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Rpruett on 09 May 2011
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d21lewis said:

So this is being don on purpose?  Sony doesn't want a single game to sell too many copies?  If Uncharted 3 suddenly sells 15 million copies and Nathan Drake becomes Sony's mascot, they will be pissed?  Look. 

You're mistaking my point.  Sony has never allowed their titles to reach that status.  If Uncharted were a Microsoft product, you would have Uncharted movies, animations, coloring books, legos, spin-offs galore.  There is nothing wrong that that at all,  but they're driving people to buy their flagship titles.  Sony has such minimal marketing in terms of driving their products.   Sony has more of let actions speak louder than words type of marketing style.

Look at the PS1.  That console got over because of third parties.  There's a reason why people consider Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear, Tekken, and Final Fantasy to be "Playstation Franchises".  These were the reasons to own a PS1.  Sure there were a few Sony franchises like Gran Turismo and....uh......hmm.....*mumbles gibberish under breath* but third party is where it was at. 

There was Twisted Metal, Gran Turismo, Wipeout, Warhawk, X-Games, Cool Boarders, Crash Bandicoot and tons of other games released.  Tomb Raider was an unknown at that point in time, as was Resident Evil, Metal Gear, Tekken.    The solid first party offerings with some really good third party exclusives lent to PS1s success.  The Sony made games were just as important in the big picture and were highly underrated games even at the time.

Look at the PS2.  Games like Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, Metal Gear, Grand Theft Auto, and such were the reasons to own the consoles.  Sure, there were a few Sony franchises like God of War, Ico, Ratchet and Clank, Gran Turismo, and such but once again, it was the third parties and their exclsivity/diversity that made that console.  Sony was never the captain of their own ship.  Hell, the PS2 launched without a single launch game from Sony!!  What kind of shit is that? 

Again, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Socom, God of War series, Gran Turismo series, Shadow of the Colossus, etc.   I will admit that PS2 was a lot more lackluster from first party offerings, but much of that was because the PS2 really dominated from an early point into its life.   It had no reason to worry it had complete third party exclusivity on lockdown.  (The first party developers were there however, with smaller budgets).

 

The thing is, with the start of this gen, most of those third party franchises jumped ship.  Their games became mult-plats.  Sony WAS FORCED to step their game up.  They did a hell of a job, too!  Sony is pumping out some of the highest (if not THE highest) quality games on the market.  Games like GoW3, Killzone 3, Unchated, and such are just plain incredible.  It may not be Sony Computer Entertainment that makes a lot of them (Quantic Dream, Naughty Dog, and Guerilla Games kick ass!) but they're released under the Sony banner and their quality cannot be denied. 

My point is, it was simply allocation of money.  Sony developed a stronger first party this generation due to circumstance,  but it was there even during the PS2 days (Just with not with titles that didn't have huge budgets).   PS1 had a very good amount of first party offerings, however. 


Sony is releasing some good stuff, these days.  Maybe they saw that they could no longer count on third parties to be loyal this gen and put the pieces into place years ago to make them successful today--but don't pretend for one second that they're purposely not trying to create a mega-hit.  I think they'd have been exstatic if Sack Boy was the next "Mario".

They aren't wasting any and all energy advertising their products.  I don't even know how someone being remotely genuine can argue that.   Besides the occassional Sackboy beanie or plush toy at a Gamestore,  how much Sackboy is shoved down your throat?   

I mean my god,  I've drank Master Chief Mountain Dew for the past 2 years,  saw Halo animations, Halo coloring books,  Halo Megablocks,  Halo special bundle packs with Master Chiefs helmet, Halo posters, Halo Slurpees,  Halo T-shirts,  Halo standees in the gamestore for months on end,  Pre-Halo beta codes in about 12 other games.  

Look no further than PS Move versus Kinect in terms of advertising budgets.  PS Moves release date was almost an unknown event,  Kinect has a $500 million dollar marketing campaign.   And Nintendo stamps Marios name to just about every and any game that is published by Nintendo (And have for several generations).  

I believe Sony wants consumers to think of 'Sony' the brand more than that company with Sackboy.  Where as Nintendo wants consumers to think of them as 'that' Mario company.