70°

The Guns of Navarro: The Curious Case of Sony Computer Entertainment

"With the announcement of the PlayStation 4 almost assuredly coming up in just over a week, Alex can't help but wonder if Sony's games division is actually ready for the next-gen." - Giant Bomb

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giantbomb.com
mwjw6964105d ago

Lets all hope that Sonys new ad agency knows their shit, cause the last one was terable minus Kevin Butler.

Elwenil4105d ago

"Michael" was pretty brilliant also.

Heavenly King4104d ago

but it was a fan service, because it did not sell consoles/games, just like Kevin Butlers adds.

theBAWSE4105d ago (Edited 4105d ago )

God I hate overdramatic articles

Sony have closed studios but many of the employees of said studios have joined Sony's 1st party studios to not only cut costs but to pool talents together...you talk about Sony Liverpool of wipeout fame well they are now part of evolution studios working on a new game that should be revealed on the 20th

you talk about marketing..yes I agree Sonys marketing of some high profile games has been non existant and has hurt the developers but again Sony have cut ties with their previous crap agency and have now signed with the highly successful bartle Bogle hegarty

you talk about ps3 was powerful but that didn't help it reach a wider audience..firstly Sony is past 77million consoles sold which has outsold the competition on a yearly basis WORLDWIDE..and many gamers reasoning and rightfully so in choosing the 360 was not just because it was out the gates early but because it was easier to program for so multiplat games most of the time ran better on ms console..now the ps4 is PC like therefore that is one very big problem solved regarding third party games

your complaining at maybe a $400 price point..again that's a price I'm sure people are happy with its a hell of a lot better than the $600 launch price of the ps3..

its all well and fine writing doom and gloom but back it up with pros aswell as the cons

MikeMyers4104d ago (Edited 4104d ago )

The pros is this, Sony have the goods to deliver. The con is can they make it happen in a way to convince consumers?

Nintendo has shown recently how not to launch a system and so have Sony to some degree. The PS3 did not have a great launch and neither did the Vita. The 3DS also didn't really snowball until they made a major move to drop the price and give early adopters free software. By comparison the Xbox 360 had a decent but not great launch either. Microsoft's problem didn't really come until later when the system kept breaking down. So that's what happens when you rush your product.

To make a short story, Sony 'MUST' and I emphasize must, come out of the gates with a great launch and keep that momentum going. The PS4 will be a make or break product for their games division. Sony is in serious financial trouble and they cannot afford to have another product come out to lukewarm reception. The PS3 was still a success story but after Sony lost millions of dollars on it. They basically had the PS2 carry the system. So yes, it did sell over 70 million so far but at what cost? Sony cannot afford to keep going with that philosophy of taking huge losses on hardware in hopes of software offsetting that. It took a long time for the PS3 to have a decent ratio of software to hardware. The Wii U is now going through that as well and Nintendo is said to be losing money on the hardware. That's why the whole business strategy has to change. These companies invest so much money into new hardware from R&D to manufacturing costs to marketing. A lot of investments are made each time they come out with new systems. And all of them are proprietary to their own. Meaning if you buy a Wii U game it only plays on a Wii U, same thing with a PS4 or next Xbox. This isn't like coming out with a Sony blu-ray player that can play any blu-ray movie. So right off the bat you limit your audience with the software.

Sony is well known for its great in-house games. The problem is those ip's can only be sold to Sony hardware. So when you have games costing in the 10's of millions of dollars you can see just how risky that is by limiting your userbase to just Sony hardware. That means if the PS4 also has a lukewarm reception the roller-coaster ride the Vita and Wii U currently faces will happen again. Developers will start to pull back if the system isn't meeting sales expectations.

Nintendo thought they were smart by spreading out the software. Trouble is they are already being called out for having a huge gap in game releases and not having much at launch. What big game do they have planned coming? They still don't have a set date for Pikmin 3 do they or Project 100?

This is why it's very very important Sony gets everything right with the PS4. The loyal consumer only carries you so far. They need to convince those on the fence and with more options now more than ever that makes it just that much harder.

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.

Profchaos13d ago (Edited 13d 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.

exputers13d ago

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

Profchaos13d ago (Edited 13d 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_looken13d 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.

z2g13d ago

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

phoenixwing13d ago

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

H913d ago

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

jambola13d 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

SegaSaturn66913d ago

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

Popsicle13d 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.

jznrpg14d 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.

Profchaos14d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola13d 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
ChasterMies34d 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_looken34d ago

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

Cacabunga34d ago

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

just_looken34d 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-6434d 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_Long34d 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.

Einhander197234d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic33d 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 33d ago
DivineHand12534d 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.

Joe91334d 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_Observer34d 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.

S2Killinit34d ago (Edited 34d 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.

Joe91333d 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.

S2Killinit33d 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 33d ago
Christopher34d 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.

CrimsonWing6933d ago (Edited 33d 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.

S2Killinit33d 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_Mal34d ago (Edited 34d 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.

Christopher34d 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_looken34d 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

Einhander197234d ago (Edited 34d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic33d 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.

romulus2334d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218334d 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.

S2Killinit33d ago (Edited 33d 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.

mastershredder34d 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.

crazyCoconuts34d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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