What are your thoughts on Sony Computer Entertainment?

[Kresnik]

I guess you can tell my stance on them from my general posts around the forums and my games collection.

I feel that this generation they really came into their own. I'd been fans of teams like Japan Studio & Naughty Dog before now, but since the PS3's launch they really ramped up the WWS and just made something special.

Sure, they have mis-steps and mistakes like every company. Most of these, in recent years, came from odd hardware choices, such as cell for PS3 or UMD's for PSP. Generally, they seem to be sorting that out going into the new generation.

There have been misses with games too, but that brings around my point. At least they're making so much stuff that when they do miss, it's not a such a big deal.

I feel their teams run the perfect mix of old and new. You can have an IP that has been around since the launch of the original PlayStation like WipEout mixed in with something brand new for this generation like Uncharted. Increasing I feel that they're leaning on established IP's recently; then they'll announce a loads of new stuff and re-evaluate that opinion.

I like that they run such a range of stuff too. Having grown up on the 3D collecthons of the fifth gen, I'm really partial to that particular genre. So the fact that Sony keep producing these games with Ratchet; or that they can revive Sly Cooper out of the blue makes things great for me. And then at the other end of the spectrum, I do enjoy things like arcade racers or shooters and Sony run great examples of these, too.

And that's another point. They still run B-tier franchises that maybe sell 1-2m copies; enough to break even. By having that scope of a game that doesn't-quite-have-AAA-production values but doesn't need to sell 5m copies to be a worthwhile investment either, I feel like they're keeping a segment of the market open for games that just wouldn't be able to be made otherwise. And it's a segment I like.

I also appreciate the effort they've made to price games appropriately lately. Sly Cooper launching for £30; Ratchet Q Force launching for £15 is respectable because that's closer to what the games are worth, and I hope it helps keep open the not-AAA-but-not-indie market longer.

I wish they'd buff up their Japanese teams and make more JRPG's; I wish they would advertise some of these smaller releases when they came out so they'd reach a larger audience; and sometimes I do wish they would crack the whip with some of their studios rather than letting them get away with nothing (I think we all know what we're talking about here).

But on the whole, I've loved Sony my whole life because those decisions were made for me when I was growing up; but I love Sony Computer Entertainment not only for the fantastic experiences they did bring me during the 5th and 6th generation, but because of the vastly expanded range of things they've brought me in this generation. I look forward to what they're going to bring us in the future :)