560°

Usher's performance at Microsoft's E3 conference 'helped Sony', jokes Tretton

Drafting in Usher to perform during Microsoft's E3 press conference "helped Sony", SCEA chief Jack Tretton has jested.

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videogamer.com
MariaHelFutura4325d ago

It definitly didn't do anything posistive for Microsoft. As good at they are at marketing, their E3 presentations have been nothing short of embrassing the last few E3s. The KKK rally was the worst...

Dante1124325d ago (Edited 4325d ago )

I'm not feeling MS's new direction as far as consoles go (casual main focus). I really wanted to see some new hardcore IPs at it's E3 conference.

Abash4325d ago

I was surprised that Usher's performance was even more embarrassing and awkward than Duffy's performance with Microsoft's failed Singstar rip-off "Lips".

Gaming1014324d ago

Jack Tretton - always the used car salesman of CEO's. His rational is that Usher is more of a "Sony artist". How exactly he figures I have no idea... noone thinks of Usher and then thinks Sony - we're not buying it Jack.

da_2pacalypse4324d ago

I'm just wondering why M$ thinks that wasting money on hiring Usher for a performance will at all help their conference :P

ABizzel14324d ago

@Gaming101

Well seeing how Usher's record label is Jive, and how Jive is owned by Sony Music Group, I would say Usher is more of a Sony artist.

ShinMaster4324d ago (Edited 4324d ago )

Usher is under a label owned by Sony.
Jack Tretton said that helped them (hint: $$$). That was the joke.

AKS4324d ago

@Gaming101

It was a joke that obviously went way over your head.

Anyway, Tretton's jovial, nervous, and self-effacing style makes him almost impossible to dislike in my view. He also produces some entertaining quotable material, like the infamous "surf and turf" comment from years ago. Even when they were struggling in the early years of the PS3 and he was doing a lot of damage control, I still thought he was amusing and enjoyable to listen to. He has always struck me as a guy who is difficult to dislike.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4324d ago
Blacktric4325d ago (Edited 4325d ago )

"KKK rally"

LMFAO. Very well put.

@below

I think she meant that silly Kinect reveal conference. The one which had Cirque De Soleil or whatever and where they made everyone to wear those silly white KKK robe like things. Come to think of it, doesn't Kinect have hard time recognizing dark skinned people? OMG!

Nimblest-Assassin4325d ago

What KKK rally... not sure if we are taking Klu Klux, or something less serious

NukaCola4324d ago

Niblest

It's the white poncho event when they finally demoed and showed Kinect at E3. Everyone had to where white ponchos because the camera apparently at the time could not recognize dark skin tones.

nukeitall4324d ago

I thought the Cirque De Soleil was pretty cool. I got a chance to see it live in Vegas a while back, and it is quite breathtaking when you are there in person. There is a reason why the acts are famous.

Nimblest-Assassin4325d ago

usher-ed in a new era of gaming.... one of my favorite E3 2012 memes

1) I feel like a purple pikmin
2) WONDERBOOK!
3) Puppet master
4) Body is ready
5) Ushering
6)Imagine playing your game while sitting in the fridge

There where lots of lols and facepalms at E3

Moby-Royale4324d ago

Where?

There where!

Smh

;)

TekoIie4324d ago

If you don't like south park something's wrong with you.... Or you have very sensitive or girly feelings:3

Slapshot824324d ago (Edited 4324d ago )

I'm sick of the E3 memes!

For those who haven't figured it out yet. Sony literally owns Usher, because he is signed under a Sony owned label (Jive). So, anyone that wen't out and purchased an Usher album because of his E3 performance during Microsoft's conference, well, that money will go straight to Sony, not Microsoft.

Thatguy-3104325d ago

They are basically stating how usher is a Sony branded artist. Don't assume Sony is saying that it was embarrassing having in the conference

4324d ago Replies(3)
kanetheking4324d ago

Gaming101, usher is signed to a label under sony's music division which makes him a sony artist.

GusBricker4324d ago (Edited 4324d ago )

How many Kinects have they sold?

I'd like me some of that embarrassment...of riches.

TekoIie4324d ago (Edited 4324d ago )

"It definitly didn't do anything posistive for Microsoft"

So what did it do to hinder their conference? Please someone explain what's so bad about this?

4mins of Usher/Dance Central > 15 mins of Wonderbook -_-

MariaHelFutura4324d ago

Nope, they were both bad. Cheer up little guy....

Blaze9294324d ago

speaking on Usher specifically, and that performance - am I the only one who thought it was terrible? From his voice to the dancing.

Coming from an Usher fan, I think he just needs to hang it up now. Ain't been the same since Confessions

NeXXXuS4324d ago (Edited 4324d ago )

Everyone knows that the KKK is the Kool Kidz Klub.
XD

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 4323d ago
360ICE4325d ago

Didn't anyone catch the joke that that dance game would "usher" in a new era of dance games? No one laughed at the presser. Poor host

DivineAssault 4325d ago

Microsoft fools ppl with shows & services to keep ppls attention off the fact they have no games.. Guns & aliens seem to satisfy many but they dont have anything to keep me as a customer.. Im only buying 2 consoles nx gen & it wont be one of theirs

ChunkyLover534324d ago (Edited 4324d ago )

To be fair Microsoft has brought a lot of quality exclusives to the table this generation. They have also had the bulk of the better third party support as well.

I honestly think Sony fanboys, not the true Sony fans, but rather the ugly, hate filled fanboys, all like the idea of having a lot of exclusives just so they can brag about it, they like the idea that their console has the most, but they don't go out and buy them. At the end of the day Sony and Microsoft have pretty much the same amount of AAA exclusives, Uncharted, God Of War, Killzone and Gran Turismo and Microsoft has Gears, Halo, Fable and Forza, now obviously both companies have more that those, but those are the big sellers.

As for guns and aliens, Resistance, Killzone and a few other Sony properties all feature both.

Also, I'll say that had a Microsoft executive made a smart ass comment about Wonderbook, that article would have been filled with all sorts of hate from the people here, just remember what goes around comes around.

IIC0mPLeXII4324d ago

I think you are missing titles like Ratchet and Clank, God of War, Little Big Planet, Jak and Daxter, Socom, Journey, Disgaea, and Heavy Rain. So which one of the aforementioned titles has any similarity to a Microsoft exclusive? Don't bring up Alan Wake it was dumbed down for 360.

dubt724324d ago

I'm not missing any of those, lol...

ChunkyLover534324d ago

@IIC0mPLeXII

I wasn't comparing titles for similarity, I was naming off the big sellers for each console maker. I also did mention God Of War, as for the others, we haven't even had a Jak game this generation and I wasn't a fan of Heavy Rain, as I've stated before, I think that is a very niche title and I've heard that some people love it, and some hated it.

I was basically mentioning how even though Sony has a lot of exclusives, the only ones that really push sales are the top ones, just like Microsoft's top guns. I'm not commenting on quality or anything like that, but I firmly believe a lot of Sony fanboys like the idea of exclusives, just so they can thump their chest and say "Our console has the most exclusives". Its obvious from lower sales, that the majority of people on PS3 like the same types of games as are on the Xbox 360, shooters and aliens ect...

DivineAssault 4324d ago

sony has games with aliens and guns but its only a small portion of them.. I buy game consoles for GAMES & they simply dont satisfy that need.. I prefer eastern developed games over western as well so thats why i like sony.. Microsoft may have other games that arent as widely known but they are heavily overshadowed by the gears n halo series.. Not interested in the slightest.. I enjoy sonys offerings A LOT more so im not buying the NXBOX or whatever it is.. Niether is japan

ShaunCameron4324d ago

@ DivineAssault

<I prefer eastern developed games over western as well so thats why i like sony..>

That's funny because this generation the PS3 hardly has much of those. I prefer Eastern-developed games too, but there is hardly anything Eastern about the PS3 or its library MGS4 aside.

BitbyDeath4324d ago

'Microsoft has brought a lot of quality exclusives to the table this generation'

'Microsoft has Gears, Halo, Fable and Forza'

Only one of those were brought this gen, I wouldn't call that a lot.

ChunkyLover534324d ago

@BitbyDeath

Microsoft has brought a ton of games this generation, ignorant people only list off Forza, Fable, Gears and Halo.

Crackdown 1 and 2
Viva Pinata 1 and 2
Kameo
Ninja Blade
Lost Odyssey
Blue Dragon
Ninety Nine Nights 1 and 2
The Last Remnant
Infinite Undiscovery
Alan Wake

And those are just some of the ones off the top of my head, of course there are a ton of decent to good XBLA and Kinect new IP's this generation as well.

The reason I didn't start listing them before is the same reason I didn't list the lesser Sony IP's, they didn't really sell.

My whole original point was that the exclusives that Sony has are irrelevant because most people aren't buying any of them but the big AAA games.

Honestly, the only PS3 games I buy that are exclusive are Uncharted, God Of War, Killzone and Gran Turismo. Nothing else has appealed to me that much, though I think I might have a few others laying around somewhere. So all the people that dog Microsoft for releasing the solid IP's that actually sell need to rethink that a bit, its nice that Sony wastes money on games, but it hurts them in the long run, because people aren't buying those titles.

This year is a great example of solid PS3 games that went unsold, Twisted Metal, Starhawk and Sorcery all sold really poorly, last year was much the same for anything not called Uncharted 3.

I'm not going to sit there and let people be ignorant on facts, both companies utilize their hit franchises and both have a ton of IP's that didn't exactly set the world on fire.

Shane Kim4324d ago

ChunkyLover53

Do you own Sony shares or what? Who gives a f*** if their games aren't selling? You're putting the amount of Sony games as a bad thing. Believe it or not but some people like different things.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 4324d ago
StreetsofRage4324d ago (Edited 4324d ago )

What's wrong with everybody on here? Microsoft has no games? Please tell me what games the ps3 has this year? Last time I turned on my ps3 was last year. Games I bought this year...

Lollipop Chainsaw
Tom Clancy's Future Soldier
The Witcher's 2
Max Payne 3
Sniper Elite v2
Prototype 2
Ninja Gaiden 3

All these games I bought on my 360. Where are all these fantastic Sony exclusives you are talking about? You talking about last year, right? Please tell me if something is coming out this year because I sure don't know.

I love my exclusives on my ps3 but saying Microsoft has no games is plain stupid when the ps3 has nothing in 2012.

pwnmaster30004324d ago

Well right now twisted metal, mlb, starhawk, sorcery, yakuza, and journey are out.
idk if you like them but some people in the world probably think.there fantastic.

I dont go with review or sales.
ex. I thought dead island was a fantastic game and put lots of hours into it, even though the reviews were bad.

cyclonus0074324d ago

With the exception of Witcher 2, all of those games are also on PS3. Combine that with the many PS3 exclusives and that is why people say MS has no games.

dubt724324d ago

Having no games and having very few aaa exclusives are very different. Who cares who makes the games if you enjoy them and don't feel like you're missing out in any way?

ShAkKa4324d ago

Wow I wish I could play those fantastic games on PS3, oh wait...

Imalwaysright4324d ago

Those arent MS games. None of them is. Halo 4 and Forza Horizon are the only MS games this year wich is pathetic.

jessupj4324d ago (Edited 4324d ago )

"I love my exclusives on my ps3 but saying Microsoft has no games is plain stupid when the ps3 has nothing in 2012."

Oh the irony. You say it's "plain stupid" to say microsoft has no games, then you continue to say "ps3 has nothing in 2012"

The 360 has 2 big hitters coming out this year, the ps3 has a lot more then that but I'm not going to bother wasting my time making a list.

See why it was so ironic that you called people stupid for saying MS has no games?

Like I said before, you obviously don't like great games so just give your ps3 to someone that will actually appreciate it.

chobit_A5HL3Y4324d ago

fail. witcher 2 is the only game on your fail list that isn't on ps3 as well lolz and mebe you'd know of more ps3 games if you took off your ms panties~ TRY HARDER!!! :D

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4324d ago
RememberThe3574325d ago

Hahaha Usher's a Sony artist?! Who would have known! Oh man thats good.

4324d ago
godofboobees4325d ago

Dance central is a fun game but when its focused on at an event this big its hard not to say their conference was a fail.

Show all comments (96)
280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple1015d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref5d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde5d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19725d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville5d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21834d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos4d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
isarai5d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref5d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan5d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0074d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander19725d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

5d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19725d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

5d ago
5d ago
Zeref5d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde5d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19725d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19725d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier5d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto5d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21834d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto4d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
Hofstaderman5d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts5d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts4d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic4d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)
280°

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

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

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
ChasterMies15d ago

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

just_looken14d ago

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

Cacabunga14d ago

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

just_looken14d ago

@car

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

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

Redemption-6414d ago

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

Huey_My_D_Long14d ago

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

Einhander197214d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

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

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

FinalFantasyFanatic14d ago

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

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

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 14d ago
DivineHand12514d ago

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

Joe91314d ago

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

Obscure_Observer14d ago

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

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

S2Killinit14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

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

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

Joe91314d ago

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

S2Killinit14d ago

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

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 14d ago
Christopher15d ago

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

CrimsonWing6914d ago (Edited 14d ago )

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

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

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

S2Killinit14d ago

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

Abnor_Mal14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

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

Christopher14d ago

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

just_looken14d ago

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

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

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

Einhander197214d ago (Edited 14d ago )

Christopher

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

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

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

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

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

FinalFantasyFanatic14d ago

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

romulus2314d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218314d ago

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

S2Killinit14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

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

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder14d ago

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

crazyCoconuts14d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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370°

Could Xbox Soon Become The Next Dreamcast?

Microsoft's future in the video game space is murky right now, so let's break it all down.

Read Full Story >>
thegamer.com
ApocalypseShadow17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

Not anytime soon. But they're on that path.

One thing not mentioned in the article is Microsoft's money bags. If Sega had Microsoft's money, they would have still been around as a hardware manufacturer. Xbox as a platform only survives because of the money bags. They can continue making consoles for the core and port to PC.

The multiplatform strategy is only the result of arrogance and misguided leadership that blew up in their face. They thought gamers would jump on Xbox in droves if they knew that many of their favorite games would be only on Xbox. But that's not happening at all. Sales didn't increase. They decreased. Why? Because the dumb asses thought giving away these expensively made games in a cheap service would also turn the tide.

Gamers on other platforms are willing to buy quality. They don't need to be handed nearly free games in a service that aren't even finished and sometimes average in their development. Gamers buy Nintendo games. They buy Sony games. Microsoft groomed their base to not buy games. Even the quality ones. It has always been their plan to go digital. But most gamers still like single player gaming. Still like physical releases.

Microsoft's problem has always been that they don't produce high quality games at the same output as Nintendo and Sony. Actually, they should be producing quite a lot more because they're worth over 2 TRILLION. How they don't have more is ridiculous and no excuse. Buying publishers to take away from competition only backfired. Because it still takes millions of dollars to continue to make those games from the publishers they snatched. Their only choice was to crawl back to their competitors to help sustain those developers because Nintendo and Sony platforms were the ones buying games.

Am I sorry for Microsoft? Hell no! They deserved last place for putting in the least effort. They deserved the fallout for buying up the industry and didn't make a single blip on the radar against their competitors where they now need those same gamers they took away games from to support them. Part of it may have been to cash in on their competition. But the result is the slow death of their platform. They may go 3rd party. They may keep making hardware. I don't give a shit about them to worry about it. I only give a shit about the destructive nature of their industry moves that only negatively affect gamers. They could sell and drop out of the industry and I wouldn't blink. Probably laugh. But not blink. They deserve whatever comes to them. At least Sega put in the effort when it came to games. They just had poor leadership. Microsoft has poor leadership and barely makes memorable games. That's a killer combination. And not in a good way.

Cacabunga17d ago

That would be an insult to Dreamcast.. it had a crazy line up of legendary critically acclaimed games.

Crows9017d ago

I was thinking the same. Dreamcast had incredible games in such a short amount of time. It was truly exceptional.

darthv7217d ago

...and yet all those great games were not enough to sway people from the looming release of the PS2 at the time. Sony just has that kind of brand loyalty.

Cacabunga17d ago

Darth

I do not agree.. Sony had even better games thanks to an unprecedented 3rd party support..
DC had amazing lineup but 90% were arcade games..

88317d ago

@darth:
And Sony showed off "The Emotion Engine" and their real time demos that made everyone think they would miss out on REAL next gen 128bit magic if they jumped in before PS2s polygon pushing monster (and early lack of anti-aliasing with a healthy heap of shimmer + DVD playback) stepped up. PS2 was a fantastic system though with amazing games.

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blacktiger17d ago

That's not true. Just because Microsoft has the money doesn't mean Microsoft can allow xbox to bleed entire Microsoft money. It doesn't work like they. Also SEC will be watching and investor won't allow it. Lot of reasons why Microsoft can not continue even if they wanted to. SEC regulations is expensive.

fr0sty17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

Exactly this... Microsoft is a publicly traded company, mostly owned by their shareholders (Approximately 59.24% of the company's stock is owned by Institutional Investors, 7.73% is owned by Insiders and 33.03% is owned by Public Companies and Individual Investors.). Their shareholders call the shots on the business decisions, and their shareholders want one thing and one thing only, for their stock price to go up. Losses do not make stock prices go up... so if the division continually posts losses on hardware, but shows profits on software and services (which has been the case with Xbox its entire lifespan, for over 20 years now), the shareholders are going to grow impatient and demand they stop making hardware and focus on the only thing that has ever made them money, software and services.

When Microsoft bought Blizzard and Activision for almost 100 billion, I knew that was the nail in the coffin for Xbox as a console... as the shareholders were going to expect a quick return on that investment, and when it didn't materialize, they were going to be out for blood... out to force Xbox to sell those games on as many consoles as possible, "and while you're at it, sell those first party exclusives that aren't selling well on other consoles as well... hell, just stop making consoles and sell games."

If there is another Xbox console generation, it will definitely be the last, but I doubt there even will be one at this point. I think the Xbox division planning on it just in case, but I don't think the project has been greenlit from Microsoft itself. The rumors that they have not yet even secured the chips needed from the chip fabrication facilities ties into this.

shinoff218317d ago

While I usually agree with you . Alot of what was said can just also be asked before any of that.

How long will the shareholders wait? It doesn't appear long at all

Babadook716d ago

I think I get your point. Like just because MS has money does not mean they are content to throw it away on a dying ecosystem. Xbox has to be profitable or “what’s the point?”

ifinitygamer17d ago

Money bags, yes, but are we ignoring that Xbox actually makes a profit on games and GamePass? Hardware is often a loss leader, and they're probably making profit 4 years into the life cycle, but games and services revenue have been very profitable while other parts of Microsoft's business is struggling. Say what you will about the quality of those games, of course, but this is kind of a reverse Dreamcast situation, where the console was dragging down the company and put it at risk of shuttering entirely. Killing that console saved the business and allowed it to continue to make games on multiple platforms. In this case, the service is very profitable, as are the games, and they're also double-dipping into Multiplatform to extend this further, while their hardware is just sort of what they believe to be the best for gamers and their own titles (whether that is the case or not...)

fr0sty17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

The issue is, they aren't selling enough hardware to make their exclusives profitable, and now that they've bought half the gaming publisher/dev industry, they have no choice but to go third party to make a profit... and that is making their shareholders take a real close look at their hardware division under the microscope... why keep making the hardware if the software is all that is making them money, and they continually, generation after generation come in dead last with hardware sales?

Look at a game like Spiderman 2... if it had been an Xbox exclusive, with the amount it cost to develop, it would have been a huge failure... simply not enough consoles out there to sell it on. They would have been lucky to break even.

ifinitygamer17d ago

@fr0sty agreed completely, which is why they're hedging by releasing other games to multiplatform, plus they have PC to make up for the difference in a lot of ways, which is why their games are not complete money pits. It brings up the question of whether or not those exclusives would drive sales of consoles, though. Let's say Spiderman 2 was an Xbox exclusive, it would certainly have pushed console sales, though who's to say how much is anyone's guess.

fr0sty16d ago

That's why you can't rely on just one exclusive, Sony has always delivered on a wide range of solid exclusives, even this generation (even if they haven't been strong on the first party exclusives, they've made up for it with third party). They don't rely on just one "system seller", they have a portfolio of them.

16d ago
JBlaze22616d ago

ApocalypseShadow To be honest Sony has more of a chance to go 3rd party because like you said Microsoft has money, Sony does not. Sony does not have games, Only games they have come from 3rd party. Sony has been losing money for years and you. Saying Microsoft has been putting the least effort just proves you have no idea what's been going on. All Sony has done is repeat and recycle, never innovating or doing something new. All Sony has is brand loyalty nothing else and it shows.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 16d ago
LG_Fox_Brazil17d ago

Not sure about that. It's been two decades and I still think about Power Stone, Shenmue, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Seaman and others, but I'm not sure I'll remember Xbox Series X/S games in a few years from now... Maybe I'll remember about the franchises that the Xbox brand spawned, but I don't believe that the Xbox Series lives up to the late Dreamcast or even to the Xbox name itself. I do have great memories about the 360 with Blue Dragon, Gears 2 and Lost Odyssey though

isarai17d ago

Nah, sega actually makes good games

Becuzisaid17d ago

No, Dreamcast was ahead of it's time and most still have very fond memories of it that had one. It also had some good games on it even in it's short lifespan. Xbox has none of these qualities.

Profchaos17d ago

I remember it coming out at the time in a really bad place they hit the market before the PS2 but it was during this transitional time when Sony was promoting the power of the PS2 and so many of the Dreamcast games were awesome but often third parties simply ported the PS1 version increased resolution and performance but rarely fully utilise the capabilities of the console.

I think in the end bad marketing done it in and like the GameCube so many people are fond of it now but at the time it was looked at in the lense of the day and it didn't stack up.

Personally I miss Sega in hardware they took risks that many companies won't

Becuzisaid17d ago

I never owned it, and got the PS2 right when it launched. But there were certain games it had that I was always jealous of that I didn't have access to - Sonic adventure, crazy taxi, power Stone, code Veronica, shenmue, skies of Arcadia. I always thought it was a really cool machine though. I've never heard a bad thing about it though from those that had it.

FinalFantasyFanatic17d ago

I only ever saw one Dreamcast, and that was one my friend owned, pity I never got to play it, I wonder what games he had for it?

It would be nice if some of those games got ported to modern systems.

Profchaos17d ago

Oh man sonic adventure on the Dreamcast made me so jealous as a huge sonic fan on the mega drive who also moved to PlayStation 2 I never got the chance to play it back in the day either. The Dreamcast in Australia where I am was always relegated to the smallest corner of EB Games it was kind of a strong first indicator that things were not going well at the time.

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