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Forums - Sony - "Sony's first party wasn't good until second half of PS3" Myth or Fact?

TheMisterManGuy on 28 December 2025
curl-6 said:
TheMisterManGuy said:

They may not have needed it per-sae, but that doesn't mean they didn't have. At the time of the PS2, Sony had more than a dozen internal studios for games.

Japan Studio (Which at the time was just 4 product development departments within Sony Computer Entertainment Japan)

Polyphony Digital 

Foster City Studio

  - Naughty Dog 

  - SCEA Bend

Santa Monica Studio 

  - Incog Entertainment 

San Diego Studio 

  - 989 Sports

London Studio 

  - Team Soho

Cambridge Studio 

Studio Liverpool 

  - XDev

A pretty large development operation for a console that didn't particularly need first party development.

Never said they didn't have any, just that they weren't as developed as they would later become, nor as necessary.

Naughty Dog also didn't become a Sony studio til partway through the PS2 gen. Their PS1 output was all as a third party.

Naughty Dog was acquired very early on in the PS2 era in January 2001. 

And obviously Sony's first party wasn't quite as powerful it would later become. But it still helped play an important role in the PS2's success. 

I think the thing with the PS2 is that it's library was so massive and seemingly endless that people remember it for different reasons. If you were primarily or exclusively a PlayStation gamer, then you'll probably remember the first party stuff just as fondly as the third party games. But if you were primarily an Xbox or Nintendo gamer at the time, then you may associate the PS2 more with the third party stuff that wasn't on either of the other two systems more than the first party games. 



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curl-6 on 28 December 2025
TheMisterManGuy said:
curl-6 said:

Never said they didn't have any, just that they weren't as developed as they would later become, nor as necessary.

Naughty Dog also didn't become a Sony studio til partway through the PS2 gen. Their PS1 output was all as a third party.

Naughty Dog was acquired very early on in the PS2 era in January 2001. 

And obviously Sony's first party wasn't quite as powerful it would later become. But it still helped play an important role in the PS2's success. 

I think the thing with the PS2 is that it's library was so massive and seemingly endless that people remember it for different reasons. If you were primarily or exclusively a PlayStation gamer, then you'll probably remember the first party stuff just as fondly as the third party games. But if you were primarily an Xbox or Nintendo gamer at the time, then you may associate the PS2 more with the third party stuff that wasn't on either of the other two systems more than the first party games. 

I honestly doubt PS2's sales would decrease much if you deleted its first party lineup to be honest, between DVD playback and being the default platform for third parties. PS3 or PS4 on the other hand would take a significant hit if they lost their first party catalogue I expect.

Of course, we can never know for sure, as this is all just theoretical.



Kyuu on 28 December 2025
curl-6 said:

For my own personal tastes, Sony's own output was weak prior to the PS3.

I did love stuff like Crash/Spyro on PS1 but those weren't actually developed by Sony themselves, while there was not much on the PS2 that appealed to me.

Those consoles were carried hard by third parties. 

It's pretty obvious that you had a VERRY limited experience with Playstation prior to PS3. So it's a little odd that you seem to have strong and confident opinions about them. If you looked more and weren't preoccupied with your main platform, I'm sure you would have enjoyed countless games on PS2, including some 1st party content. After all.. some of your favorite Wii games were spiritually PS2's, and it's possible you wouldn't have experienced RE4 at all if it was a PS2 exclusive. What was the first console you played Okami and Fatal Frame on? What was you first Monolith Soft game? How about Vanillaware? You loved Muramasa... did you play Odin Sphere?

Objectively, PS1 and PS2 had a high quantity and variety of beloved first party games that easily beat later PS consoles. Things got a little weird with PS3, then got worse from PS4 onwards (despite Sony unifying handheld and console output). Commercial success is a separate argument. Super Metroid and Shadow of the Colossus are alltimers that sold terribly compared to the garbage that make billions of dollars annually.

But even commercially, Gran Turismo was essentially Sony's Halo (except it remains very popular and of high quality). Nothing on PS1 had more appeal than GT, and only GTA could edge it out on PS2. Yes, of course 3rd party titles "combined" dominated PS1 and PS2 sales, but this remains true with current Playstation systems as well.

CEASE YOUR PS2 HATE AT ONCE!!!



curl-6 on 28 December 2025
Kyuu said:
curl-6 said:

For my own personal tastes, Sony's own output was weak prior to the PS3.

I did love stuff like Crash/Spyro on PS1 but those weren't actually developed by Sony themselves, while there was not much on the PS2 that appealed to me.

Those consoles were carried hard by third parties. 

It's pretty obvious that you had a VERRY limited experience with Playstation prior to PS3. So it's a little odd that you seem to have strong and confident opinions about them. If you looked more and weren't preoccupied with your main platform, I'm sure you would have enjoyed countless games on PS2, including some 1st party content. After all.. some of your favorite Wii games were spiritually PS2's, and it's possible you wouldn't have experienced RE4 at all if it was a PS2 exclusive. What was the first console you played Okami and Fatal Frame on? What was you first Monolith Soft game? How about Vanillaware? You loved Muramasa... did you play Odin Sphere?

Objectively, PS1 and PS2 had a high quantity and variety of beloved first party games that easily beat later PS consoles. Things got a little weird with PS3, then got worse from PS4 onwards (despite Sony unifying handheld and console output). Commercial success is a separate argument. Super Metroid and Shadow of the Colossus are alltimers that sold terribly compared to the garbage that make billions of dollars annually.

But even commercially, Gran Turismo was essentially Sony's Halo (except it remains very popular and of high quality). Nothing on PS1 had more appeal than GT, and only GTA could edge it out on PS2. Yes, of course 3rd party titles "combined" dominated PS1 and PS2 sales, but this remains true with current Playstation systems as well.

CEASE YOUR PS2 HATE AT ONCE!!!

I don't "hate" the PS2 at all. I wouldn't really say I "hate" any console.

Our preferences are shaped by our experiences; had I grown up with PS2 maybe I would enjoy it more, who knows.

As things stand, I just enjoyed their PS3 output more.