Recently I have found PlayStation seems to be giving mixed messages about their strategy regarding exclusives, ports, whether PlayStation is an open or closed platform and where they want to go with cloud gaming.
I definitely agree they have a long way to go to improve their messaging.
They seem to be chasing Xbox, a platform that is subsidized by the biggest company in the world by market cap and has yet to 'win' a single generation.... even whether they have ever turned a profit is obfuscated.
The management at PlayStation seem to have lost sight of what made them successful: a closed platform where you can get almost all the big multiplatform games, an excellent selection of first party exclusives and great ease of use.
You have this relationship inverted. I think with regard to online services and capabilities this may have been true once, but these days the only place Microsoft leads is in sheer power with the one x and that looks to continue with the series x. It seems Sony doesn't feel sheer power is worth pursuing. Also 360 crushed the PS3 overall and I'm a huge Sony fanboy. It was a sick console with tons of games at a great price with a better controller.
Ryan recently spoke about exclusives going to PC but downplayed the issue;
PSNow and a string of recent ports have blurred the lines, I now see people saying the same thing in all usual places.... youtube, facebook groups, twitter, neogaf. They say that PlayStation is no longer necessary because eventually the games will come to PC..... people can justify it in a few different ways, they can say 'might as well port and make a bit more money on old games' or if they port to PC and see sales of PlayStation consoles go down significantly, they can say 'oh, now we need to port to PC to make up for that shortfall' .
The main issue is that it is a slippery slope and they are sacrificing to long-term health of the platform for a short term pittance.
I don't agree with this sentiment at all. Sony is building their overall PlayStation brand and further growing their audience. They have taken a service that only existed on one platform and expanded it to many devices. Just because a Sony game is playable on PC doesn't mean they won't be capturing money when someone buys it. If they waved publishing rights, you would be right to express concern, but I didn't get the impression that was in the cards.
Not only that but from a fans perspective it is highly disappointing and results in attacks on the PS community by the PC crowd. Disrespectful, condescending and nasty comments are left everywhere by PC gamers that got or are about to get a PS exclusive ported..... they say the usual nonsense like 'thanks for beta testing for us', 'finally playable at 60 fps', 'it was unplayable on console', 'console peasants' etc etc.
Now, it isn't Sony's job to protect their customers, HOWEVER I think they should want their customers to feel good about playing on PlayStation.... why would I stay on PlayStation if I am made to feel lesser for doing so? If it doesn't feel special, unique or exciting, there is no point in sticking around.
I'm sorry, what do you need to be protected from? Hate on the internet? Insecurity? A false feeling of superiority from either side of that argument? The consoles themselves represent an amazing deal with regard to performance, reliability, convenience, price, ease of use, etc. even at the end of their life cycle. For $400 you can get a PlayStation, controller, cables and 3 AAA games. You know exactly what you are getting and how well they will run on your PlayStation. That is an extremely tough price point to beat for everything you get and you get the added bonus of sexy hardware design.
Nintendo just sold 13.4 million copies of Animal Crossing in six weeks... that is success. They did this by building up a game brand over many generations and NOT allowing it to be playable anywhere else. It is the same with Mario, Zelda, Mario Kart, Smash Bros and others.
You can play a crappy Mario kart and mediocre animal crossing on an Android phone now. The mobile only Pokemon go probably sold switches when the latest Pokemon game came out. Nintendo is starting to see the value of extending their properties to other platforms and markets. They now have a theme park and Lego sets. One day they may have their own streaming service for PCs. It isn't that far fetched.
They have built this trust with their loyal customers by guaranteeing the games will only ever be playable on Switch and you NEVER see PC gamers saying anything like they do to PlayStation gamers because of it.
They, whoever they are, probably do, you're just not hearing it or sensetive to it... Do you really only buy a Nintendo/Sony console because you think those games will NEVER be playable anywhere else? I was playing a pirated fan translated rom of Pokemon green before red/blue released in the US on my Dell. Timeline might be a little sketchy on that and I agree it isn't legal and anecdotal, but you went extreme with never. If I'm the only one not getting butt hurt over this issue, how come you don't express sympathy for Xbox owners who saw all exclusives ported to pc?
Even Xbox, at least communicated their strategy clearly to their customers when they decided to go more open platform, Phil is very communicative with the fanbase and I see plenty of interaction. The same cannot be said of PlayStation at the moment, all the faces of 2013, like Jack Tretton, Shuhei, Adam Boyes and others have disappeared replaced by a robotic, disembodied voice and devoid of any connection.
We learned more in depth about how PS5 is going to be awesome than any previous PlayStation generation to date already. And that encouraged Xbox to share how awesome the series x is going to be in more detail too! I feel this is a slight on Cerny but you are right there are less personalities representing the PlayStation brand at the moment than there have been in the past. You are spot on that they haven't explained a broader vision with their services yet, but maybe they think they hold some competitive advantage being obtuse. Or maybe they don't have a unified strategy at all? It certainly feels that way.
The games are being delivered, Cerny is doing a great job on the hardware so far but I cannot ignore these huge problems with the direction Playstation has taken. It is time to rebuild the walls and treat the core audience with the respect it deserves.... take a page out of Nintendo's book. Protect your IP's and make sure people know that Sony consoles are the only places these games will appear otherwise you might as well sell the division for some magic beans!
Nah fam, you need to tear down your own emotional hang ups.
I'm hyped that Sony is bringing their games to more platforms. It means I have to say goodbye less when I transition generations. Sony has done a decent job of protecting core IPs while investing in new ones. It doesn't damage a brand to let more people enjoy it. If magic beans are money, they need that to keep kicking ass. I don't want to keep buying the same game updated or whatever just because I'm feeling nostalgia for my ps2. Maybe this model will help rectify that a bit.
I'm hyped for the new toys (consoles), new games and services we will see soon. I hope you can be as well and realize that someone getting to play the same game as you on the platform of their choosing shouldn't diminish your enjoyment. Your fun is valid, as long as it isn't derived from gatekeeping. None of these brands are a single console. PlayStation as a brand isn't going anywhere even if they one day decide to move away from specialized hardware.