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What are the Sony developers up to

M

Mario007

Member
LiquidSolid said:
I edited my post. London "only" has over 300 staff.

Yeah, Sony Santa Monica are huge. 2 large development teams, support for other first/second parties, R&D and the two divisions you mentioned.

Japan Studio has a large R&D team, so they take up a significant part of Japan Studio. Then they've got at least 4 teams (Last Guardian, Gravity Rush, Rain and Puppeteer) of varying sizes (none of which are near the size of Sony's AAA western teams) and second party support (Soul Sacrifice, Tokyo Jungle, etc.). I guess they could merge those teams together into larger teams but if people think that's going to result in more games, I'm pretty sure they'd be mistaken.
Click to expand...
Actually both Tokio Jungle and Rain are C.A.M.P., a team of promising new developers that Sony gives resources to make a game. I guess they then keep the best of them and integrate them.

Btw, since Becker has joined Studio Japan we've got announced or released: Gravity Rush, Tokyo Jungle, Rain, Puppeteer and Soul Sacrifice out of Studio Japan. That's a pretty good turnaround (I'm counting in SS because it is produced by Studio Japan in, what I imagine, the same way SSM helps out other smaller studios).
 
D

Dusky

Member
dummydecoy said:
I wish Sony bought thatgamecompany.
Click to expand...

TGC didn't want to be bought, besides I think it's a good thing they've now gone multiplatform.

Looks like QD will be Sony's next dev acquisition anyway once their contract is up, assuming their next 2 games do well of course.
 
L

LiquidSolid

Member
Mario007 said:
Actually both Tokio Jungle and Rain are C.A.M.P., a team of promising new developers that Sony gives resources to make a game. I guess they then keep the best of them and integrate them.

Btw, since Becker has joined Studio Japan we've got announced or released: Gravity Rush, Tokyo Jungle, Rain, Puppeteer and Soul Sacrifice out of Studio Japan. That's a pretty good turnaround (I'm counting in SS because it is produced by Studio Japan in, what I imagine, the same way SSM helps out other smaller studios).
Click to expand...

Nope. C.A.M.P. may have been the program it went under but it was developed by Crispy's. You're right that Rain and other C.A.M.P. titles (like Echochrome) seem to have been integrated straight into Japan Studio though.

And most of the titles you just mentioned were in development long before Becker arrived there. And supporting external titles is nothing new for them (see: Demon's Souls, Genji, WKC, etc.). The results of Becker's involvement probably won't be seen for a year or two.
 
L

lunchwithyuzo

Banned
Mario007 said:
Btw, since Becker has joined Studio Japan we've got announced or released: Gravity Rush, Tokyo Jungle, Rain, Puppeteer and Soul Sacrifice out of Studio Japan. That's a pretty good turnaround (I'm counting in SS because it is produced by Studio Japan in, what I imagine, the same way SSM helps out other smaller studios).
Click to expand...
All these projects (except possibly Soul Sacrifice) long predate Becker coming in. Some go back 5 years even, seems a bit misplaced to credit him with them as some sort of turnaround near the finish line.
 
C

cyborg009

Banned
Dusky said:
TGC didn't want to be bought, besides I think it's a good thing they've now gone multiplatform.

Looks like QD will be Sony's next dev acquisition anyway once their contract is up, assuming their next 2 games do well of course.
Click to expand...
I rather see bluepoint games be bought instead

And cellius(ridge racer devs) was a waste of money...
 
T

Takao

Banned
Globox_82 said:
Sony will never again make a classic JRPG, games sell like crap, and have become so niche in the west (not counting FF but it is on it's way) . Sorry but it's true. I am buying ni no kuni but I know it is going to sell like crap - it didn't impress in Japan either.
Click to expand...

...

Except Sony announced a Classic JRPG at TGS ...
 
K

Kazuma Kiryu

Member
LiquidSolid said:
Why mention Polyphony then? It had nothing to do with them.

And comparing the output of Japan Studio and any of Sony's western studios is stupid. The teams within Japan Studio are smaller than any of their western studios. It's why their output on PSP has been so much better than their output on PS3, because it's a far smaller scale. When their team sizes are in the hundreds like Naughty Dog or Sony Santa Monica, maybe then they'd be comparable.

And unless "the guy from Sony Santa Monica" (Alan Becker) is given the resources to greatly expand Japan Studio, nothing's going to change.
Click to expand...

i mentioned polyphony because they're also a god awful studio in terms of management. if ps3 doesn't get another gt game (and it probably shouldn't) it's another pretty clear sign they are clueless. again, a trait of japanese studios that really showed this generation. the sooner they start getting rid of some of the monkeys that are running sony japan studios the better.
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
Kazuma Kiryu said:
if ps3 doesn't get another gt game (and it probably shouldn't) it's another pretty clear sign they are clueless.
Click to expand...

The PS3 getting another GT would be smart in terms of raw sales. But it would do absolutely nothing for Sony in terms of moving hardware. It would also push the inevitable PS4 GT back for years. Meaning that Sony's biggest system seller likely wouldn't release until 2015 or 2016 at the earliest. On the other hand, they could potentially have the PS4 GT ready to go at launch, or shortly after (like GT3 with the PS2). So, if they were smart then that's something that they would've taken into account. I think that it's extremely important for them to make sure that the PS4 gets off to a running start. A new GT would go a long way in making sure that it does.
 
S

Steve McQueen

Member
When I read this thread, one thing comes to mind. What the hell is Microsoft up to?
The last exclusive for this gen seems to be, if I'm not mistaken, the next Gears, but do we know anything about what other games/IP's their first part devs are working on?
 
L

Leflus

Member
Steve McQueen said:
When I read this thread, one thing comes to mind. What the hell is Microsoft up to?
The last exclusive for this gen seems to be, if I'm not mistaken, the next Gears, but do we know anything about what other games/IP's their first part devs are working on?
Click to expand...

343 Industries: Not announced
Turn10: N/A
Rare: N/A
Black Tusk Studios: Shooter based on a new IP
Goodscience Studios: N/A
Lionhead: N/A
Twisted Pixel Games: Lococycle
Bigpark: N/A
MS Victoria: N/A
KALE: N/A
MS Soho: N/A
MS London: N/A
Platform Next Studios: N/A

There's a few rumours out there, but MS has been fairly secretive lately. Seems like they're gearing up for the next xbox.
 
D

Dusky

Member
Leflus said:
343 Industries: Not announced
Turn10: N/A
Rare: N/A
Black Tusk Studios: Shooter based on a new IP
Goodscience Studios: N/A
Lionhead: N/A
Twisted Pixel Games: Lococycle
Bigpark: N/A
MS Victoria: N/A
KALE: N/A
MS Soho: N/A
MS London: N/A
Platform Next Studios: N/A

There's a few rumours out there, but MS has been fairly secretive lately. Seems like they're gearing up for the next xbox.
Click to expand...

Half of those are reported to be developing for Kinect which is a shame. MS will no doubt close a few of these studios after a couple of years.

The main thing MS will do is get those exclusive third party deals which hurt Sony most.

Edit: someone should make a "what are the MS devs up to" thread since we both have a ninty and Sony one :p.
 
L

Leflus

Member
Dusky said:
MS will no doubt close a few of these studios after a couple of years.
Click to expand...
Eh. That depends entirely on how well their games will sell. Like Sony, MS is not running a charity. The point still stands: MS has a lot of studios with unannounced projects.

Dusky said:
Edit: someone should make a "what are the MS devs up to" thread since we both have a ninty and Sony one :p.
Click to expand...
I'd make one, but i'm just a worthless junior. :p
 
M

Mario007

Member
LiquidSolid said:
Nope. C.A.M.P. may have been the program it went under but it was developed by Crispy's. You're right that Rain and other C.A.M.P. titles (like Echochrome) seem to have been integrated straight into Japan Studio though.

And most of the titles you just mentioned were in development long before Becker arrived there. And supporting external titles is nothing new for them (see: Demon's Souls, Genji, WKC, etc.). The results of Becker's involvement probably won't be seen for a year or two.
Click to expand...

Oh right, sorry, I though C.A.M.P. were behind Tokyo Jungle.

lunchwithyuzo said:
All these projects (except possibly Soul Sacrifice) long predate Becker coming in. Some go back 5 years even, seems a bit misplaced to credit him with them as some sort of turnaround near the finish line.
Click to expand...

With regads the projects being there before Becker I completely agree. But say Puppetteer was being worked on for years, the shelved and it's only coming back now. It shows that he's actually trying to get products out.
 
G

Globox_82

Banned
D

Dusky

Member
Globox_82 said:
Linkedin says 101 http://www.linkedin.com/company/25821?trk=tyah
On their site there are also 17 job positions + 12 QA testers
http://www.suckerpunch.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=91

Thats not slightly IMO. Besides I doubt that Halo designer joined to work on Infamous...

I think at least 1.5 team. One game on PS3, one in preproduction for PS4.
Click to expand...

Wow that's quite the jump for SP, hopefully we see something from them soon.

Also, I doubt any of Sony's first party studios have anything major planned for PS3 at this point besides what has been announced already.
 
B

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
People always assumed Sucker Punch was the team that moved from a 1-team Studio to a 2-team studio.

Has it been figured out which studio Yosp meant when he said that a studio expanded?
(It was well past the Naughty Dog announcement, so it couldn't have been that.)
 
L

lunchwithyuzo

Banned
Dusky said:
How long has Becker been there now?
Click to expand...
He started April 2011.


Mario007 said:
With regads the projects being there before Becker I completely agree. But say Puppetteer was being worked on for years, the shelved and it's only coming back now. It shows that he's actually trying to get products out.
Click to expand...
It wasn't shelved though, it's been in production this entire time. There's no indication any of these games were shelved and revived, unless you count GR's platform shift as a technicality, which had no break in production schedule and even took place before Becker afaik.
 
M

Mario007

Member
lunchwithyuzo said:
He started April 2011.



It wasn't shelved though, it's been in production this entire time. There's no indication any of these games were shelved and revived, unless you count GR's platform shift as a technicality, which had no break in production schedule and even took place before Becker afaik.
Click to expand...
I think it was stated in the pre Gamescon thread that Puppeteer was indeed shelved, being almost finished and then they went back to it?
 
D

Dusky

Member
benny_a said:
People always assumed Sucker Punch was the team that moved from a 1-team Studio to a 2-team studio.

Has it been figured out which studio Yosp meant when he said that a studio expanded?
(It was well past the Naughty Dog announcement, so it couldn't have been that.)
Click to expand...

Could you send the link where he says that? Also, "expanded" doesn't necessarily mean two teams.
 
T

Tagg9

Member
Globox_82 said:
Linkedin says 101 http://www.linkedin.com/company/25821?trk=tyah
On their site there are also 17 job positions + 12 QA testers
http://www.suckerpunch.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=91

Thats not slightly IMO. Besides I doubt that Halo designer joined to work on Infamous...

I think at least 1.5 team. One game on PS3, one in preproduction for PS4.
Click to expand...

All projects they are working on now will be for PS4, unless Sony asked for another short downloadable title. I would guess that they have one main group working on a new IP and a smaller team doing pre-production on another title (or maybe a multiplayer component for that same game?).
 
G

Globox_82

Banned
Tagg9 said:
All projects they are working on now will be for PS4, unless Sony asked for another short downloadable title. I would guess that they have one main group working on a new IP and a smaller team doing pre-production on another title (or maybe a multiplayer component for that same game?).
Click to expand...

yeah because that's what Sony did with PS2, abandoned it completly....
 
C

cuyahoga

Dudebro, My Shit is Fucked Up So I Got to Shoot/Slice You II: It's Straight-Up Dawg Time
Globox_82 said:
Linkedin says 101 http://www.linkedin.com/company/25821?trk=tyah
On their site there are also 17 job positions + 12 QA testers
http://www.suckerpunch.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=91

Thats not slightly IMO. Besides I doubt that Halo designer joined to work on Infamous...

I think at least 1.5 team. One game on PS3, one in preproduction for PS4.
Click to expand...
Element worked Sucker Punch in the past few years, so I would take would take his would for how many projects they are working on.
 
J

JoshHood

Member
Globox_82 said:
yeah because that's what Sony did with PS2, abandoned it completly....
Click to expand...

In all honesty, WWS did mostly move on from PS2. There were the SingStar games, but most of those were outsourced from London as time went on. The only real PS3-life cycle PS2 game actually developed by WWS that I can think of is MotorStorm Arctic Edge at BigBig but that was mostly just because upporting the PSP game was cheap and easy.
 
L

LiquidSolid

Member
Mario007 said:
I think it was stated in the pre Gamescon thread that Puppeteer was indeed shelved, being almost finished and then they went back to it?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure that was always meant to be temporary. I think the story was that Japan Studio tried to throw as many people as they could at TLG and try to rush it out. That obviously didn't work (as it shouldn't, throwing people at a problem is dumb and tends to lead to worse results) and the postponed projects were picked back up again. Giving Becker credit for any of that would be pretty big stretch, I think.
 
C

Cyberia

Member
benny_a said:
People always assumed Sucker Punch was the team that moved from a 1-team Studio to a 2-team studio.

Has it been figured out which studio Yosp meant when he said that a studio expanded?
(It was well past the Naughty Dog announcement, so it couldn't have been that.)
Click to expand...

You should really listen to the E3 episode of Beyond with Yoshida where he talks about their future plans regarding their studios.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/08/e3-2012-podcast-beyond-and-a-sony-president

Starts from 20:00.
 
G

Globox_82

Banned
Cyberia said:
You should really listen to the E3 episode of Beyond with Yoshida where he talks about their future plans regarding their studios.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/08/e3-2012-podcast-beyond-and-a-sony-president

Starts from 20:00.
Click to expand...

Now I remember, he does mentioned "becoming 2 team, 3 team studios". I think I wrote this before, I believe ND will be the first team to go 3 team. Amy won't want to be stuck on Uncharted. The reason they started "second team" was to keep the talent. Many guys got senior offers from other publishers. You don't want to lose most of the U2 heads just because they want to make something fresh. It was a wise decission, and TLOU looks stellar. There was around 100 people on U2, when they announced TLOU, gamereactor did interview with ND and if I remember they had at the time 140 people (I assume 40 people at the time worked on TLOU) - Evan Wells said they are going to expand and have two full teams. However now they are at 237 if Linkedin is to be believed http://www.linkedin.com/company/naughty-dog?trk=top_nav_home + 19 job position on their site http://www.naughtydog.com/work/ So 250 people studio? I say they plan to have 3 teams few years down the road but this is my theory.
 
P

Phoenician_Viking

Banned
Globox_82 said:
Now I remember, he does mentioned "becoming 2 team, 3 team studios". I think I wrote this before, I believe ND will be the first team to go 3 team. Amy won't want to be stuck on Uncharted. The reason they started "second team" was to keep the talent. Many guys got senior offers from other publishers. You don't want to lose most of the U2 heads just because they want to make something fresh. It was a wise decission, and TLOU looks stellar. There was around 100 people on U2, when they announced TLOU, gamereactor did interview with ND and if I remember they had at the time 140 people (I assume 40 people at the time worked on TLOU) - Evan Wells said they are going to expand and have two full teams. However now they are at 237 if Linkedin is to be believed http://www.linkedin.com/company/naughty-dog?trk=top_nav_home + 19 job position on their site http://www.naughtydog.com/work/ So 250 people studio? I say they plan to have 3 teams few years down the road but this is my theory.
Click to expand...

i think that ND made a faux pas and said that TLOU is a franchise from the ND.com link haha. If ND has or expands into 3 teams one of them should make Vita games.
 
S

Steve McQueen

Member
Leflus said:
343 Industries: Not announced
Turn10: N/A
Rare: N/A
Black Tusk Studios: Shooter based on a new IP
Goodscience Studios: N/A
Lionhead: N/A
Twisted Pixel Games: Lococycle
Bigpark: N/A
MS Victoria: N/A
KALE: N/A
MS Soho: N/A
MS London: N/A
Platform Next Studios: N/A

There's a few rumours out there, but MS has been fairly secretive lately. Seems like they're gearing up for the next xbox.
Click to expand...

Thanks! That's exactly what I meant. I can't imagine that the 720 is not going to be announced, they all must be busy developing games for the 720.
 
F

flipswitch

Member
Is it crazy to think we'll see a teaser trailer of some sort at E3 2013 of the next Gran Turismo? Like SSX said, they will probably release the next GT similar to what they've done with GT3, one year after the system's launch.

They have all the car data from GT5 so they can use the photo mode models which are higher detailed and put them into their new GT6 engine for a visual upgrade.

I just hope that PD will be properly managed this time.
 
1

1st Course

Member
Mario007 said:
Actually both Tokio Jungle and Rain are C.A.M.P., a team of promising new developers that Sony gives resources to make a game. I guess they then keep the best of them and integrate them.

Btw, since Becker has joined Studio Japan we've got announced or released: Gravity Rush, Tokyo Jungle, Rain, Puppeteer and Soul Sacrifice out of Studio Japan. That's a pretty good turnaround (I'm counting in SS because it is produced by Studio Japan in, what I imagine, the same way SSM helps out other smaller studios).
Click to expand...

Allan Becker is definitely the right man at the right time to handle Sony Japan studio management problems, Puppeteer and Rain are among my most anticipated 2013 games. He apparently is no stranger for J-developers either:

PlatinumGamesJP said:
The amount of respect Allan Becker has earned from developers is really a testament to how awesome he is at his job. I've literally never heard a bad word about him, and I know that people here at PG are big fans.

The people in this thread, on the other hand, taking a swipe at him for being non-Japanese... smh.
Click to expand...

davidjaffe said:
Just to be clear: Allan speaks fluent Japanese, he is 1/2 Japanese, and has spent many, many years in Japan. I know he lived there for a long while earlier on.

David
Click to expand...
 
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