| richardhutnik said: Sony doesn't decide what will be the next "huge franchise". Customers decide this. Sony has given the world, this time around, LittleBigPlanet and also Uncharted. There is also EchoChrome. They brought back Warhawk, and also have MAG on the way. And people, STOP trying to make your pet game you like THE next franchise. The Killzone 2 hype was near nauseating level. |
But Sony does have the means to make some more really great franchises. They just have to choose to pursue markets that will be more receptive to their games (i.e. not making more hack n' slash games - as none will ever come close to even 4 million - and instead going ofter a more popular genre).
Each of the big three have the money and incentive to make some amazing games. They just need to find the people to do so. Look at Nintendo. Then went to Sakurai to make them a fighter, and he came up with the amazing and unique Super Smash Bros., a game so innovative it was initially lambasted for it's differences from other fighters at the time. Now it is by far the best selling fighting franchise ever. Sony and Microsoft have also had great success when forming internal studios to make new IPs. Polyphony Digital and Turn 10 are two of the best racing sim developers out there, and both Gran Turismo and Forza sell very well. Sony, through the aquisition of Guerrilla Games, also managed to turn Killzone from a low-7s caliber franchise to something that hits 9s almost across the board. Killzone 2 is also Sony's fastest selling first party title since GT4.
They have the means to do this, they just need to do it. As much as I love how Sony goes after niche titles like Patapon and Shadow of the Colossus, or how they love to support smaller genres like hack n' slash with franchises like God of War and Heavenly Sword, they need to go after something bigger. Well, they don't need to, as games like Heavenly Sword easily sell enough to be profitable, but it would certainly help them to turn a profit on the whole ps3 business (look at how much cash MS raked in the quarter Halo 3 hit), and it would give them a larger arsenal of "system sellers" to utilize next gen.
