PlayStation boss Jim Ryan is not a pantomime villain, but that’s what he’s been portrayed to be. The executive – guilty of toeing the company line on cross-play, for example – has long been the butt of enthusiast gamers’ jokes. His biggest slip-up? An off-the-cuff remark about the original PSone Gran Turismo playable next to the PlayStation 4’s Gran Turismo Sport. “Why would anyone want to play this?” he infamously said of the 1998 release.
It’s a rhetorical question that will be repeated ad nauseam until the end of time, even if the context has long been lost. For many, this was Ryan speaking out against PlayStation’s heritage; an early indication, perhaps, that its future consoles will not be backwards compatible. But the PlayStation 5 is backwards compatible, and it’s shaping up to be every inch the worthy successor to the organisation’s current-gen console. In fact, against a chorus of criticism, the English suit appears to be getting everything right.
Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra recently suggested an interesting concept that has sparked a debate among gamers - the idea of being able to tip developers after completing a game.
If I had a 100% way to be sure that this money would go to a fund or a reserve dedicated only to the guys who develop the games, be them designers, artists, programmers and so on, I could think about it.
But we all know that this 'tip' would only end up in a publisher's CEO pocket to buy a new yacht, so, no, I ain't tipping anyone anytime soon on this industry
Exactly these companies were raising money for good causes and gamers were donation and come to find out they are keeping a good chunk of be pie
Yeah tip your developer, 5% proceeds go to developer, 95% to the publisher or whoever. Isn't tipping for staff not making minimum wage? How about they just pay their developers properly and like you know, give them fair bonuses? Too much to ask from Blizzard these days, Kotick saw to that and is now laughing all the way to the bank.
It's the t**ts at the top looking at ways to cut devs wages and get the players to tip them like waiting staff, and I'll guarantee a percentage is skimmed and kept by Activision Blizzard. This is 100% for shareholder and CEO playouts.
I have to agree with this. On the surface tipping devs sounds like a great idea, but in the end it leads to pay cuts and subsidization of pay. Tips then become an expectation or the devs “can’t make a living.” Lastly, especially in the US, tip culture has gotten out of control, and it serves as an excuse not to properly pay employees. Sounds good but doesn’t end well.
@ Popsicle
I think your right on the nose with how much tipping has become rampant. Instead of it being a relationship directly between the customer and the developer or employee, it now has a middle man ingrained in the system. DoorDash is one example. It ends up becoming a metric where the company can measure 'just how much more money you are willing to part with' before raising the price on the main product.
Uh so they’re trying triple dip or more we buy the game that they’re already withholding/cutting content for dlc we was told that season pass would help the developers thrive we felt for it.
Now on top of all that plus their sales bonus they want tips enough is enough whatever happens to you create/built a good game get a bonus for sales milestones you care about your game and community we reward you with more sales not for doing 3/4 of a game then save the other 1/4 for dlc and passes after
Very well said. If it was possible to send the money to either the developer or some organization for the betterment of gaming, sure. But we all know that will not be the case.
No, it would go to those on the top. They will still fire developers, have a bunch of microtransactions, raise prices of games and so on.
So they eventually don't pay their workers and depend on our tips to pay them like the case with waiters!
That kind of practice is only normal in the states, as far as I know anyway, what a backwards system
Ireland is literally the first stop across the pond and we don't have a tipping culture. The only establishments here that would expect a tip are the tourist haunts that Americans visit. Other than that, you might tip in a restaurant as a sign of gratitude for great service and waiting staff would be paid a full wage anyway.
Is this a joke? How about the big wigs giving up some of their pay for their hard working developers.
"The company was unable to focus enough on its main hope"
Nope. Going back to the 32X as the reason Sega lost that generation doesn't go back far enough before the Saturn.
Sega executives need to blame themselves as to why Sega lost that generation. Not Saturn. Not 32X. Not Sega CD. Nope. Executives were the reason why. It wasn't the hardware. Those devices were either dropped early or released to soon resulting in a developer backlash the hurt the game catalog. They really shouldn't have been made at all because they should have planned their next move more carefully. It has nothing to do with the devices. Poor leadership decisions and lack of unity within the company are what happened.
Love how blame is always shifted away from what is the truth. Writing a book placing the blame on the 32X isn't the truth.
I am pretty sure there are documentaries (Youtube) around it which highlights these points. I had Sega Mega drive and NES growing up but that's about it. I didn't even know there was a war going on between these companies but I do remember thinking why I can't play Sonic cartridge on Nintendo or Mario on Sega :D
I had the Genesis and the Saturn, also had the SNES and 64, I never got a Dreamcast for some reason, but I never saw one in the stores either.
Chris D. Spoke with the Chiodo Brothers at PAX East about Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game and their Career.
Jim Ryan is a smart man, he did an excellent job for PlayStation in Europe. No wonder they put him in charge of their entire division.
Clearly knows what he is doing or he wouldn't he climbing the ladder, he done a good job with europe, can only see him doing even better now hes helping to run the whole thing.
Just bring back Jack Trenton already. Him and Shue are easily my favorite PS suits of all time.
I'd hardly say maligned but God damn i miss Kaz, Shawn and Trenton, i just hope Ryan is up to the job and continues PS4 success with PS5, i will be there day one and wish him the best.