210°

Microsoft or Sony — Who’s Better for Indies?

OnlySP: It’s no secret that indie gaming has been a huge talking point during this year’s console war. Sony hit the indie ground running back in February when they announced a PlayStation 4 port of Jonathan Blow’s The Witness during their original console reveal event. The company made a big deal from the beginning that the PS4 supported self-publishing. Sony then followed up in a big way, presenting an armada of indie titles that are making their console debuts on PS4 or Vita during E3 and again at Gamescom.

Wingsfan243865d ago (Edited 3865d ago )

Why even post that comment? Why not start a discussion so a flame war doesn't start?

@Thepharaoh

I've been on this site long enough to know that. But it doesn't help posting a comment like that, if you don't want a flame war to start, or whatever you like to call it, start a discussion. Easy as that.

Personally, Sony's my go to console for indies at the moment until Microsoft takes a warmer embrace to indies.

Really looking forward to seeing how people use the debug portion of the Xbox One though since every console is essentially available as a development kit.

Thepharaoh3865d ago (Edited 3865d ago )

It's inevitable this site is going to have a large flame battle over this article don't bother trying to have anything close to a logical discussion over the state of both companies and their stance on the idea of indies .You want a different gaming site most users only come here to laugh at the fanboy fights anyway. And he is right it is going to begin rather soon.
I for one think they will both do equally well for the indie industry although currently Sony looks to be doing the very best However not every ps4 is a dev kit something the Xbox one has over the ps4 in terms of the indies so they both seem to have great stances from the get go. t That's me trying to start this off logically can't wait for it to go more south than a Redneck convention.
@edit that #1 comment is more productive and reasonable than about 90% of what is usually thrown on this site and since really it's already begun i don't really see a big problem
@

xHeavYx3865d ago

I believe Sony is the only one of the two who lets Indies decide the final price of the game, so I'd go with Sony

P0werVR3865d ago (Edited 3865d ago )

Well, Microsoft has more experience with indie developers so might provide a better service for them to facilitate sells. History says so, but at the end of it...their indies!

Either way they'll be on PCs and any accessible device, at least a significant amount of indie games.

EDIT:
@xHeavYx

Microsoft offers the same option.

darthv723865d ago (Edited 3865d ago )

honestly, i dont understand where the MS is not keen on indies came from.

Especially since the 360 brought the idea of indie gaming to consoles. Ms made dev kits very reasonably priced. They even went so far as to create an indie section in the live marketplace.

Sony may deserve some credit for embracing indies as the 'new thing' for next gen but they should give credit where its due and that is to Ms for starting the movement.

tokugawa3865d ago

lol @ pockyking

this article was wrote especially for n4g, and the flamewar and hits that it is guaranteed to create. smh

Regis3865d ago

Well its also a no brainer for a flame war when you put Microsoft vs. Sony discussion.

Hatsune-Miku3865d ago (Edited 3865d ago )

Microsoft or Sony who's better for gaming In general?

We should compare positives and negatives.
One company online service was down for three weeks, another had almost half of their consoles breaking for years.one constantly released AAA exclusives that are highly regarded while the other had a handful of exclusives and sequels to them the whole of this generation. One charged for online gaming while one didnt.

Games are the most important thing and one company constantly provided new exclusives and games the whole gen while the other companies ip listing is meager

ABizzel13865d ago (Edited 3865d ago )

Based on potential sales for their games (excluding PC)

1. MS / Sony
3. Nintendo

Based on ease of dealing with

1. Nintendo
2. Sony
3. MS

Based on experience with Indies

1. MS
2. Sony / Nintendo

Based on developer response of support

1. Sony
2. Nintendo
3. MS

Overall

1. Sony
2. MS / Nintendo (MS if you want to sell well, Nintendo if you want complete freedom)

AceBlazer133865d ago

Dude a flame war is inevitable.The topic could be your favourite ice cream flavour and then *boom* it becomes sony vs micro

Army_of_Darkness3864d ago (Edited 3864d ago )

Hmmmm.. . According to my very basic, n4g, YouTube, not even trying to hard unextensive research, I would say the ps4 has the upper toe.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 3864d ago
come_bom3865d ago (Edited 3865d ago )

No console can beat the PC in indies... that's the platform where i get most my indies.

If i can choose to get a indie on pc or consoles, i will go with the PC version without second thought. I only purchase exclusives for consoles.

Relientk773865d ago

I think its clear from all the press conferences and announcments

"PS <3 Indies"

there are so many indie games coming to PS4 its unbelievable

Goro3865d ago

Obviously Sony, thought i'm not sure if that's a good thing considering most indies suck...Keep in mind i said "most".

PlayStation_43865d ago

depends on your tastes, what indie games have you played anyways?

Goro3865d ago

Journey, Thomas Was Alone, The Unfinished Swan, Sound Shapes etc...

Jughead34163865d ago (Edited 3865d ago )

Sony knows that most Indie titles won't be worth much. But every now and then, an Indie Dev will create an amazing game. For instance, Media Molecule (an indie studio) created Little Big Planet. That game became a blockbuster title and Media Molecule became one of the top devs for Sony. Sackboy even bacame one of the mascots for playstation. I'm pretty sure with their indie support, they're looking for that diamond in the rough again, and they'll find it.

Goro3865d ago

You know they mostly suck your just trying to get agrees from people who think exactly like you...which for some reason is most of this site.

JackStraw3865d ago

lol. yeah, let's go with that. still calling you on your bs. doubt you've played any of those games.

PlayStation_43865d ago

I loved all those games but I guess indies are purposely not for everyone, they usually just find a niche and capitalize on that.

I'm sure that there'll be an indie for everyone though!

adventureghost1243864d ago

Well think of when postseason cost started, like crash bandicoot, a 3 man team it was an indie game, now known as naughty dog they are one of the most known respected and liked first party developers of all time. a lot of big companies/developers got started with indie games,

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3864d ago
Golden_Mud3865d ago

From a perspective of "Who's better" , I have to say Microsoft and I know a lot of people will disagree with me but hear me out , Microsoft is giving out 2 free dev kits for every developer and they are also making the console be a dev kit it self meaning the it's a future proof for any developer to have the console between there hands and easy to access to certain features without the need of payment .
But when it comes to the perspective of who have the better support , I'd say Sony for supporting the indie development from the whole beginning .

GiantEnemyCrab3865d ago

Not only that but MS has been on the indie bandwagon all last gen. XNA and the Indie developer contests and even having a whole section of the Marketplace dedicated to Indie developers.

Sony seems to have the indie buzz right now but MS are making a lot of moves as you mentioned.

Death3865d ago

It's amazing you are getting disagrees on this. Not many know what XNA was mainly due to the fact indies weren't a big thing until people thought Sony invented the idea with the PS4. Microsoft did it first and no one really cared. Sony announces it and it's a revolution in gaming. Funny how this place works at times.

Bathyj3865d ago

You lost me at MS did it first. Its like Net Yaroze never existed.

Death3865d ago

If you want to include "hobbyist" you will have to go back further to the original Famicon. XNA was the first to take indie developed games and have them published. Net Yaroze didn't have the ability for indies to get their games out to the masses or have a business model around it. It was simply for people programming as a hobby.

isarai3865d ago

Sony "DevNet" has dev kit loaner programs(that are completely free) and a "Pub Fund" which is a direct funding program for any indie dev that might need some extra funding but it does not carry the contractual burden of publishing funds.

adventureghost1243864d ago

Sony has also lent out dev kits and those X1 dev kits can only run direct x and if you need a dev kit that can run other codes for the one, I believe it costs around 5000 where as purchasing a ps4 dev kit costs around half that.

Show all comments (76)
40°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

Read Full Story >>
insider-gaming.com
80°

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.

jznrpg43m 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.

Profchaos15m ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

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?"

purple10111d 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 ☝️

Zeref10d 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.

DarXyde10d 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.

PhillyDonJawn10d ago (Edited 10d 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.

Einhander197210d 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.

MrBaskerville10d 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.

shinoff218310d 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.

Profchaos10d 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 10d ago
isarai11d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref10d 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.

MrNinosan10d ago

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

mkis0079d ago (Edited 9d ago )

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

Einhander197211d 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.

10d ago Replies(3)
Einhander197210d ago

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

10d ago
10d ago
Zeref10d 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.

DarXyde10d 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.

Einhander197210d 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.

Einhander197210d 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.

BehindTheRows10d ago (Edited 10d 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.

Zeref10d ago (Edited 10d 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.

Chevalier10d 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.

Tacoboto10d 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.

shinoff218310d ago

Yay steam

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

Tacoboto9d 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 9d ago
Hofstaderman10d 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?

crazyCoconuts10d 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.

Xeofate10d ago (Edited 10d 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.

crazyCoconuts9d 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

FinalFantasyFanatic9d 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)