100°

2011 Holiday Console Wars: Sony's Challenges

Steve Peterson writes: Sony hasn't been the #1 console since the heady days of the PlayStation 2 era, when that console was on top of the charts for years. Sony has moved the PS3 up from third place in the console sales to a solid second place as the Wii has faded over the last year, but a return to the #1 position still eludes them. Sony also has the PS Vita launching in Japan this December, and sometime early in 2012 it will launch in the USA. Then there are the usual challenges of software launches to add to the mix. IndustryGamers takes a look at three challenges facing them.

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industrygamers.com
Azmacna4605d ago (Edited 4605d ago )

i wonder how long these articles will carry on for. Sony has hit their sales every year since launch and actually upped them from their initial projections for the last two years. the gap has moved from 8 million to 3 million... and yet, it's an uphill struggle for the console that is now sitting at well over 3 million ahead in Europe even though it released 16 months later, and in Japan, out of all three consoles, the PS3 has hit the top for quite some time now. Japan is taken, Europe is secured and the 360 outsells the PS3 most of the time by around 30 - 50,000 a week in the USA...

if a runner wanted a head start and then crowed about being in the lead, i don't think he'd have much credability

fucadastates4605d ago

for me, the best thing sony has done, was killing the kinect hype. it was the only thing that put the xbox back on the wall in the rest of the world (outside us). that ship has saild. so now what? gears did a boost in sales in us.. but the small boost in eu, was not enugh to outsell the ps3.

Azmacna4605d ago (Edited 4605d ago )

don't get me wrong, i think the 360 is a great console, it's just the negativity that the press continue to spout. you can almost hear their teeth grinding in anticipation of watching Sony fail (a japanese company) they've even managed to brainwash a whole generation into believing the west is better at making games. i don't agree because the so called standards are dictated by the west and as a true gamer, i still prefer the imagination of the japanese to that of the west

kreate4605d ago

@azmacna

"i don't agree because the so called standards are dictated by the west and as a true gamer, i still prefer the imagination of the japanese to that of the west"

although i agree with this statement. i still prefer the way the western companies having a significantly larger developing budget compared to asian companies, pumping out games of high budget quality games especially when it comes to graphics.

kinda like the movie industry. sure there are a few foreign films that are great. but the higher budget gives american studios more opportunity to pump out movies of high magnitude with good cgi scenes. whether the movie sucks or not, u can tell they poured money into it.

lumley6664605d ago

i think sony made allot of mistakes this gen, i think they thought they had it in the bag even before ps3 was released bcos of the success of ps1 and ps2. tho as things are now, the ps3 is fantastic, deffo the best choice for any hardcore gamer. microsoft started really well and the head start it got has deffo made all the differnce, tho now 360 is deffo fading when it comes to quality exclusives, yes they have a couple but come on they cant live on halo, gears an forza every year, its a shame microsoft created kinect cos its only casual shovelware, they need to seriously start buying game companys becos its only gonna backfire on them in the long run. sonys list of developers and constantly expanding every year will pay off for them in the end.

iceman064605d ago

Agreed. It's hard to fault anyone for thinking that they can continue to dominate (see any repeat sports champion). However, just as in sports, when you are on top...the teams at the bottom are gunning for you in every way. Kudos to MS for bringing a competitor to the industry and forcing Sony to actually try...and try hard to maintain a presence in the industry. Above and beyond exclusives, Live has been the thing that keeps MS thriving (IMO). The ongoing excuse for not adopting PS3 is often..."all of my friends are on Live". IMO, Sony is only challenged with continuing momentum with PS3...while generating some for the Vita. Defend all fronts and attack when necessary (buying valuable devs, securing new IP's, etc.) and they will be fine.

lumley6664605d ago

Yea bud totally agree with you, also I would be shocked if by end Sony was not on top with ps3 they are doing so many things right atm tho only time will tell, its a funny gen this round all consoles are doing really

iceman064604d ago

So true. There have probably been more unexpected things that have happened this gen than any other that I have been a part of. Should make the next 5 years fun!!!

donniebaseball4605d ago

Uncharted 3 to the rescue! Also, I think Battlefield 3 is likely to do better on PS3 than 360. EA is working with Sony to pack more into BF3 for PS3.

fucadastates4605d ago

it looks better on the ps3... but the pc version is stil WAY better..

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.

Profchaos14d ago (Edited 14d 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.

exputers14d ago

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

Profchaos14d ago (Edited 14d 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_looken14d 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.

z2g14d ago

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

phoenixwing14d ago

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

H914d ago

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

jambola14d 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

SegaSaturn66914d ago

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

Popsicle14d 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.

jznrpg15d 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.

Profchaos15d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion15d ago (Edited 15d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola15d 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
ChasterMies35d 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_looken35d ago

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

Cacabunga35d ago

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

just_looken35d 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-6435d 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_Long35d 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.

Einhander197235d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic35d 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 35d ago
DivineHand12535d 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.

Joe91335d 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_Observer35d 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.

S2Killinit35d ago (Edited 35d 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.

Joe91334d 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.

S2Killinit34d 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 34d ago
Christopher35d 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.

CrimsonWing6934d ago (Edited 34d 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.

S2Killinit34d 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_Mal35d ago (Edited 35d 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.

Christopher35d 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_looken35d 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

Einhander197235d ago (Edited 35d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic35d 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.

romulus2335d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218335d 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.

S2Killinit34d ago (Edited 34d 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.

mastershredder35d 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.

crazyCoconuts35d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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