Shuhei Yoshida: Only 4 Out of 10 PlayStation Games Make Money, but Sony Will Always Support Talent

Sony Computer Entertainment has been known to publish quite a few games that haven't exactly been financial breakthroughs, yet they don't seem to be about to give up on that kind of experience, as explained by Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida during his panel at Gamelab in Barcelona a few days ago.

[MasterCornholio]

Wow

:I

That really surprises me.

[admiralvic]

"That really surprises me."

You have to keep in mind that Sony publishes a lot of weird games that aren't Sly, inFAMOUS, Uncharted, Ratchet and include things like Doki Doki Universe, Rain, Digs Nightcrawler, Toyko Jungle, The Unfinished Swan, Kung Fu Rider, etc. Also keep in mind that a lot of the latter games never really got a marketing push, which makes total sense, but will still ultimately limit its sales potential.

[hkgamer]

they do publish a lot of weird games, but you have to remember that these games may be breaking even.

i also like to add that these games that are breaking even can in a sense make money indirectly. basically more variety on a certain console could attract a game to buying that console.

games like puppeteer came out too late in the generation. if it came out earlier, or was available to vita and ps4 thrn that could be very succesful

[NewMonday]

Sony needs to know that their own bad marketing is a big part of losses, just look how a bad unveiling is forcing a stigma on the Order that is hard to shake off

And they also make bad calls on what games to develop in the first place and can't reed the market that well, why make insist on making a second driving franchise when they already have the biggest one in GT, just make DC a spin-off like how EA dose with N4S

and why make a GOW prequel when it was clear people want the franchise to move on

and when gamers complain about the mission design in inFAMOUS 1&2 they go and make it even worse in Second Son

And not seeing the potential in a SP campaign for DCUO that

Also not seeing the potential in a game like Soul Sacrifice being more than just a few thousand Vitas, it can be Sony's western like RPG with Japanese game design, imagine how it would look with a world to explore and those monsters made on the PS4

[Darkstares]

After this report and his comments about being confused why people want AAA games may lead to trimming down 1st party games.

[ThanatosDMC]

Tokyo Jungle that game was hard as a baby chick. Love being a wolf though. Bears are dbags almost always 1 hit kill.

[admiralvic]

@ NewMonday

There are so many things wrong with your statement I don't know where to start, so I guess I'll just go down the list.

"bad marketing"

I won't deny that Sony is not the best when it comes to marketing. Even some of their commercials fail to hit the mark, especially the PS All-Stars ad that was hard to tell it was actually for a game and not just celebrating Sony. With that being said, marketing is also a very conceptual thing and just because it makes sense, doesn't mean it will work and vice versa. M$ had similar problems with their Aaron Paul ad causing his vocal commands to activate the device, which they probably could have figured out, but it might have been misleading (as they would have to have him call out things that wouldn't activate the device) or not market the kinect in the first place (pushing the idea that M$ gave up on it and potentially piss off early adopters) or Nintendo using Wiimotes in the TV ad and several people thinking of the Wii U as peripheral. Like I said, lots of shades of grey here.

"bad calls"

I can assure you that it's much harder than it looks. Sometimes things that sound like they have no sales potential become extremely popular and beloved series (Journey, ICO, SOTC, Heavy Rain are all things I probably would have passed on), where as "can't miss" ideas crash and burn like the hindenburg. In the end, I both love and respect the fact Sony doesn't always take the business approach and is willing to sometimes take a change on an unlikely idea instead of going "who the hell would want to play Loco Roco?"

"second driving franchise"

Technically it would be their third plus, since there is WipEout, Twisted Metal, MotorStorm and if you want to get really semantic ModNation Racers, though thats all beside the point. While I can't tell you why exactly Sony choose a new name instead of an old one, as there are quite a lot, I wouldn't be surprised if they did it to establish DC as different than GT in the same way the previous series are different, though they're all racing games. So instead of people going in expecting GT with some new rules / elements, DC can establish itself as whatever it wants to be without people getting angry at it not being what they expected from a ____ game.

"make a GOW prequel"

Where exactly is the series going to move on to? God of War III felt like the end of Kratos and since Kratos IS God of War, they would either need to make a spin off, create a new franchise or do a prequel. Out of the three, making a prequel is the least risky and costly choice and makes total and it complete sense that choose it.

"mission design in inFAMOUS"

Didn't play SS (played the others), but I feel like this might be an unavoidable problem with open world games in general. Not really going to comment on this anymore, since it really isn't that relevant.

"SP campaign for DCUO"

Maybe I am insane, but I feel like adding a SP campaign to an MMO is not only tricky and potentially costly, but also something of a contradiction.

"Soul Sacrifice on the PS4"

SS is just another Monster Hunter like game with virtually no world to explore (hell, you're literally inside a cage reading a book and just imagining / living vicariously through the experiences listed in said book) and tends to both work and sell better on portable platforms. If you want to make SS into something completely different than it is, you're better off making yet another franchise than changing the direction of that one.

[UltraNova]

@NewMonday

Although the guy above got into why you are wrong about Sony diluting GT's appeal on the PS platform I will get into some more detail.

GT is a sim and a very good at that. As already stated they have 3 more racers. DC is primarily arcade and focused in social interaction something in my opinion differentiates it from GT and for a good reason. GT should not bother with extensive social themes. It needs to stay true to what makes it so good being a hardcore sim.

With that said, DC is a good thing since Sony can tap into that market that seeks integrated social elements in their pretty driving game.

It will symptomatically add value to what GT stands for.

Now regarding Sony's bad reveal of the order, I cant see how they could go about it other than what it is, a cutting edge (graphically speaking)cinematic third person shooter... how would you do it?

[NewMonday]

@admiralvic

looks like you agree with me more than not, let me explain further..

"second driving franchise"
like I said N4S has different racers, some "arcade" some "sim" all under the same main name, GT:DriveClub would give them huge publicity and attention from the name band still establish it as different from the subtitle. look at how Samsung is calling almost every new device the Galaxy something, name recognition is priceless. this could be the difference between DC selling 1m or 5m+.

"Where exactly is the (GOW)series going to move on to?"
the David Jaffe road map, Kratos in a new mythology (it could be his spirit in a new character) and a non liner world similar to Zelda.

"mission design in inFAMOUS"
Sucker Punch is looking for experts on this very thing from a recent job posting so they know the problem now themselves but they should have addressed this before Second Son.

"Soul Sacrifice on the PS4"
it would need a little bit of redesign to create locations to explore and tell the story beyond the hunting grounds but it is doable.
It can be like Wight Knight Chronicles, the SP is a Story driven RPG and the MP has a hub that takes you directly to the mission maps, in Soul Sacrifice the book would be the hub.

"SP campaign for DCUO"
this is more of a personal suggestion that I plugged in :P
they made Metropolis and Gotham big and it would be amazing to play as the main characters in a story with a beginning, middle and end.
this should also bring many new players to the MMO.

@UltraNova
"regarding Sony's bad reveal of the order... how would you do it?"

- I would show the Lycan before E3 , that was under whelming when people were set to expect game-play.
- I would pick an action focused part of the game to show off other than the introduction mission witch tend to be slower in most games. remember when ND wowed us with the first game-play reveal for tLoU ? the part they showed was somewhere in the middle of the game.

I think the reveal plans for 1st party games is done studio by studio that is why ND were good at it and a young studio like R@D were bad at it, Sony should have been more hands on with this, they need a special division that works closely with the developers to tell then what to show and when.

[admiralvic]

@ NewMonday

"Samsung is calling almost every new device the Galaxy something, name recognition is priceless."

Contrary to what you seem to believe, Samsung is actually following the same logic I presented to you. Take their galaxy line and really look at it.

Camera - http://www.samsung.com/us/p...
Galaxy Gear - http://www.samsung.com/us/m...
Phone - http://www.samsung.com/us/m...
Tablet - http://www.samsung.com/us/m...

Notice what they all have in common? Every device (yes, even the galaxy gear) uses Android OS on some level and is part of their Android offerings. You look at Windows 8 and I believe every laptop / tablet is ATIV something ( wikipedia also seems to denote this http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... ).

See what I mean? Same concept. You get a galaxy and you go in expecting Android with each subtitle simply denoting what is special about it (camera = camera, note = stylus, mini = smaller), which would work the same way I mentioned GT: DC would go down. People would expect it to be different from GT, but expect a lot of the same.

"the David Jaffe road map, Kratos in a new mythology (it could be his spirit in a new character) and a non liner world similar to Zelda. "

This roadmap also predated the ending of 3 and doesn't jive with that ending. I won't get into it due to spoilers, but 3 doesn't seem to lead to another adventure with Kratos.

"it would need a little bit of redesign to create locations to explore and tell the story beyond the hunting grounds but it is doable.
It can be like Wight Knight Chronicles, the SP is a Story driven RPG and the MP has a hub that takes you directly to the mission maps, in Soul Sacrifice the book would be the hub. "

I never said it wasn't doable, I just said thats not Soul Sacrifice. You pretty much want to change what Soul Sacrifice is (a Monster Hunter game) and make it into something completely different, which begs the question why should they use Soul Sacrifice in the first place? Sure it might save money, but thats hardly a real reason.

[NewMonday]

@admiralvic

"Take their galaxy line and really look at it"
that's my point "a line of similar products"

I explained how N4S dose it
also Mario dose it
Battlefield dose it

I'm not saying make GT Kart, I would understand if it was Motorestorm which is drastically different but it's just that Driveclube is close enough to be a Spin-off. or they should have just invested the money in something else and made GT6 cross platform.

"This roadmap also predated the ending of 3 and doesn't jive with that ending"

the Jaff plan was also to take the gameplay forward and that is the more important thing
the story can be with or without Kratos but it needs a new setting, the Greek mythology lost it's sense of wounder after 5 games.

"You pretty much want to change Soul Sacrifice..and make it into something completely different"

something "more" not different, I explained how with the WKC example. and just talking about expanding the franchise, remember Timespliters and how it evolved? the first game didn't have a story campaign IIRC.

[kneon]

It's just like the movie industry, you only have a few blockbusters to make up for the losses on the other movies.

[NextLevel]

Games don't have monetary success to be influential to the console or brand. The Last Of Us sold around 4 million (update 6 million) , but your joking yourself if you don't think it's super influential to the Playstation brand itself. Team Ico is another great example. Games like Gran Turismo (aside from 6) make it all back, then some. Microsoft dumps huge amounts into single games (like Halo) mainly for marketing. Sony advertises the games less and uses that money to make more games.

This is a product of that.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

Like everyone says, it's all about the games.

[Majin-vegeta]

You need to update :3

http://blog.eu.playstation....

[SamPao]

The last of us sold more than 6million as of march 2014

[Pogmathoin]

Maria, what the hell are you talking about? Do you stand up at someones wedding and tell people about how bad MS are?? While Sony will love you....

[spacecat5050]

And less than half of those made money. Defeats the purpose of making all those games when even your own user base wont buy them.

but it does make for pretty lists when your measuring d**k sizes.

[Axios2]

As usual, more lies from Maria

Sony is spending almost twice as much on advertising as MS

http://www.forbes.com/sites...

[Utalkin2me]

@spacecat5050

Makes pretty list, you say? How about giving the consumer more of a choice and try to appeal to a wide range of gamers.

I mean you could only put out a handful of games in 3 years and people will eat it up like crazy cause there is nothing else to play and not much choice. It's kind of a double edge sword to put out to much, but it's also f the consumer when you put out very little.

[Kiwi66]

Why do you feel the need to bring stuff up about microsoft in articles that have absolutely nothing to do with them this article is ONLY talking about sony yet you just can't help yourself , have you ever considered getting professional help for your obsession with being anti xbox .

[spacecat5050]

@utalkin

there goes that arguement you sony fanboys flip flop from. Now there's no games to play on 360 because there's less exclusives. Funny how there's less exclusives on ps4 but so many games to play from third parties and multiplats.

giving consumers more of a choice? But the consumers are choosing not to buy them. Its obvious money is being wasted on titles nobody wants to play. Not much a choice when half the games are crap right?

[DigitalHope]

@spacecat

Give me a break. With the 360's year head start there is a reason the PS3 caught up to it and has now surpassed it. More variety means wider appeal.

There is more than a couple reasons the PS4 is out selling the X1. What is increasing the lead? Variety, something MS is now doing, but their hardcore fan base seems to shit on them for.

[Kayant]

@Axios2

*This year so far.

Also MS spent to most last year.

"ISpot said Xbox spent $73.6 million on commercials for all of 2013, the most of any video game maker. It was followed by Activision, which had a big marketing push for the release of its latest Call of Duty game last year, PlayStation and Nintendo." - And seeing as NewMonday said they have only won one NPD you can hardly call it better or efficient if it's not doing it's job" - http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/20...

[darx]

Hmmm...wondering why they are having financial issues

[DigitalHope]

@darx

Really? Go read the internet.

I assure you playstation is not the reason for the finacial loss. If anything playstation is a life raft for Sony. Laptops and TVs have been draging them down.

I have a feeling Sony will make a comeback in '14 with their TVs.

[No_Limit]

@Maria,

LOL, I knew it would be like this. You say one thing that fits the article and say something totally different when it doesn't work out for you.

In this article you are saying:
"Microsoft dumps huge amounts into single games (like Halo) mainly for marketing. Sony advertises the games less and uses that money to make more games."

Yet, you submitted and posted on an article regarding about how Sony marketing is more than MS.

http://n4g.com/news/1540239...
PlayStation is Video Game Industry’s Biggest TV Spender So Far This Year
Submitted by NextLevel 6d ago | news

NextLevel + 6d ago
"Nice, they went for the take over and achieved it quite easily. I'm glad they've stepped up their marketing compared to last gen."

"It's ironic too because Microsoft fanboys are always talking about how broke Sony is and how rich Microsoft is, but Sony has the better hardware, more marketing, more exclusives and owns more 1st party game developers. Kinda funny when you think about it. "

Girl, you have issue. smh

[spacecat5050]

@passive

the ps3 caught up because its an established brand. It's coming off two of the most successful consoles in history and it had a major price cut if anyone remembers. Had nothing to do with variety of games the way you all like to think.

Ps4 has variety? Gimmie a break...ps4 played it safe with well known first person shooter and a kid like friendly platformer while MS took a big risk not releasing any of their well known IP's besides Forza.

There was way more variety of x1 launch games than ps4. You sony fanboys always scream variety but its obvious that even you dont want it because they arent selling as Shu here points out.

you know whats increasing the lead, a lower price and being available in more countries, not variety.

[IVIEDICATED]

@ Spacecat

Sony with the PS3 DID have more variety that helped them catch up. And so.ething you're conveniently forgetting is Microsoft basically didn't support the 360 for the 2-3 years leading up to the X1 launch just to have a launch lineup. Go ahead deny it but it's a FACT. Sony's always had both feet in the gaming industry while Microsoft is on foot in one foot out they don't give a s**t about the hobby and they never have the whole reason they got into gaming was to "crush Sony" their words not mine. That's why they buy up 3rd party exclusives and refuse to invest in good first party studios and they've single handedly brought some of the most anti consumer practices to the hobby shaking down gamers with every new greedy policy. And last but not least Gran Toursimo> Halo series in lifetime sales so it's actually Sony not Microsoft who has the biggest franchise in gaming go ahead look it up. And to date Killzone SF is the best selling next gen exclusive to date not even Titanfall could top it so what now? Sony has MORE exclusives and the BETTER variety you'd like to be right but you're not. Sony has the variety more exclusives and better brand recognition. Sony actually has a track record of supporting their consoles throughout an entire generation. Microsoft has NOT supported every console for its lifetime they don't care about you or gaming at all and they never will. MS has also never finished higher than 3rd in every gen they've put a system out in nor do they make money off their consoles as a matter of fact they've still not recouped the billion dollar loss from the original xbox while every Playstation Sony's ever made except the PS3 has been profitable. There's a legit reason Microsoft investors want to kill off the xbox division because it bleeds money and isn't profitable. I could keep going but what's the point you're wrong I'm right. The best value for your money is a Playstation and it's not even close.

[ramiuk1]

jeez that sony list has some amazing games in it.
i didnt realise MS lent that far to kinect.

[BitbyDeath]

Well said iviedicated. I wish more people understood this.

[kreate]

sony is going to keep trying until a game becomes a big hit.

they will look for the next uncharted, god of war, gran turismo level games. seems like its the last of us.

microsoft will also try to make the next halo, gears of war level games. its a new generation. they played it safe last gen by releasing sequels to established franchises. and establishing cod dlc timed exclusives.

u just gotta keep trying until u hit something that the gamers will love and buy.

sony is just trying lots of different things. they were surprised demon souls was a hit. they had a chance to publish it but passed on it.

[Kingscorpion1981]

That's why I will always Support Sony.They take risks unlike 2 other certain companies.That play it safe.

[mixelon]

Umm, the X1 was clearly a risky proposition that didn't exactly pay off (yet?)

And Nintendo make some of the weirdest, riskiest stuff around.. Splatoon? Tomodachi life? 3D handhelds? Non-symetrical multiplayer as a main selling point of the Wii U?

I love Sony and their experimental stuff, but this gen has been full of interesting and risky developments from all parties. (I'm not saying they were all good choices though)

[incredibleMULK]

I'm not surprised.

Star hawk.
Ps all stars.
Jak and dexter.
Ratchet and crank.
Sold less than 20 copies.

Kill zone as beautiful as the series is I doubt they make money.
Resistance was dog shit sales wise which why I believe insomniac went to Microsoft,....they know how to market their games.

Uncharted and god of war is sony's premo franchises and they never topped halo, Mario, or gears numbers. But I believe they turn profits.
I rest my case.

[bratman]

"Jak and dexter.
Ratchet and crank.
Sold less than 20 Copies"

Hahah ive never heard of ratchet & crank or jak and dexter.. learn to spell the titles before you troll (;

"Uncharted... never topped halo, Mario, or gears numbers."

Uncharted 2 sold - 6.39m
Uncharted 3 sold - 6.36m
Gears Of War sold - 6.04m
Gears of War 3 sold - 6.03m
Gears:Judgement sold - 1.43m

Halo and Mario yes.. Gears? Nope (:
Source: VGchartz (i know its a pretty sh*t source but its the best we've got hahah)

[showtimefolks]

and that is why i will have respect sony, its not always about money to them(as people say its always about money)

games like sly,ratchet,jak,crash,spyro would never happen on xbox brand console. Nintendo may but not as much either

[liquidhalos]

Geez dude, write an essay why don't you. I ain't reading all of that

[Imalwaysright]

Yep, they're not afraid to support games that might be considered niche. Team Ico games, Demons Souls, Quantic Dream games are just a few examples.

[HeWhoWalks]

Quantic Dream's games make money, though (at least, Heavy Rain did). Can't speak for Ico or From Software, but I believe he's talking even smaller than that.

[dcbronco]

Actually they probably don't. Games that sell over time aren't usually the money makers. Like with movies, the one's that open big do. I've had this debate many times with Sony fans. They forget taxes and many other things that go into profitability. It's why I always argued Microsoft not having a bunch of exclusives wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But you argue Sony's stance and have to appreciate it.

[hkgamer]

they did get used by from software though. demon souls is a sony owned ip so from software basically made another franchise by the same team but changed a few words round.

[HeWhoWalks]

@ dcbronco: Look up Heavy Rain. The game made back every cent, all things included. As I specified, not ALL of their games may make Sony $, but THAT GAME did.

[Imalwaysright]

Yes Heavy Rain ended up being profitable but it was a risk considering the type of game that it was.

[HeWhoWalks]

Duplicate.

[HeWhoWalks]

The point of it being a risk is irrelevant, since no one argued otherwise.

[Blackleg-sanji]

Wow..im glad they dont give up on them even if it fails financially. Unlike most devs who drop ips left and right if it doesnt sell well

[hkgamer]

the thing is sony is making money from playstation unlike other publishers who has to make money from their games.

more games to expand the playstation library makes the playstation more attractive. some games just make a good name for the brand like heavy rain. not sure if that game made money, but it does make the playstation brand look better.

[Blackleg-sanji]

I believe heavy rain sold well(dont quote me on that tho)

[TheCaptainKuchiki]

Heavy Rain did make money : http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

[iNFAMOUZ1]

pr talk

[HighResHero]

Maybe to an extent but his statement can be backed up by facts/history.
They have quite a few unique first/second party titles that aren't even really mainstream. Some make a profit though.
....and for the people picking on "indie" games, most AAA games aren't worth playing anyway, so give it a rest. Indie just means that they don't have/need/want a publisher at the moment. There are big budget indie games too.

[SaveFerris]

This is likely the reason why Indie games have become very important to the platform holders. Making AA and AAA titles can't be cheap.

[Majin-vegeta]

Shu is Right.You will see less AAA titles from the industry,Cuz they're getting to expensive to make nowadays.This is why Indies need to flourish for the industry,

[Inception]

Exactly!

A couple days ago Airtight Games just closed their door and now Crytek in the edge of doing the same thing.

Sadly some people constantly bashing indies and ignore the fact that making 'AAA' games are getting riskier for video games company. If the game doesn't sell than the company will have to face the consequences of closing their door. That's why video game industry need indies. They have fresh ideas that will help the industries alive.

[SpadeX]

I'm gonna assume they're inFamous, inFamous 2, inFamous Festival of Blood and inFamous Second Son. Soon they're gonna be 5 with inFamous First Light.

[xxx_Solid_Snake_xxx]

lol.... get ready for more indie games on (Indiestation 4)

[MKDA_Scorpion]

Get ready for more Microshaft games. HALO 5000, Gears of War 180, more false claims of Secret sauce and 5million gpus with cloud computing making it a 2079 console. I find it quite hilarious that your name is Solid Snake, knowing very well that Metal Gear Solid is a Playstation series.

Have fun with your inferior technology, because the Xbox One is getting bodied by the Wii U which is a last-gen system.

[No_Limit]

@MKDA_Scorpion,

Dude clam down, I am sure Sony will still have another God of War and Uncharted planned in their lineup as well just like Halo and Gears on the XB1 front. Which I don't mind at all as I preferred more Halo and Uncharted to any indie games any day of the week.

Having said that, xxx_Solid_Snake_xxx is an obvious troll and he just joined like a week ago so it is best just to ignore him. But by commenting, you are sounding more like him in retaliation.

[D3ATH_DRIV3R_777]

Patchbox one! see what i did there? since you want to go that far, i will to.
Back under your bridge you go!

OT: I like ol' shuhei, good guy!

[Revengeance]

That's fine. Expect them to outclass almost anything on the Cable Box One.

[kenshiro100]

Says the obvious troll under the bridge.

Hey genius, indies are games too. Or did that fly over your comprehensive skills?

[snookiegamer]

Make no mistake, I will support any good Console. I've had Dreamcast, PS1/2, Original Xbox, X360, GC, Wii...way too many to mention here. I recently purchased a Wii U and will soon purchase Xbox One/Forza Horizon 2 Bundle to join my PS3/PS4!

But...!

There's a very good reason as to why PS Consoles have always been purchased first, and hooked upto my TV set/s before any other console.

The PS philosophy. The PS philosophy about gaming is a philosophy I can get behind ;)

[S2Killinit]

exactly, gaming to Sony is not just a ploy to get into people's homes, it the point.

[Clogmaster]

Go Dreamcast!!!!!

[spacecat5050]

Shu is seriously starting to replace Phil as king of PR talk.

[dafegamer]

nope!!!!! Not at all, since MS would've never greenlit games like doki doki universe, rain, sound shapes, escape plan, flower, Entwined.. etc
Those are very risky games to publish

[BattleTorn]

As a newby to Playstation, I'm trying to commit myself to buying every exclusive to undo the old notion that PS gamers don't buy their games.

[Spotie]

It was always a fallacy, anyway. Thing is: PS gamers just bought a whole bunch of different stuff. We never just bought from three or four franchises while everything else languished in obscurity.

There were more million plus sellers on PS3 than 360. That can't happen if no games are being bought.

[Panthers]

That makes no sense, to buy games for any reason other than you want them. Buying to prove something to some console war nerds is quite ridiculous.

[breakpad]

that is exactly why i support Sony ..because they give a little bit of support to the real talent (not that much as they say ) but in comparison to the others who give nothing Sony really does smthing ...thats why we see from times to times exceptional and excellent games like Mon Hun , The Shadow of the Colossus , Klonoa , and many mini cult AAA in quality games

[KakashiHotake]

I love Sony's,"searching for the next big thing approach." They're not afraid to innovate and take risks but at the same time their smart about it. I think 2015 is when a lot of that innovation will really start to flourish. When you look at PlayStations overall vision of the future it really is exciting. Being able to upload and stream your games on any device, playing PS4 games without even needing a PS4, Virtual reality, even the DS4 is very innovative in it's own right. I still think the Vita is very innovative and just hasn't been given the proper treatment. And you can't do nothing but respect the way they support the smaller devs.

[Funky Town_TX]

Ds4 = great. It would be better if the batt lift was longer.

[S2Killinit]

I love this guys honesty. He is so darn sincere. Something that is hard to find in this industry.

[Kryton10]

HAHA so they should make better games

[tommygunzII]

Or they could just have only 4 mentionable franchises that sell 10 million a piece.

[Inception]

FYI, great games doesn't automaticly will have great sales. Example like Chrono Trigger, one of the best game i ever played maybe sold like 1-2 million copies combine from SNES, NDS, PS1, and mobile. Compare to CoD who sold like 15 million copies, Chrono Trigger sales means little. But that doesn't mean CoD have better quality compare to Chrono Trigger.

[EverydayGuy]

Journey nuff said

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

although they close studio that aren't successful.

[mixelon]

And ones that are successful (Sony Liverpool) that's just the nature of the industry at the mo though everything moves around, a lot of staff get re-absorbed, etc.

[modesign]

this seems right if hes talking about hard disc/PSN titles.

[MegaRay]

If they made PS AllStars Battle Royale Round 2, ill believe them then :/

[tommygunzII]

This is why PlayStation will dominate. Sony gives the finger to the shareholders, not the customer. More customers means more investors, not the other way around.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

lol

[Redgehammer]

Giving the finger to the shareholder is not the job of an executive board, in a publicly traded company.

[DualWielding]

This is the upside to platform exclusives, some games that would not make sense for anyone else to publish make sense for the console makers because a niche title can attract people to their consoles..... It's not only Sony doing it... Nintendo is financing and publishing Bayonetta even though is going to lose money because it helps drive interest to their console from people who would not look at it otherwise... that's the same reason Sony publishes stuff like Quantic Dream's games..... Microsoft did the same with some Japanese games to try to break into that market, but it didn't work for them.

[Funky Town_TX]

People talk about how awesome all the games are but don't support them. Put your money where your mounth is.

[TheBoy]

I remember last generation a ton of PS3 exclusives flopped unfortunately, maybe that's why Sony is taking an Indie approach for the PS4, much safer and cost effective.

[Inception]

I've remeber last generation that ton of Nintendo and MS exclusive flopped too. That's why Nintendo & MS already took the indie approach just like Sony did. Because they all knew that they can't rely anymore on "bigger budget" approach to make AAA games. If they want to survive and keep the industry healthy than they all need to take a different approach.

[brew]

They aren't taking an indie approach on PS4. They are taking a (AAA-indie-and everything in between approach). All of their studios are working on PS4 per Yoshida-

Guerrilla Games - Killzone SF
Sucker Punch - inFAMOUS SS
Japan Studio - Knack
Evolution Studios - Driveclub
Naughty Dog - The Last of Us , Uncharted 4
SOE - DC Universe , Planetside 2 , etc.
Sony London - Singstar

Polyphony Digital
Sony Bend
Sony Santa Monica
Media Molecule
Guerrilla Cambridge
XDev and Foster City - (support studios)

Confirmed partners already -

Sumo Digital - LittleBigPlanet 3
Ready at Dawn - The Order 1886
From Software - Bloodborne
Insomniac Games - Ratchet and Clank
Quantic Dream - new IP

[kewlkat007]

Damn..

[Gemmol]

I been telling people this on here, no one is a Sony fan, I wrote this in another post, out of all their top games only 1 sold over 10 million, just 1, out of ps1, ps2, and ps3.

so my theory is....all sony fans are really 3rd party fans, those the companies that get all their sales, and this is why 3rd parties love sony and not nintendo, because nintendo games sell more then 3rd party games......I know yall will hate my response but its the truth 35 million mario kart wii on 100 million wii consoles vs 33 grand theft auto on 160 million consoles (ps3+360).....it takes 3 uncharted games to reach almost 20 million

[kenshiro100]

A good game doesn't have to sell 10 million to be successful. I don't know this obsession with games selling like Halo and Gears of War but you guys need to stop it.

[ballsohard2013]

really not surprised. Look at the financial trouble Sony as a whole is in. It basically damned if you do damned if you dont scenario. Look at Nintendo.... a company that is basically tone-deaf. They put out a system that caters to the kiddy gamers. Drop a whole bunch of mario-themed, donkey kong, zelda-themed kiddy games every system and wonder why they have the lowest attach rate every generation after SNES.

In Sony case, they put out alot of garbage titles aka shovelware. The ratio sounds about right cause if you look at the scores and rating, only about 3 in 10 games actually rate well. So far on my Ps4 there was only maybe 4-5 games worth playing and they were nothing to brag about (Assassins Creed, NBA 2k14, Watchdogs, Madden, Infamous, COD and more recently after months of unplayability battlefield 4).

Xbox doesnt fare way better... i'll replace infamous with Titanfall and give a slight edge with Forza, an almost par Ryse, and Dead Rising 3.

Consolidate resources and give us the games that the community puts out a demand for and money will be made. I look at studios like Naughty Dog and Rockstar which games always seem to have depth, innovation and quality. They started from the ground and worked up. so if they can do it then its possible.

[feraldrgn]

Most of the lesser selling games end up having cult followings & are actually really fun.

[tulholdren]

Loving their way of thinking on this is why I'll have there systems in my home till I stop playing games. Lots of those games that are not super sellers are the ones that I have had the most fun playing. Keep doing what your doing sony if you can I like the way you guys have been thinking for the most part on things gaming wise...

[CawMasterX]

I admire their appreciation for art and the little guys. It may be a gamble but if one of those studios becomes big in the future, they're going to remember who gave them a chance. It's definitely a good relationship builder for sure. I must also be a little pessimistic and say that Sony is surviving when it comes to their business entirely. Hopefully they will stay for years to come.

[Redgehammer]

It's been enjoyable to read such spirited debate.