Sony owns the Resistance IP. :P

And Sony isn't paying them, at least not in the traditional sense (outside of typical publisher duties - marketing, etc.).

Insomniac stays exclusive becuase they are in an excellent position.  They get all the benefits of being 1st party Sony (getting dev kits early, working with other first party studios to improve engine tech and make development easier, etc.), all while retaining their independence.

It's the best of both worlds, third party and first party, and they won't leave Sony unless Sony screws them over in some form.

i hope sony can make a good rpg internally, then they will not need to rely on anyone. *looks at back stabbers square*

legend of dragoon anyone

Sony should have been focusing on internal development for a long time. Relying on third party franchises to define the Playstation brand, like Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, Ace Combat, Kingdom Hearts, Grand Theft Auto, Onimusha, Crash Bandicoot(I know he was once first party), Katamari Damacy and others were a complete mistake. There are many less informed consumers that see these brands as synonymous with Playstation, and will abandon them for a company like Microsoft if it seems they're getting the best of the Playstation and Microsoft worlds on one console.

Who was the face of the PSOne? Cloud Strife. Who was the face of the Playstation 2? Solid Snake. Sony, in a smart decision changed the face of Playstation over to Kratos in 2005 when God of War took over. Sony has a face for Playstation that is finally their own, but in a much less popular series than the other two mentioned. Now as two thirds of those franchises I mentioned have gone either bye bye or are shared titles, Sony needs to rethink who's games they spend millions of dollars marketing and building their brand on.

For anyone about to quote me saying there aren't customers that are so naive, just look towards ourselves. When we asked ourselves who should join in a fictional "Sony Smash Bros." game, half of the replies were all third party characters from certain members. That is how much third party titles play into the Playstation image and why Sony has trouble finding an identity now that they aren't on top and receiving many third party exclusives.

You want to know why Nintendo is considered kiddy(other than SEGA's early 90's ad campaign)? Their image is Mario. You want to know why the Xbox brand is considered the shooter console? Their image is Master Chief. From tons of personal experience, Nintendo is not kiddy and Microsoft is not all about shooters, but their main image says otherwise. Now what does Sony's image say? What is Sony's image anyways?

I hear people wanting a Legend of Dragoon 2....but I played the first and don't remember it being all that great. Anyone got reasons why they loved it?

Oh so now its a good idea when sony is goona do this. Dont people constantly bash Nintendo for doing the same?

Maybe it was because Nintendo didn't help 3rd parties during the N64 days while developers found favor with CD's.

People do think this is a good idea. People do constantly bash Nintendo for doing this. Outside of the few hypocritical fanboys though, these are two different groups of people saying each.

Um...Gran Turismo?

Sony's always had a lot of first party franchises, and they really started pushing internal development during the ps2 era, with franchises like Jak & Daxter, God of War, the ICO titles, etc.  Hell, even the ps1 had some big franchises, like Gran Turismo, Syphon Filter, Medievil, and Ape Escape.

These franchises (outside of GT) were just never as popular franchises like MGS and FF.  Had they held onto the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro IPs, maybe those would be the face of PlayStation.  Switching from those to J&D and R&C destroyed any notability they had.

Gran Turismo is the face of Playstation? If so, maybe that's why it's so hard to think of the PS image in the first place. Gran Turismo is a game with no defining image because there are 700 main characters that happen to be pulled from real life.

Sony did not always have a lot of first person franchises. When they started the PSOne, they barely had anything worthwhile to show for themselves. The only franchise to really come out strong from that era and is still relevant is Gran Turismo, and that came three years after PSOne was born. Sure Sony had plenty of franchises in the PS2 era, but nothing they wanted to market their brand as over their images received from third parties. Look at Sony still. Look at the huge marketing campaign on MGS4. What if the series switches allegiances after this? What if MGS 4 goes to 360? It'll be yet another case of Sony losing their brand image. Had they tried to push Jak & Daxter or Ratchet and Clank in their infancy, things may be different today. Luckily Kratos is still a great face to have and should be utilized more since Sony owns the IP. The chimera from Resistance or Sackboy from Little Big Planets aren't bad images either, but they need to start concentrating on their own image, and marketing their own titles so maybe next time they lose exclusivity on a title like FF XIII, it won't be such a shattering moment, because people will no longer equate third party titles with the Playstation brand.

Sony has a weak first party games system...they have a lot to work on.