PlayStation Exec Discusses What Sony Learned From PlayStation 3's Missteps - DICE 2019

During his DICE 2019 keynote speech, SIE Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden discussed the lessons Sony has learned in game development, including how missteps with PlayStation 3 led to changes with PlayStation 4.

[PhoenixUp]

You know you’re a boss when selling 87 million units can be considered a misstep for your console brand

[InKnight7s]

Correct over 90 million by first of the year. And I will let you imagine how RE2 remake and KH3 boost it even more.

[BehindTheRows]

He was talking about the PS3. ^_^

[AnthonyDavis]

I hope they make strong hardware again and charge atleast $600 for the PS5. PS4 was too weak this generation.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

I guess that's one way to look at it. I'd say you know you're humbled when you go from 157 million sold to 87 million, hence learning from mistakes and taking a radically different approach. I'd like to hope they don't forget this going forward, but you never know until it materializes.

[BehindTheRows]

Clearly they know what to avoid repeating, or this article wouldn't exist.

[Imalwaysright]

Or they just live in the real world. Sales mean nothing if you're not making any money and for Sony the PS3 was a disaster.

[Tross]

Yep. I mean, it probably was, as it did technically fare worse than Sony consoles usually do and they did only place second that gen, but even Sony's missteps top MS's successes and that says a lot. Heck, Nintendo's misstep with the Wii U fared many times worse. IMHO Sony's never released a bad system though, unless you count the recent PlayStation Classic, which I have my doubts that they even made in-house (and it's not a total write-off for me). I'm even happy with my Vita, although I use my PS4 a lot more these days. When it comes to consoles, excluding the knock-off novelty kind, I don't think Sony can screw up all that badly even if they tried.

[Tross]

@shaggy2303 You’ve never owned a PSP have you? It was a great device for its time. The Vita even has its fanbase, but it is true that it’s more of a cult system for those not turned off by the lack of first party and Western AAA support. The PSP on the other hand topped 80 million in sales. If that’s not a success I don’t know what is, and I still think it’s s great little device. Perhaps do your research before talking about something you know nothing about? Just a suggestion.

[Gamist2dot0]

Putting Mark Cerny at the helm of the project was a historic decision.

[RpgSama]

I'm very excited about what Mark Cerny will do for the Ps5, he is hands down a genius.

[neutralgamer1992]

Is he the lead on next console too?

[RpgSama]

@neutralgamer1992

Yes he is.

[S2Killinit]

Yeah he is. We gonna have some good times ahead. Im patiently waiting for news.

[Thundercat77]

With the experience of the PS4, Mark Cerny will now make something even greater with the PS5.

I really respect Mark Cerny for his work. What a genius.

[nucky64]

i think a more interesting article is a MS exec explaining why they (to this point) NEVER learn from thier mistakes.

[2pacalypsenow]

The Xbox 1 is Microsoft Ps3.

I mean if you look at it, Microsoft repeated the same mistakes Sony did with the PS3.

[Potnoodle999]

PS3 sold twice as many as Xbox one.
PS3 was a fantastic console with a ridiculous amount of classics that are still gems to this day. It has many contender for GOAT(wouldn’t win in my book but still has contenders)
I don’t know what Xbox 1 is for Microsoft, but it ain’t a ps3!!!

[Hardiman]

The PS3 price stopped me from buying for three years but I got the first Slim and was blown away by the new IP's and sequels Sony released.

The unveiling of the Xbox One and the messaging, attempted bad practices and lack of compelling software is not the same thing because this is the first gen since Xbox has been a thing I haven't bought one!

[2pacalypsenow]

Not talking about sales.

Just that both Sony and Xbox came of successful machines (Ps2,Xbox 360). And stumbled on the Ps3 and xbox 1, but got much better towards the end.

[Ratchet75]

What????
Did xbox1 cost $300 more than ps4 at launch? No
Was Xbox1 extremely complicated to program for??? No
Did xbox1 had manufacturing issues at launch? No
Xbox1 did not have any of those struggles and still did not manage to come back.
😉 😉 😉

[S2Killinit]

I dont agree because PS3 kept getting better as the generation continued until it made up the difference in sales and more than outdid xbox in exclusives department. The xbox one is the sadest console ive seen in all my gaming life.

[darthv72]

@2pac, it is MS's third console and most everyone knows about the third console curse.

Sega, Nintendo, Sony and I think even Atari have all experienced it. But some are able to bounce back with their subsequent releases while others faded away. The next system can either by MS's PS4 moment or their Dreamcast swan song.

@ratchet
Did xbox1 cost more than ps4 at launch? Yes
Was Xbox1 under spec compared to PS4??? Yes
Did xbox1 have bad messaging and decisions at launch? Yes
Xbox1 did have many struggles and had they not made those changes then it would not have even come back to reach 42 million now.

[nucky64]

below you said the 360 was successful - you do remember the 360 launch? i'd hardly call that "successful"

[Thundercat77]

Sorry but I have to clarify an important difference here...

PS3 : Disastrous release, glorious comeback from the dead. It surpassed the Xbox 360 at the end.

Xbox 1: Disastrous release, fixed some issues, NEVER MADE A COMEBACK or surpassed the competition as the PS3 did.

[rainslacker]

Apparently they don't make mistakes. It's just a problem with the customer not understanding what they are saying.

[DillyDilly]

The PS3 Launch Price Point was a blessing in disguise. Because it showed no matter who the Company was that if it was expensive people would not buy it plain & simple. We now know that Gaming Consoles will never launch that high again & will be sold at losses if it comes to it

[IRetrouk]

It outsold the Xbox 360 from the day it launched, the Wii and 360 took a bigger piece of the pie in that gen, that was one of the main factors as to why the PS3 didn't reach PS1 numbers, the price really wasn't one of them.

[DillyDilly]

But that price will never happen again for anybody is the point

[IRetrouk]

I'm not sure, if it offers value for the price I don't see why not, prices always come down, what's right for one ain't right for all.

[starchild]

The price certainly slowed down sales compared to what they could have been. But fortunately it didn't take too long for Sony to revise the hardware and lower the price.

[IRetrouk]

We don't know what the sales could have been though, every console is different and don't all sell the same, the PS3 faced more competition than the ps2 did, both the Wii and 360 done way way way better than the original Xbox and GameCube did, and the PS3 outsold the Xbox from day 1, no price cut needed. Again it wasn't the price that stopped people buying, because it was still selling really well. it was the increased competition that took more of the pie.

[SuperSonic91]

But Xbox One repeated that mistake

[DillyDilly]

& Microsoft also had a very tough launch on top of everything else that happened. Sony learned a lot with the PS4 & Microsoft learned a few things with the X1. Will the right lessons be learned next gen is the question

[SonyStyled]

Poof, there goes backwards comparability. I’m happy I shelled the $600 to have one console that played every single PlayStation game to date. However 12 years after purchase my 60 gb console has been retired for a super slim

[Fishy Fingers]

I bought my PS3 day one to compliment my top of the line (lols) 720p TV.

Excluding the XB1X argument it was the only console that put performance before affordability. Bad (initial) business decision but one I admire.

[SonyStyled]

Same, I bought mine March of 2007 with motorstorm, assassins creed and resistance fall of man. Later that year uncharted came out. A video game machine it was

[Imalwaysright]

Performance or its blu ray drive? PS3 wasn't exactly known for its performance.

[snoopgg]

Its exclusives performed and surpassed anything its competitors put out easily.

[Imalwaysright]

snoopgg

Crysis 3 for the 360 easily rivals any PS3 exclusive.

[Knushwood Butt]

Crysis 3?

Must have been one of those overlooked multiplat classics that hardly anyone played.

[Imalwaysright]

Knushwood Butt

And that's probably why ignorant gamers claim that PS3 exclusives looked better than anything on other platforms but make no mistake about it Crysis 3 is the most technically advanced game of the 7th generation alongside GTA5.

[Knushwood Butt]

Haven't played it, but what about Crysis 3 on PS3? Was it a mess?

[Imalwaysright]

Knushwood Butt

No, it had lower resolution but still an incredible looking game for last gen standards on it.

[Knushwood Butt]

I could be wrong, but wasn't PS3 the first console released that had HDMI as standard? If so, that alone was pushing the envelope at the time.

Sure, it was pricey, but it had a lot of futureproofing. Blu-ray, HDMI, SACD!!;

* Writing this while I have DMC, Devil May Cry paused on my .... PS3! *

[StormSnooper]

Gotta love Sony. Keep on making them games, and I’ll keep supporting you.

[Skankinruby]

The one and only thing that could even remotely be labeled a 'misstep' from the ps3 is price(assuming you so ignorantly chose to ignore that it was the cheapest and one of the best blu ray players on the market in the heat of the format war), everything else was miles ahead of the competition. Still the best console to date.

[Akarogg]

Poor initial online infrastructure compared to 360, get those fanboy googles off for two seconds will you

[strayanalog]

Not launching a console at 500+ dollars while demonstrating you're high on yourself does do wonders. But hey, they strengthened their brand and listened to the community, so they were deserving of taking Gen 8's crown.

[AK91]

No matter how much success Sony has in the future I’ll never ever forget Kaz Hirai at the Sony PS3 Press conference going “it’s Ridge Racer it’s RIDGEEEEEEEEEEE RACERRRRRRRRRR”

[Razzer]

I loved PS3 but there is no denying it was over-complicated and too expensive. Icarus moment? Yeah, I'd say that about sums it up.

[neomahi]

I beg to differ. Ken Kutaragi was a technological genius, the industry just couldn't keep up. The industry is where it is today because of his forethought. When developers knew what they were doing, PS3 flexed it's muscle and when I saw gamers give up their 360 for a PS3, it was astounding to them what they didn't know and appreciated it. It was the cheapest bluray player. Every unit came with a HDD, the controller was wireless and just plugged in to recharge, no batteries included, it was capable of tessellation and had HDR capabilities with Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. Look at any Xbox 360 game and rest your eyes, then, on The Last of Us and tell me the PS3 was "devilish". I think the PS3 changed the industry in what quality really was. It showed how lazy developers really were. In the end, PS3 outsold the 360 worldwide. Sonys developers knew how to work that beast and Naughty Dog themselves praised the beast, just stated it took some getting used too. Tomonobu Itagaki said it wasnt as hard to develop for as everyone said it was. Bayonetta was the only game I can remember that was so broken it couldn't be fixed, even with Sonys help, but we got 3D gaming and motion control that lives on today while Kinect and Wiimote are dead. I also have a much larger PS3 game library with lots of titles I was excited for versus my PS4 that I'm still waiting for that first game that has me eagerly awaiting. Uncharted 4 was awesome, but can't compete with 3 and certainly not 2: Among Thieves. PS4 can't compete with PS3. PS3 was ahead of its time, 15 years ahead while PS4 plays on the same level as Xbox having pretty much all the same components, that's not a good thing when you're trying to differentiate yourself from the competition. Switch? Different, unique. Proprietary hardware has its advantages, it's a two edged sword. Laydens a businessman, not too different from a politician. You have to say whatever is necessary to sell customers, remember, he's not a hardware engineer, he started in marketing. I'm sure all that helped in creating the PS3, including Richard Marks are proud of the PS3 and it's success, it was a beast that could handle The Last of Us, with stunning ambient occlusion in the beginning when those headlights came through the Window, I won't play it on PS4, it's a PS3 showcase game along with Heavy Rain, LittleBIGPlanet, and Infamous just to name a couple, I could go on and on, Sony should have no shame with PS3, only pride they made something that endured so long while Microsoft scrambled to keep up, nah, I very much so beg to differ, PS4 doesn't come close, it's library incredibly lacking at year 6.

[neomahi]

Jack Tretton was really good at what he did and turned PlayStation around giving it a diverse and robust library of games. HE strengthened relationships in house and helped developers grow putting them on a pedestal and in the spotlight, he knew Sony had to grow within rather than being dependant on third-party to carry them through and made his own developers rockstars, that's recognized and in full force today, he acquired studios: Media Molecule, Sucker Punch, why he didn't obtain Quantic Dream and Insomniac is beyond me, but Phil Spencer of Xbox is just now discovering this and following Jacks lead, because that's how Microsoft does business. In the end, Sony just couldn't afford him.

[Thundercat77]

If Microsoft couldn't beat Sony at its worst moment "icarus" (PS3), how can Microsoft beat Sony when they are doing good?

[isarai]

Great that they are keeping that in mind, Keeps me very optimistic on the future

[mearl74]

Oh how soon we forget... It was the PS3 that help decide the ultimate winner in the HD DVD vs Blu-Ray war.