Raven722 said:
Yep. Even smaller companies like the now closed Boss Key Productions whose heads, like CliffyB, thought that cross-play was "stupid". Granted, he was talking about cross-play between PC and consoles but he's an example of what consumers are going to have to deal with even after this battle. Sony is just an easy target right now because they're the only first-party company saying no to it. I still think it will eventually happen across the board, but it's not going to be as simple as getting Sony to agree to it as many people seem to think. |
This is just the first battle where both armies feel each other out. If this battle is won, the war that will ensue will be much much more brutal than this and will drag on forever. I do agree if PS by chance folds, even though they've no doubt talked to many pubs and devs and know how they feel about it as well, that it will eventually mean cross play across the board, but not for years, even an entire gen maybe.
KLAMarine said:
Hmm, I see. Not sure I'd draw too many conclusions from it. Seems like jittery investors to me. Admittedly, what I know about investing and stocks can fit in a paragraph... |
I'm not trying to say Nin is doomed here, I'm just pointing out it seems pretty clear the reason Nin is willing to jump onto the cross play bandwagon is because while they were red hot last year, things feel like they are cooling off, mostly based on the lack of games so far this year, regardless of what's coming in the future. The fact that Reggie kept saying momentum on his Fox interview screams that Nin was looking for a way to keep the ball rolling like PS has with PS4, and so (Fortnite) cross play was a move that would help them until they can push out another slew of must have games. I'm not saying Nin did it for only that reason, but it was no doubt a serious business decision that wasn't taken lightly. Investors would see this as weakness, which very well may be part of the reason PS doesn't want to allow it among other things.
I do also think there is notable speculation going around with XB and their future "consoles" remark, as well as the most recent PS remarks. I honestly think people are wondering if MS or PS has portable in mind. Remember that not all that long ago, PS was saying they 'couldn't ignore Switch'?
"We're hearing it. We're looking at a lot of the possibilities. You can imagine that the circumstances around that affect a lot more than just one game. I'm confident we'll get to a solution which will be understood and accepted by our gaming community, while at the same time supporting our business."
The more I read into this statement by Layden, the more I think he's no doubt saying there is a strong possibility of a PS Portable coming. Not trying to ruin anyone's party, but I myself wouldn't see it as a major surprise. Possibilities could mean a payment method for cross play, maybe, or their own device. He points out this will affect many games, so they no doubt feel that Switch has legs and is a useful device and will see more and more games, so why not have one themselves? A solution that would be understood and accepted by the PS gaming community, would be a PS Portable gaming device, that will cross play with PS consoles, and will directly support their business at the same time. He of course left out how it wouldn't help the competition at all if PS has their own portable, but he definitely implies that here to some extent.
March of 2019 is when PS is dropping PS Plus game support for PS3 and Vita. With all the rumors of next gen, to see a new PS Portable to replace Vita, and a PS5 to allow PS4 to push out PS3, makes way to much sense, and could very well happen late 2019 or sometime in 2020. It's also possible PS drops portable altogether, but when I read between the lines, I think PS is making it fairly clear that if the choice means helping put money in the competitions pocket by allowing cross play, which also means losing potential profit for PS themselves, they would rather try their own portable device and lose money that way, if it loses them money that is. If it makes money though, it's just a bonus for the PS brand.
Last edited by EricHiggin - on 08 July 2018
