Shuhei Yoshida Says PlayStation Needs to Rethink its Focus on Cutting-Edge Graphics

Shuhei Yoshida suggests PlayStation should shift its focus from raw graphical power to creating unique player experiences.

[Jin_Sakai]

“Cutting-Edge Graphics Remain Important, But They Shouldn’t Be the Main Focus“

Exactly why Nintendo games do so well. And not to mention Switch sold a whopping 150+ million while being the weakest of the bunch.

[Cacabunga]

Agree with yoshida san. Proof of his claim is Sony releasing old gen games remasters to showcase the new hardware

[Scissorman]

While I agree with graphics not being the be all end all, a huge part of why the Switch sold so well is because Nintendo is selling between 2-4 per household. Had the Switch been a traditional console, and not a handheld, I don't think it would have sold as well.

Having said that, Sony could really use some AA titles again. They are sitting on so many IP like Parappa and LocoRoco and Patapon that could be leveraged for small-budget releases.

[raWfodog]

"a huge part of why the Switch sold so well is because Nintendo is selling between 2-4 per household"

I'm responsible for 3 of those sales myself, one for each of my kids. Being the cheapest out of the bunch, and the most 'family-friendly', are the main reasons it sells so well.

But I agree, cutting-edge graphics are not the main selling point of games for me. But they are nice to look at lol.

[ABizzel1]

It’s also because the portability aspect of a Nintendo Handheld reaches 3 gaming markets responsible for 20m - 30m gamers per generation for Nintendo (realistically 25m each minimum).

The child gamer
The Japanese gamer
The Pokémon gamer

And this doesn’t diminish Nintendo at all, because they’ve done the work to own each of these segments. Nintendo could literally lose:
every non-Pokémon core fan (the die hard who bought Wii U: 20m)
every core-casual fan (those who pick Nintendo as a 2ndary / 3rd platform)
every casual fan (Wii type hype / fad gamers)

And still have a successful handheld, because those 3 main audiences (kids, JP, Pokemon) carry so much weight for their handheld platforms, that at worst they will produce 60m units sold, but realistically around 70m - 80m sells alone which is crazy.

Sony is close to having something like that, but the don’t quite have it as locked in as Nintendo does. Sony owns Europe just like Nintendo owns Japan. They don’t have that single IP to the level of Pokémon (instead they have a collection of IPs and the hope for continuous New IP). And they don’t have that single locked in community to the extent Nintendo has for kids/parents (they have their core and core-casual, but graphics and hardware play a role in keeping them especially that core-casual who only hear games are better on “X” platfrom). But regardless they do so well globally as a primary home console they too see huge global success.

Not to bring Xbox into this, but this is what they as a platform need to find their niche in. The most powerful console isn’t working for them. And why I’ve been saying since the latter half of the 360 era they need to move into the PConsole space and hopefully they learned so they can have their own successful niche.

[Melankolis]

I'd rather play
1. A game with 8/10 graphic + 9/10 gameplay, than
2. A game with 10/10 graphic + 8/10 gameplay

[Lexreborn2]

I’m not sure I see the mathematical difference in this comparison.lol this is essentially stating they are equivalent with possibly 1 minor point towards gameplay.

I feel like I would understand 7/10 gameplay more then the 8/10

[Melankolis]

Games that have 8/10 in gameplay are many, while the ones that have 9/10 are quite rare. That 1 point is small yet significant, a wall for many developers. Oh, and 7/10 is a already a skip for me.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

That's honestly not enough difference for me to even care, the gap needed to be bigger.

[Knushwood Butt]

OK, but did he suggest that WHILE he was at PlayStation?

[Miraak82]

Games were really fun while he was running it , ps3 and ps4 were some of the best experiences I've had that weren't the same formulaic games we have now . He didn't need to SUGGEST anything because at the time the PS identity wasn't focused purely on cutting edge graphics as it is now . AA and more experimental games were still prevalent to its brand. Aside from like Helldivers 2 and Returnal it's been nothing but remakes. remasters and ridiculous budget sequels to their tried and true formula of games.

I mean look at what they did to littlebigplanet , they took out it's main selling point and turned it to a generic platformer while killing of its previous entries .

[Knushwood Butt]

PS3 and PS4 is a pretty big span.

I agree with some of your points, but a big part of PS has always been the tech.

I supported a lot of the niche stuff; got Concrete Genie day 1, but stuff like Dreams was a big misfire.

Ultimately, if they didn't sell then they weren't what customers wanted.

Helldivers 2? It's a sequel and not especially unique is it?

Do you mean Sackboy's Big Adventure or whatever it's called? I played that way more than LBP3, and it's a blast in co-op.

[ZeekQuattro]

Probably. Which is why he's gone now. 🤣

[KwietStorm_BLM]

He's saying it *because* he's not there. You can't just say whatever you want in a corporate job and keep your job. And he was moved to a whole other department years ago anyway. PlayStation probably wouldn't have had the indie push if it weren't for Yoshida. But he's just being transparent in interviews.

[Christopher]

Probably not since they have continued to outsell direct competition and at least match previous models of their own by pushing better graphics. I do think we are approaching a period in technology where gains are less noticeable and worthwhile. But the leap from PS4 to PS5 is still notable.

[Killer2020UK]

Graphics are the cherry on the cake, not the leading ingredient. Who wants to play the same game repeatedly with slightly improved fidelity each time?

[Knushwood Butt]

75 million Mario Kart 8 players?

[soulreaper37]

Facts.75 million MK8 players know what's up

[ABizzel1]

That’s Nintendo’s entire catalog really. Few of their IPs stray far from this outside of 3D Zelda, 3D Mario, and maybe a couple of others once per generation.

[Skyfly47]

Sony need to stop faffing around and rehire Shuhei

[OtterX]

No kidding, head of Playstation. Love the guy!

[Profchaos]

Agree graphics are important but I'd rather play an average looking game with amazing gameplay than a amazing looking game with average gameplay and story

[GreekHobo]

What Sony really needs is to get their main gaming office back to Japan and to stop catering to western gamers.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

The whole industry does.

[jznrpg]

You can do both like ND games, GoT, GoW etc. They just made Astro Bot a game like what he’s talking about. So they can make all types of games

[DodoDojo]

Sure but they're not making a lot of smaller budget games like Astro Bot. These big graphically impressive games take a lot of development time and as a result were seeing fewer new game output than we did with previous gens.

[Pedrof]

Says cutting edge graphics shouldn't be the main focus. Ships PS5 Pro.

No comment...

[Chocoburger]

He had nothing to do with PS5 Pro, he stopped being in charge 5 or more years ago.