50°

GameReverb: Sony’s $380 Million Dollar Acquisition Of Gaikai Puts Them In The Driver Seat

In this latest episode of GameReverb, the gangs jumps right into the second episode of The Walking Dead and holding no punches Telltale Games once again knocks it out of the park. Without any pre-show spoiler warnings to announce, we gracefully dive into what we believe makes the series great……so far.

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BakedGoods4328d ago (Edited 4328d ago )

MS invested millions into Kinect thinking the gimmicky/casual market would be the driving force of the market. It isn't, yet the leaked 720 info proves they still haven't figured that out.

Sony, learning quickly from the Move, understand it's technology and economics of scale that drive this market, not simply game interfacing and/or the casual demo.

Cloud gaming, if done correctly, could be a real future for gaming.

ChunkyLover534327d ago

You've got to be kidding right? Microsoft has sold over 20 million Kinects to date, Sony tried to get in on the casual market with the Move, but failed at it.

Cloud gaming isn't something new, its been around for years, the same core gamers you think are bashing Microsoft for Kinect, have been bashing cloud gaming as well.

We haven't even seen anything real on the PS4, but there were rumors that Sony is implementing their own version of Kinect, or possibly including Move like controllers right off the bat.

Microsoft and Nintendo both have their own versions of cloud that they have been working on. Microsoft in particular has been building its cloud for a while now.

I do think its smart that Sony finally decided to cover their bases by acquiring something the other two companies already had been working on, but it doesn't put Sony in any better position then before.

GribbleGrunger4327d ago (Edited 4327d ago )

I often see those stats for Kinect and sigh with disbelief. Why are 360 fans so keen on Kinect being successful? Can't they see where it's driven the 360? Can't they see how all the money is being drawn towards the casuals because of it?

Sony keep on pumping out AAA exclusives and innovative PSN titles, and yet the focus for 360 owners is the very thing that's preventing them from experiencing games of the same quality. You just can't keep on relying on two games... you just can't.

If Kinect gets even more leverage with the next console from Microsoft, then you are in for a huge disappointment when it finally hits. If you are happy to eschew new IPs and a varied AAA lineup, then so be it, but don't brag about the very thing that's handing Sony the upper hand week in and week out.

You may HATE Sony for some apparent reason and forget how they've driven the industry, but you must understand that Kinects success is the death of hardcore gaming on the 360, and probably on the 720. MOVE was only ever an alternative, not a replacement, and unless MS adopt a similar approach, then I'm afraid gamers will suffer as a consequence.

With Gaikai, once again Sony will be at the cutting edge and others will follow, but only follow, not lead. You are not looking at the death of AAA titles on the PS4 with Gaikai, you are looking at an 'alternative' delivery system that has NO bounds whatsoever. Sony don't concentrate on any particular market, they cater to EVERY market. That's the beauty of PS branded consoles, and the reason I've never been persuaded to invest in any other console since the PS1

Tout the numbers all you want, true gamers understand why Sony have never changed their approach and that's why Sony IS the console that true gamers choose... and it does cater for the casuals too. What more can you ask for? sales numbers? Naaaaaaa

Hicken4327d ago

So how did the Move fail? By not putting up Kinect numbers? Guess what: the Kinect didn't put up Wii numbers, so it failed, too. And the Wii is still about 50 million behind the PS2, so it's a failure. And if the Wii is a failure, the PS3 and 360 must be disasters...

What you understand perfectly but choose to ignore is that Sony's expectations for the Move weren't the same as Microsoft's expectations of the Kinect, just like their expectations for the Vita aren't the same as Nintendo's expectations of the 3DS. Therefore saying it failed because it didn't match the same numbers as another device- whose expectations were higher in the first place- is a flawed argument.

And what cloud-based service does Microsoft have? I don't know about Nintendo, but ever since Sony got Gaikai, I've seen people asking, "Should Microsoft buy OnLive?" That doesn't sound like Microsoft has the same thing. And them "working on" it is moot: they don't have it.

Your attempts are laughable, as usual.

On another note, it's funny to see people keep talking about how much money they KNOW Sony can't afford to spend on this or that, when they do things like put down $380 million on acquiring new stuff.

ChunkyLover534327d ago

@GribbleGrunger

Let me set you straight on something first. I am a gamer first and foremost. I own a PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. I own a Move and Kinect, I enjoy all facets of gaming, I firmly believe that there are only gamers and none of this "core" or "casual" crap. They are all simply video games, so I enjoy a wide array of just about all of them, from Facebook games like Sim City Social, to Halo and Uncharted. It makes no difference to me as long as the quality is there and I'm able to have fun and enjoy myself.

I like Kinect, I will be the first to admit it, I like it for gaming, really enjoy Kinect Sports, Gunstringer, Child Of Eden, Dance Central, Fruit Ninja, Haunt and a few others, that doesn't mean I'm not a gamer or that I cant enjoy Battlefield, Gears, Little Big Planet or any other game, because I own all of those and enjoy them as well.

Its idiotic fanboys who try and label and alienate gamers who are different or like something different that are ruining gaming, I accept all gamers and consider anyone who games to be allied with me.

I don't hate Sony, you can feel free to check my past comments, I don't think I've ever said anything negative about them.

As for your assumption:

"With Gaikai, once again Sony will be at the cutting edge and others will follow, but only follow, not lead."

That is one of the biggest blow hard statements I've ever heard, Microsoft and Nintendo have been building up Cloud gaming for a while now, its obviously a big part of what Microsoft intends for the Xbox 720, so I'm not exactly sure either of those companies will be "following" Sony, but rather just doing a natural progression. I don't hate Sony, but I'm not going to sit there and listen to fanboy rants about how great a company they are and all this innovation stuff, when everyone else is doing the same thing at the same time.

To be honest, your bashing Microsoft for Kinect, but they are releasing quite a few solid titles and what you'd consider "core" titles to boot.

Also, a lot of Sony fanboys throw up all these new and innovative Sony exclusive, some are good, but at the end of the day I think you hardcore Sony fans enjoy TALKING about those exclusives more than you actually buy them. Twisted Metal, Starhawk, Sorcery, Resistance 2 and Infamous 2 are all examples of this. Not saying any of those are terrible or bad, but if nobody is buying them, why on earth would a company continue to make them?

@Hicken

Did you not see the Microsoft leaked documents? They want cloud gaming with the Xbox 720 by 2015. They don't need to go out and buy a service that already exists, it makes much more sense for them to build one from scratch. They are a software/computer company long before a gaming company.

I think everyone know that Microsoft doesn't let outsiders inside its networks, so building something from the ground up seems like the obvious choice, they weren't constrained by a lack of backwards compatibility like Sony is, which is a big reason I believe Sony has went ahead with that purchase.

darx4327d ago

I thought the masses were down on cloud gaming and that it was going to be a huge failure. Curious to see the reaction now.

Hicken4327d ago

What people don't want is for cloud gaming to become the standard. THAT would fail; or so I fervently hope.

Having it be a supplement- especially for gaming on the go- is alright, however.

ChunkyLover534327d ago

They were only down on it until Sony bought a Cloud service, now its fine.

150°

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

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

Profchaos18d ago (Edited 18d ago )

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

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

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

exputers18d ago

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

Profchaos17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken18d ago

What your talking about is called block list

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

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

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

z2g18d ago

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

phoenixwing18d ago

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

H918d ago

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

jambola18d ago

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

SegaSaturn66918d ago

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

Popsicle18d ago

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

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130°

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

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

jznrpg19d ago

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

Profchaos19d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion19d ago (Edited 19d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola18d ago

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

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280°

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

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

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techraptor.net
ChasterMies39d 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_looken39d ago

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

Cacabunga39d ago

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

just_looken39d 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-6439d 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_Long38d 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.

Einhander197238d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic38d 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 38d ago
DivineHand12539d 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.

Joe91339d 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_Observer39d 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.

S2Killinit39d ago (Edited 39d 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.

Joe91338d 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.

S2Killinit38d 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 38d ago
Christopher39d 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.

CrimsonWing6938d ago (Edited 38d 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.

S2Killinit38d 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_Mal39d ago (Edited 39d 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.

Christopher39d 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_looken39d 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

Einhander197238d ago (Edited 38d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic38d 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.

romulus2339d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218339d 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.

S2Killinit38d ago (Edited 38d 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.

mastershredder39d 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.

crazyCoconuts39d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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