| Intrinsic said: If we are to be honest though.... sony has pretty much remained constant with their output all generation. Contrary to what most think.
I didnt add Remakes, Remasters, PSN only games, Published exclusives (eg NiOH), VR games and the annual MLB games.
So yeah, sony kinda releases an average of 3 major games a year.
I think what he"s saying is that he would prefer they have only 2 releases a year where each game is selling like 10M copies than have 3 where only one sells like 10M copies and the other two sell like 5M each
And I don think we have any reason to doubt what kinda games sony makes or supports. They have 4 generations of ding that under their belt..... and even stuck with their guns when everyone was saying single player is dead...
|
Spider-Man, Detroit, Bloodborne, The Order 1886 and Until Dawn aren't from Sony's worldwide studios , some of those studios have even advocated their move to multiplatform development, and the company that made Driveclub was shut down. The fact that so many of Sony's big games are not from their worldwide studios is why I mentioned it as a counter-argument against some of my own concerns, but ultimately we ARE talking about Sony's own studios. If we're talking about the output from Sony's own studios I can't say that the first half of the Playstation 4's life was very impressive, which is why I'm a tad worried. A lot of those games listed aren't just "niche" either but not very well received by their audience. I think it says a lot for example that you're listing games like The Order, but then say that contrary to popular belief Sony's output has been consistent. There's a reason that belief is popular. The conflict of interest I see in the statement is that, mass market appeal and quality games aren't necessarily the same thing. And if game development for Sony's studios is going to get even longer with more money backing it? I think there's a possibility we'll see more and more a push for mass market appeal and not just creativity and unique quality. Now, obviously Sony does publish a lot of big games, and I guess you can also include their sports games as important releases. But overall I wouldn't, partially because those games can be played elsewhere and the publishing can change region from region (for example Sony owns a lot of exclusive publishing rights in Japan), and also because I just am not interested in sports games (power to people who are though and it is a legitimate point in favor of Sony). I also don't think any year on that list is generally impressive until maybe 2016 (you forgot Ratchet & Clank).
I can get behind what you're saying and I even kind of said it myself. The IP that Sony own/uses is more important than just the studios themselves. But, I don't know if Sony can rely on a lot of those same companies again. Games are taking longer and are requiring more money to make, and instead of making more quality games of a smaller-scale, we're seeing the going all in on massive projects. And that's why a lot of studios are barely making two games this generation (and outright wouldn't if not for cross-gen releases). And now that might get even slower? That sounds impressive at first, two games per studio a generation, wow! But keep in mind someone like Bend only get off on the technicality of the Vita, Sucker Punch get off because they are releasing their second game really late (probably cross-gen), Santa Monica is only making one game, Guerilla is only making two because the first game was a launch exclusive (and they reused their engine), Media Molecule is only making two games again because the Vita is technically part of this generation, etc etc. Sony games already take a lonnnnnng time from announcement to release. And I have to wonder if the removal of a portable will actually lessen the output, like would Media Molecule even make it to two games this generation had the Vita not existed? Or Bend? I don't think so. Yes that staff would be re-allocated to those bigger projects but still those projects took a long time to develop and I don't think it would make up for it. Naughty Dog and Japan Studio are basically the only studios consistently making games. And their VR studios too ... I guess ...
I realized that my problem isn't really the "niche" games, rather, I would really like a focus on AAA small-scale titles (or to ditch the rather ambiguous "AAA" mantra, unique well emphasized games). And I think it's unfortunate that aside from maybe direct sequels (I could actually see GOW5 and Horizon 2 releasing pretty close to PS5's first year or two), everything may take even longer next gen.
