebody is looking into Sony's business practices

isarai385d ago

It's not like they keep exclusivity deals private lol

lelo2play385d ago

Actually, they do keep those deals private... so does Microsoft and Nintendo.

shinoff2183385d ago

What about ms practices. I do believe they have 3rd party exclusives to

BrainSyphoned385d ago

Ya their practices of not giving money to politicians like MS sure is suspicious.

TheRunup57385d ago

By "somebody" you mean paid for politicians MS has in their back pocket, of course.

bleedsoe9mm385d ago

Quite literally the design of representational government

ActualEngineer385d ago

As stated by sony themselves, they spend 2.5 million a year lobying in the US. Quite crying.

S2Killinit385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

@bleedsoe9mm
Oh god, “representational government” was not meant for lobbyists. Lol

The reason your politicians are the best money can buy is because of little case called Federal Election commission vs. Citizens United where they inadvertently openned the floodgates of corporate shills when they ruled that a corporation was a “person”. This resulted in corporations being able to “donate” money to politicians in the same way mom and pop could. As if both mom and pop and a corporation had the same financial might. That is why you got corrupt politicians like the ones MS is sicking on Sony at the moment.

frostypants385d ago

LOL...this is Congressmen doing it for campaign support. It's called legal bribery.

ChasterMies385d ago

You don’t see clickbait articles on this daily?

Rude-ro384d ago

It is all out there to see..
The Japanese cutler spends money on reliable long lasting items.

All stems from Microsoft’s faulty hardware that built distrust with said market.

You are just reading an article payed for by Microsoft’s money doing everything to get the deal done.

Lack of game making and lack of reliability on their hardware is why they do not do well in markets with a culture that looks for the complete opposite of what Microsoft offers.

That and Microsoft’s stigma of being cruel and shady to competitors through many tactics.
They just are not liked.

Spilt blood does not get anyone any sympathy.

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gangsta_red385d ago

Looks like Sony's crying and complaining about MS to the FTC has shifted some unwanted eyes on them.

385d ago
LOGICWINS385d ago

You play with fire long enough, you'll eventually get burnt.

darkrider385d ago

And Microsoft is burned beyond belief. That's why it's in last place, their games don't sell, their services floped and are spending 80 billions on publishers... Scary stuff

Eonjay385d ago

We are seeing the power of money in action. Why would US Senators be concerned over the failings of a trillion dollar company's venture in Japan? Because when you can buy Senators, you can use the government as a vehicle to look at things that tax payors probably don't care about. Instead of gun violence we have our senators trying to fight on behalf of the richest of the rich.

Redemption-64385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

Am sure the MS donations checks have cleared. This does absolutely nothing and I guarantee you, tje Japanese government will pretend these politicians don't exist

gangsta_red385d ago

"Am sure the MS donations checks have cleared"

Ah yes, it was all fair and square when the attention and focus was on MS...now it's bribes and corruption when questions are asked about Sony.

Redemption-64385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

@gangsta_red
https://twitter.com/stephen...

The 1st lady that came up literally has Microsoft as one of her biggest donors

Anyway Mr. Bot, you are welcome.

bleedsoe9mm385d ago

1st off MS employees are her biggest contributors. 2nd it literally her job to look out for the well being of her constituents. If there is nothing untoward in Sony business nothing will come of it.

Crows90385d ago

Probably for the best. These politicans arent entirely right in the head anyways. ITs funny though to see some suddenly care about these politicans judgements.

Redemption-64385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

@bleedsoe9mm

You mean the same business practices that Microsoft themselves take part in, from having a history of paying for exclusive content to full and timed exclusive deals? I wouldn't be surprised if these politicians knew MS does they same things, but they look the other way then the check clears

"well being of her constituents", I didn't know her constitutes included those in Japan. Microsoft is the one who refuses to advertise Xbox games and consoles in Japan, they don't want to invest in the Japanese market, they don't want to make games that appeals to the Japanese, but here they are crying to politicians, who receive money from them and who are too stupid to do basic research and regurgitate whatever lies MS tell them. There are many Japanese gamer/content creators on Twitter who have spoken about how there is almost no marketing of Xbox from Microsoft in Japan. Tell me, how do you expect to grow in a market that you intentionally refuse to invest. I guess make a few donations to politicians and tell them Sony and the Japanese government are making things difficult for you. Right?

gerbintosh385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

@bleedsoe9mm

So you are saying that for the last 20 years no senator in WA state gave a shit about Microsoft and Xbox until now? It is not like the Xbox was not getting their asses handed to them in Japan, with Europe right behind, for the last 10 years. Where were the senators then? It is pretty obvious that after the acquistion decison all of these senators complaining will go away since they will stop being paid

385d ago
gangsta_red384d ago (Edited 384d ago )

@redemption

Oh yeah, it's not like Sony doesn't also donate money to lobbyists for their own interests. Here's something to gurgle on...

https://www.washingtonexami...

"Sony donated nearly $750,000 to candidates and spent more than $5.5 million on lobbying in the last two years — almost all directed to Democrats, and it has a reputation of successfully using its money to buy their support."

https://www.opensecrets.org...

https://twitter.com/SenWarr...

https://twitter.com/SenSand...

Always a pleasure.

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Huey_My_D_Long385d ago

Lol How much money do you want to put on that these politicians all have donations from Microsoft.
Really sad how even when obvious people are bought, people will still back them.
You can support the deal going through, without thinking Politicians coming to defend their financial backers is just those politicians really concerned about Sony market share.

darkrider385d ago

A lot. That's why the majority of gamers don't like Microsoft. And never will. It's a scummy company that always tries to get monopoly and force people into get their stuff.

gangsta_red384d ago (Edited 384d ago )

And you really believe Sony donated $0 to American politicians? Sony who's market also includes Hollywood TV/movies, music and real estate in the states?

What about the politicians that supported the FTC in blocking the deal? Most, if not all of them were democrats, the main party Sony donated to.

Should we also bet that they were also paid off by Sony?

https://www.opensecrets.org...

TheRunup57385d ago

When will you xbox fanboys stop crying and complaining about anything and everything Sony says or does?

385d ago
darkrider385d ago

Nope, not really. This is just desperation from Microsoft. Anybody with half a brain doesn't eat this

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Christopher385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

This is performative and nothing else. Just look at who leads it - Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and "A letter to Tai and Raimondo from six Democratic lawmakers from Washington state — where Microsoft is based — covers similar ground."

And the questions they rise here aren't at all done by Microsoft in the past either. It's a problem when Sony makes a third-party deal, not when Microsoft does it?

This is just more pressure from Microsoft to try and make Sony look bad so they can get the ABK deal done.

***The Republican letter alleges that Sony PlayStation has 98% of the “high-end console market in Japan,” signs deals designed to keep hit Japanese games from Microsoft’s Xbox, and says such moves “may violate Japan’s antitrust laws.”

"Article 8 of the 2019 U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement calls for the countries to enable “non-discriminatory treatment of digital products” which would include games."***

This doesn't apply to licensing agreements. Otherwise, they're trying to tear down how licensing agreements work and would upend the whole industry for video games, streaming services, and more. It's not discriminatory to make licensing deals. It's discriminatory to overprice content on a competing platform.

By this logic, Sony can't have their own exclusives on their own platform if it comes to the U.S.

This is dumb.

Let alone, they are attempting to remove Nintendo and the PC market as a whole, both of which dwarf the PS market in japan, from the conversation entirely. In the competition for “high-end console market in Japan,” it's only Microsoft and Sony. And it's because of non-discriminatory treatment of digital products that did that? Can Microsoft point to us on the timeline of all consoles sales in Japan where they weren't beaten by Sony entirely at similar levels? Is there a metric where, suddenly, Sony started beating the big contender that was Microsoft in Japan?

sparky77385d ago

"Let alone, they are attempting to remove Nintendo and the PC market as a whole" Sony did this not MS, Sony.

The only reason there has been any opposition to the ABK deal is because Sony made up this "high-end market". Now it is being used against them.

Christopher385d ago

Incomparable.

1. Sony and Microsoft are direct competitors. Fact.

2. These congresspeople claim that Japan, the nation as a whole, are working to limit American video game business in their country, irrespective of the current ABK item or Sony alone.

3. Instead of comparing the nation as a whole, they then make it just about Sony.

4. In Japan, Nintendo is larger than Sony in the $2.7b console market, PC accounts for $3.8b of the market and dwarfs the last two, while mobile is at $29b.

5. Among those markets represented in Japan, Sony is the smallest of them, and yet it is Sony that is limiting growth for Microsoft in Japan and not the fact that their single competition at a specific value itself is losing in the market as a whole because of shifts to other platforms.

6. I'll leave you with this fact "The Xbox Series X/S has sold more than 100,000 units in Japan, according to the local industry bible Famitsu. This is at a much faster rate than for its predecessor the Xbox One, which took four and a half years to reach this figure."

TheRunup57385d ago

I know you guys have had a rough couple of decades but you really need to relax, you guys are going to have an aneurysm with all your Sony hate.

Extermin8or3_385d ago

Different markets in the west the comparison of Microsoft and Sony is a valid one excluding nintendo- because that's how our market behaves and how consumers view it by and large. In Japan a different market consumers behave differently and such a comparison is not valid. In Japan Nintendo is very much a competitor of Sony and actually has larger market share.

Ryuk_2007385d ago

Microsoft doesn't care about the Japanese home console market. There isn't much of one left to begin with.

It's about Sony getting exclusive games developed in Japan that sell in the rest of the world.

Sony pushed a narrow definition of the market to stop the AKB merger and Ms is going to use it against them to look into exclusive deals from large Japanese publishers/potentially block acquisitions or potentially be ready to fight for future acquisitions of their own.

This could be the framework MS uses to justify the purchase of a Square/Sega/Capcom down the road.

Defining the market as high-end home gaming consoles only was extremely short sighted of Sony and MS is absolutely going to use that to frame this as a David vs Goliath story with regulators for years to come.

Christopher385d ago

***It's about Sony getting exclusive games developed in Japan that sell in the rest of the world.***

Versus Microsoft getting exclusive games developed in the U.S. that sell in the rest of the world?

***Sony pushed a narrow definition of the market to stop the AKB merger and Ms is going to use it against them to look into exclusive deals from large Japanese publishers/potentially block acquisitions or potentially be ready to fight for future acquisitions of their own.***

Sure. How about we do the same with Microsoft and the West? Why do people think there's only one snake in this game? Both companies are the same. 100%. But let's act like only Sony's actions matter? Hypocrisy or just purposeful blindness. Tired of people acting like either of these companies aren't doing the same thing and acting like Sony is getting its comeuppance by letting a company centralize a massive portion of the industry and encourage even more centralization by other companies moving forward.

***Defining the market as high-end home gaming consoles only was extremely short sighted of Sony and MS is absolutely going to use that to frame this as a David vs Goliath story with regulators for years to come.***

Calling the 3rd most valuable company in the world that is worth over 10x the other company and that is spending $70b to "compete" David in this scenario is the most asinine thing I've read about this subject in a very long while.

Ryuk_2007385d ago

Christopher M$ doesn't own 98% of the console market in the west like Sony does in Japan. Flip the script for a second and reverse the roles

M$ owns 98% of the console space in the US.
Pays US developers not to release games on PlayStation/Ps plus while money-hatting triple A titles.
The U.S blocks Sony from buying American devs/pubs but okays M$ to buy Japanese ones.
Japan calls out the US for not doing anything about M$ anticompetitive practices.

See where this is going?

Christopher385d ago

Sony doesn't own 98% of the market in Japan. They in fact are losing to Nintendo. In fact, the games that Microsoft wants to talk about have become much more profitable in the West and Sony doesn't make games for Japan, but the West.

CBaoth385d ago

Sony doesn't control 98% of ANY market. You're as dumb as the congressmen. Now all of a sudden, a 2 trillion dollar company can't compete with a 20 billion dollar one. Maybe if your little plastic box wasn't managed by the folks on Sesame street, they wouldn't have to buy up publishers. Who was the genius who thought making a low income console was a good idea? Oh I know the same dummy who thought IndiePass was a great idea. MS continually shoot themselves in the foot. Xbox one launching with Kinect anyone? Anyone?

Extermin8or3_385d ago

Except the eu and cma ultimately didn't go eith that definition.

Extermin8or3_385d ago

Oh also I gotta point out if we want to talk monopoly well every pc comes with xbox gaming pre installed. Look at steam players literally 98% of them have a Windows pc. Factor in those numbers. Steam and epic games don't come pre-installed. I see no adverts for them on the OS. I do however see adverts about xbox games and games pass at an OS level..... hmmm.

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Lifexline385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

That’s what people need to realize that’s anti competitive no matter whether Sony or Microsoft does it or Nintendo. A big brand like final fantasy should stay multiplatform. Because it used to be it’s the same argument with Bethesda and activision that MS is taking away games that were available to PlayStation. especially if they have a history of starting multiplatform. I understand small developers who financially can’t those cases are fine. But square Enix they have the money.

Just because something is “standard” doesn’t meant it’s right and should be allowed. If we are really worried about the consumers then these “standard” practices maybe need to be changed. There are so many things In history that were “standard” that are not anymore because it wasn’t right.

shinoff2183385d ago

Sony bought what is probably timed exclusive of ff16 and you equate it as fair that ms bought 2 publishers. 1 game as opposed to the 100s of what ms will recieve exclusive now. Wtf wheres the sense. Yall fighting bs trying to down play ms actions over Sony having 3 exclusives mostly timed

Lifexline385d ago

@shinoff well usually when you buy something you can do as you please with it. Sony has done it, Nintendo has as well. That’s the point of buying something. It’s yours to do as you please. It’s not like someone held a gun at these companies to sell it wasn’t a hostile takeover.

But paying for timed exclusives or games to keep off competitors platform should be an outdated practice for everyone. Especially to pay a developer to keep a game off a platform. Timed exclusives although it sucks at least eventually you will get the game so that’s not that big of a deal but the other is it’s simply spiteful.

Also it’s not just one or three games it’s been a lot of games that they have done to each other that shouldn’t be allowed.

Hofstaderman385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

They were never multiplatform. They always released on one console and from a certain point (I think FF7) came out on pc a year or so afterwards and then, not all of them. XBOX had FF titles and they sold dismally on that platform.

Lifexline385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

@hof wasn’t FF 13 multiplatform and didn’t the Xbox version sell over 2 million copies considering it released later then the PlayStation version and shipped on four discs That’s impressive. Most games don’t sell that much yes the majority of sales were on PlayStation but who knows if it would have sold more if it released simultaneously as the PlayStation version.

But because of Sony’s anticompetitive practices we won’t know. that’s like killzone and resistance sales. So are those franchises failures? 2 millions is nothing to scoff at most games are lucky to get sales like that. If square released a final fantasy game at the same time worldwide who knows how well it might sale but because Sony always blocks the release in Japan to be released at the same time we will never know.

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XiNatsuDragnel385d ago

Whelp you guys should after nintendo by your logic tbh.

CrimsonWing69385d ago (Edited 385d ago )

How so?

What has come out about Nintendo? Literally all the claims against Sony are in court documents and can be read by the public.

I haven’t seen anything on Nintendo.

badz149385d ago

Nintendo is an outsider in this because ActiBliz is not as important to Nintendo as they are to Sony. but they can't just omit Nintendo when talking about the video game market as a whole, especially Japan. sure Sony is outselling MS heavily over there but it's for pennies compared to what Nintendo is making out of that market. and since when has xbox ever was a success over there? if the market discrepancy in Japan is gonna be questioned, are they gonna investigate the other markets as well? last time I checked, the xbox is being heavily outsold by PS everywhere all around the world! the difference in Japan alone can't make up that >10mil deficit the Series consoles are behind the PS5.

they can't accept the reality that the xbox is not that desirable outside the US and now is blaming Sony for their own incompetence!

Chevalier385d ago

Wait so Nintendo isn't included to skew the sales towards Playstation. But when Microsoft needs to include them for 10 year COD they do count? Awfully convenient to count and then not count them right?

CrimsonWing69385d ago

@Chevalier

What have they skewed to PlayStation in terms of sales?

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