Well true it would increase traffic to the site. We are hoping the overhaul will do that as well. Parts of the site should run faster and look nicer. 

We are up to date with weekly hardware figures. Software estimates are not coming back as we have no way of tracking digital sales. Same with number of Game Pass and PS Now subs. 

Not only did they give us some of the best first party games (second only to Nintendo, in my opinion), some of those were new IPs, something Microsoft just can't manage. Bloodborne, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ghost of Tsushima are all amazing games, with Bloodborne being probably my all-time favourite, not factoring nostalgia for SNES games. (Seriously, my top 5 of all time are SNES games, followed by Bloodborne; THAT is how good that game is). 

I could ALMOST count The Last of Us as a new IP this gen as it was released in 2013, but I won't. 

God of War is practically a new IP given its shift in tone and gameplay style. 

Spider-Man is almost new IP in that it isn't a sequel to a prior game, but we can't REALLY count it. 

Point is, they actually did a lot right this generation despite being without competition. PS2 had a similar situation. No competition, but ALL the greatest games (Aside from Nintendo, as usual). I agree with you wholeheartedly. 

I think we can safely count the likes of GOW and Spiderman as new IPs.  Or at the very worst, reboots. 

But yeah, Sony's strength are its exclusives. And if you are buying a PS console, you just know that in addition to all the third party stuff, you are going to et those great exclusives. This is why I keep saying; with regards to Xbox, all the talk about power, price, gamepass, value...etc, is just fanfare and noise. Those things are all great, but they amount to nothing when the platform lacks the most important thing, and that's a good number of exclusive games.

What that does is that it allows sony just kinda be in the middle. They don't have to be the best at anything, just the best at being in the middle. They don't have to have the best services,just have to have th next best thing, they don't have to have the best price, just the next best thing...etc.

But the real scary thing about it, is that all the major advantages MS is pushing, are all things that if sony were to decide to do, would end up being really bad for Xbox. Just imagine Sony made a service like gamepass, even if sony's approach was that st party releases wouldn't be on it day 1 and instead come like 9 - 12 months later, the library sony has would make such a service better than what Xbox can offer.

Netflix pretty much killed the physical movies market just like Itunes/spotifyy...etc did with the physical discs market. Thats the kinda effect Gamepas is supposed to have. ut until companies like Sony and Nintendo adopt that model, its never going to happen. 

Anyways, I just think MS should focus on their games and IP output. Start from there, then work your way out. That their tentpole titles in the 8th gen were gears, Forza, and halo (the exact same three with the 7th gen), spells that dilemma out clearly. 

I agree with this wholeheartedly. They need more first party exclusives. 

I use the analogy of a steakhouse to compare Sony and Microsoft when it comes to the differences between offerings. Exclusives are the steak, everything else are the sides. Microsoft has outstanding salad, a great wine pairing, and a huge and well cooked stack of fries in the form of gamepass and third party strength due to the power....but Sony still has pretty damn good sides as well but they actually have a fantastic, thick, juicy, meaty steak at the center of it as a form of first party exclusives. Microsoft, however, has some week-old cut that's a little over cooked and not that big. It's actually kind of a bad steak, one you could get at home (On PC)

While Microsoft may very well have the best sides, people dont go to their restaurant for their fries. and Sony's fries are almost as good but accentuate an outstanding piece of meat. 

The worldwide sales, brand recognition, and reviews for the games show that...yeah, clearly exclusives matter. They just do. this is a non-negotiable fact. They are a significant factor when it comes to choosing your console. If Gamepass and raw power and backwards compatibility mattered as much as Microsoft treats them...Xbox would be competing. But it's not. Because it lacks exclusives. That's just a fact. That's not even an opinion at this point. Hell, I probably dislike more games on PS than I do on Xbox...but that still leaves so many games I do love. I don't even like Old God of War games or Uncharted or The Last of Us or Killzone or Gran Turismo or MLB The Show or a dozen others...but I do love Bloodborne and Horizon and new God of War and Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank and Ghost of Tsushima, etc. 

I had someone try to argue with me both here and on Youtube that all of Sony's exclusives are the same because they're all third-person action-adventure games and...like, how does one even respond to something so blatantly stupid and wrong? Like, Uncharted is NOTHING like Bloodborne. Ghost of Tsushima is NOTHING like MLB The Show. The Last of Us is nothing like Gran Turismo. Being in third person mode does not mean they're the same. Such a stupid, nonsensical argument.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. They need more first party exclusives. 

I use the analogy of a steakhouse to compare Sony and Microsoft when it comes to the differences between offerings. Exclusives are the steak, everything else are the sides. Microsoft has outstanding salad, a great wine pairing, and a huge and well cooked stack of fries in the form of gamepass and third party strength due to the power....but Sony still has pretty damn good sides as well but they actually have a fantastic, thick, juicy, meaty steak at the center of it as a form of first party exclusives. Microsoft, however, has some week-old cut that's a little over cooked and not that big. It's actually kind of a bad steak, one you could get at home (On PC)

While Microsoft may very well have the best sides, people dont go to their restaurant for their fries. and Sony's fries are almost as good but accentuate an outstanding piece of meat. 

The worldwide sales, brand recognition, and reviews for the games show that...yeah, clearly exclusives matter. They just do. this is a non-negotiable fact. They are a significant factor when it comes to choosing your console. If Gamepass and raw power and backwards compatibility mattered as much as Microsoft treats them...Xbox would be competing. But it's not. Because it lacks exclusives. That's just a fact. That's not even an opinion at this point. Hell, I probably dislike more games on PS than I do on Xbox...but that still leaves so many games I do love. I don't even like Old God of War games or Uncharted or The Last of Us or Killzone or Gran Turismo or MLB The Show or a dozen others...but I do love Bloodborne and Horizon and new God of War and Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank and Ghost of Tsushima, etc. 

I had someone try to argue with me both here and on Youtube that all of Sony's exclusives are the same because they're all third-person action-adventure games and...like, how does one even respond to something so blatantly stupid and wrong? Like, Uncharted is NOTHING like Bloodborne. Ghost of Tsushima is NOTHING like MLB The Show. The Last of Us is nothing like Gran Turismo. Being in third person mode does not mean they're the same. Such a stupid, nonsensical argument.

You don`t need to go to youtube for that, there are many people that say that here, like Mr. Pugsly have said many times that all Sony games are the same and invented the genre "third person adventure movie". Not to forget another thread that put that Sony games are "sad dad game".

I get that certain hardcore fans feel slighted and want to 'get revenge' on Sony Folks for saying similar things, but ya can't just say 'I know you are but what am I' and expect to be taken seriously. 

When people (like me) say that Microsoft Exclusives are pretty much all shooty bang-bang games or racing games....it's actually true. the holy trinity of Halo, Gears, and Forza are really the only premiere game franchises they have anymore and two of those are shooter games. I know one is First person and the other is third person, but they have similar art styles, similar gameplay styles, nearly identical gameplay loops, and are both sci-fi shooters. I'd put Killzone on the same level as them, but something like Gears is nothing like, say, Uncharted. sure, both are third person shooters, but one's a sci-fi action game, one is a low-fantasy adventure. One is pretty much 100% shooting and hitting things, one is divided between shooting, platforming, puzzles, and setpieces. 

This idea that things are the same because they share some base mechanics or viewpoints is asinine. I'm kind of sick of people reducing things just to justify their hatred. Like, Gears of War has more in common with Halo - a first person shooter - than Uncharted - a third person shooter. The arguments these people make are bad and they should feel bad.