• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Jim Ryan and the denigration of Playstation.

Hatsuma

Member
I am curious because I have seen a trend. Going by the games they allow to be shone and their quotes, do you think Spencer actually games? And I only bring him up because he is usually compared to Jim. Does he have an eye for great games?
 
No, Sony also dominates on consoles sold, games sold, or going specific, game subscription services revenue and amount of subscriptions.

In the Neogaf and Resetera threads about Sony and Xbox quarterly financial reports they mention the revenue from subscriptions for each company (they are combined there instead of separated for each service), and also the Plus, Gold, Now and Gamepass subscribers. In the same way they don't provide GamePass Ultimate vs GamePass numbers so we don't know how many people uses the Xbox streaming service.

What we have to compare is the combined revenue of the game subscription services for each company, and the combined subscriptions for these game subscription services. In both cases PS ones are way bigger than the MS ones. That is a more complete picture that only looking at GamePass vs PS Now subscribers without considering if they are using these $1 deals, free trials, free months included when buying other stuff and so on on both sides.


The Xbox CFO said clearly that for the long run their plans for future Zenimax games is to make them multi or timed console exclusive:

"What we'll do in the long run is we don't have intentions of just pulling all of Bethesda content out of Sony or Nintendo or otherwise. But what we want is we want that content, in the long run, to be either first or better or best or pick your differentiated experience, on our platforms. We will want Bethesda content to show up the best as -- on our platforms.

Yes. That's not a point about being exclusive. That's not a point about we're being -- adjusting timing or content or road map. But if you think about something like Game Pass, if it shows up best in Game Pass, that's what we want to see, and we want to drive our Game Pass subscriber base through that Bethesda pipeline.

So again, I'm not announcing pulling content from platforms one way or the other. But I suspect you'll continue to see us shift towards a first or better or best approach on our platforms."

https://seekingalpha.com/article/43...interactive-entertainment-virtual?part=single

Regarding Sony PC ports, Ryan said they will release more PS4 games on PC. But notice he mentioned PS4 instead of PS5, so maybe their strategy is to release in PC older games to get some extra revenue after they made most of their sales on console. In the same way they wait until the game stopped selling in console after the initial sales and several discounts before putting them on PS Plus or PS Now.
You're really dissecting statements down to the smallest degree, while also choosing to take some as fact, while dismissing more recent ones at the same time.
You're also repeatedly ignoring data, waving it off as irrelevant, and insisting that only revenue figures (which are broad) be considered.

Your lack of logic here results in your perception being a bit different than what reality actually is.

The PS4 did indeed "dominate" in sales compared to the XB1. This gen however, the only thing that's clear is that both are selling out as fast as they can make them. The PS5 has sold more and likely will, but we simply can't pretend the results so far are due to the market at work.

The most recent numbers available for MAU has PSN at 114m and XBL at simply over 100m. Meanwhile Gamepass subs total over 18m users vs <3m users for PSNOW.

Prior to the Bethesda sale being approved, Microsoft was pretty vague with their statements regarding exclusivity with Bethesda games, and understandably so. Since the approval however, they have clarified things a bit. Deals/contracts made before the purchase will be honored. Legacy titles would likely recieve support such as remasters/content. Other than two caveats, all Bethesda games going forward would be available on any devices where Gamepass was available.

You can pay attention to whatever statistics, or figures you like. You can paint any sort of picture you want as well. It's a bit frustrating though, to watch you repeatedly insist others do so in exactly the same manner you have. Especially when the data you use, and the logic behind it is so severely lacking.
 

yurinka

Member
You're really dissecting statements down to the smallest degree, while also choosing to take some as fact, while dismissing more recent ones at the same time.
You're also repeatedly ignoring data, waving it off as irrelevant, and insisting that only revenue figures (which are broad) be considered.

Your lack of logic here results in your perception being a bit different than what reality actually is.
Bullshit. PlayStation makes more money (revenue), sells more consoles, sells more games (as I remember over 1.5B PS4 games sold), their exclusives sell more, their game services combined generate more revenue and have more subscribers than the ones of the competition combined. It's the only console with VR and game streaming. And both PS4 and PS5 broke many gaming history records specially in the last year.

These are all facts which can be double checked in the official financial reports. If you don't agree them counter them with facts instead of with bullshit.

The PS4 did indeed "dominate" in sales compared to the XB1. This gen however, the only thing that's clear is that both are selling out as fast as they can make them. The PS5 has sold more and likely will, but we simply can't pretend the results so far are due to the market at work.
The early results we have from next gen is that PS continues with a big lead, but obviously both keep supply constrained so doesn't make sense to take too much conclusions other than an important one: PS5 is having the best launch window any console even saw in gaming history, outselling PS4.

And well, there's the inertia of the previous generation. There's an insane userbase there that won't dissapear, they will continue in PS4, which will continue growing a bit its last few years until it dies as most players migrate to pretty likely -a personal guess due to many reasons- PS5.

The most recent numbers available for MAU has PSN at 114m and XBL at simply over 100m. Meanwhile Gamepass subs total over 18m users vs <3m users for PSNOW.
If you bought a game from the PC MS store and didn't disable the automatic launch of the Xbox app you count as XBL active user. PSN MAU is from console.

Many people is on Gamepass from 3 months trial included in many apps like Discord or because paid the $1 offer while PS Now requires a full subscription and is available only in some countries. And the 18M is for normal GamePass, not for what is comparable to PS Now (GP Ultimate, the one that includes streaming). And you forgot to mention the subscribers of Plus and Gold, that is where the big chunk of revenue and active players of game subscriptions are.

Prior to the Bethesda sale being approved, Microsoft was pretty vague with their statements regarding exclusivity with Bethesda games, and understandably so. Since the approval however, they have clarified things a bit. Deals/contracts made before the purchase will be honored. Legacy titles would likely recieve support such as remasters/content. Other than two caveats, all Bethesda games going forward would be available on any devices where Gamepass was available.

You can pay attention to whatever statistics, or figures you like. You can paint any sort of picture you want as well. It's a bit frustrating though, to watch you repeatedly insist others do so in exactly the same manner you have. Especially when the data you use, and the logic behind it is so severely lacking.
They contradicted nothing they said before approving the deal, I did the TLDR before: some future Zenimax games will be released on PlayStation. Some of them with timed console exclusive on PS, others in Xbox, other at the same time and others may be full Xbox console exclusive. Btw, they released a Doom DLC on PlayStation yesterday.
 
I am curious because I have seen a trend. Going by the games they allow to be shone and their quotes, do you think Spencer actually games? And I only bring him up because he is usually compared to Jim. Does he have an eye for great games?
In my opinion, Phil doesn't particularly have a bad eye for games. They just aren't the ones I'm interested in necessarily. I'm sure he plays many to certain extent, if for nothing else than to be able to be knowledgeable about them in case he's asked about something in an interview or something. But you can tell by his over explanations on certain games, and get an idea of what sort of games Phil personally prefers to play. My best guess would be games Phantom Dust, Ori, Battletoads, Cuphead, and the like are his type of games. Either classic games, or games with a classic like playstyle. In that sense, I believe Spencer probably knows his stuff. Doesn't mean they would sell particularly well these days, but that's my off the cuff thoughts anyway.

As for Jimbo? He seems to lead a far more business like lifestyle. If he plays games at all outside of what's necessary for his job. I'd think he'd be much more likely to play popular mobile games on his phone like Angry Birds or Words with friends.
 

Batiman

Banned
In my opinion, Phil doesn't particularly have a bad eye for games. They just aren't the ones I'm interested in necessarily. I'm sure he plays many to certain extent, if for nothing else than to be able to be knowledgeable about them in case he's asked about something in an interview or something. But you can tell by his over explanations on certain games, and get an idea of what sort of games Phil personally prefers to play. My best guess would be games Phantom Dust, Ori, Battletoads, Cuphead, and the like are his type of games. Either classic games, or games with a classic like playstyle. In that sense, I believe Spencer probably knows his stuff. Doesn't mean they would sell particularly well these days, but that's my off the cuff thoughts anyway.

As for Jimbo? He seems to lead a far more business like lifestyle. If he plays games at all outside of what's necessary for his job. I'd think he'd be much more likely to play popular mobile games on his phone like Angry Birds or Words with friends.
Speaking of phantom dust. I think now would be a great time to get one of their new studios on that. My son surprisingly loves the old one despite all its jankiness. There’s something there worth giving it another shot.
 
Bullshit. PlayStation makes more money (revenue), sells more consoles, sells more games (as I remember over 1.5B PS4 games sold), their exclusives sell more, their game services combined generate more revenue and have more subscribers than the ones of the competition combined. It's the only console with VR and game streaming. And both PS4 and PS5 broke many gaming history records specially in the last year.

These are all facts which can be double checked in the official financial reports. If you don't agree them counter them with facts instead of with bullshit.


The early results we have from next gen is that PS continues with a big lead, but obviously both keep supply constrained so doesn't make sense to take too much conclusions other than an important one: PS5 is having the best launch window any console even saw in gaming history, outselling PS4.

And well, there's the inertia of the previous generation. There's an insane userbase there that won't dissapear, they will continue in PS4, which will continue growing a bit its last few years until it dies as most players migrate to pretty likely -a personal guess due to many reasons- PS5.


If you bought a game from the PC MS store and didn't disable the automatic launch of the Xbox app you count as XBL active user. PSN MAU is from console.

Many people is on Gamepass from 3 months trial included in many apps like Discord or because paid the $1 offer while PS Now requires a full subscription and is available only in some countries. And the 18M is for normal GamePass, not for what is comparable to PS Now (GP Ultimate, the one that includes streaming). And you forgot to mention the subscribers of Plus and Gold, that is where the big chunk of revenue and active players of game subscriptions are.


They contradicted nothing they said before approving the deal, I did the TLDR before: some future Zenimax games will be released on PlayStation. Some of them with timed console exclusive on PS, others in Xbox, other at the same time and others may be full Xbox console exclusive. Btw, they released a Doom DLC on PlayStation yesterday.
1. I never stated your revenue figures were wrong. I simply said that you ignored other data points when they were pointed out to you. So you can take "Bullshit", and shove it straight up your reading comprehension needing ass.

2. You concede my point that we can't really read too much into sales at this point due to supply issues... Only to then ignore that point and boast about the PS5's sales anyway as if they were. Fail.

3. Your next point is nothing more than console fanboy bs. "Bb bu bu but GP Ultimate is on pc too waaah". Who cares? Microsoft has progressed beyond the basic console model awhile ago. Yet you're still here trying to nitpick their subscriber numbers apart 10 different ways, in order to prove some sort of irrelevant console warrior point. Have fun with that.

4. Ghostwire Tokyo, and Deathloop will be timed console exclusives on PS5, which Spencer addressed as "deals/contracts made prior to Bethesda being purchased". At this time, Phil Spencer has stated that the Bethesda purchase was for Xbox and Gamepass customers, and would be available to play on all devices where Gamepass is available.
WHERE GAMEPASS IS AVAILABLE
WHERE GAMEPASS IS AVAILABLE
WHERE GAMEPASS IS AVAILABLE

Now, run along and believe whatever you like, and read whatever you want. Pay attention to whatever statements you like, and ignore what you please. Good luck with all that.
 

Hatsuma

Member
In my opinion, Phil doesn't particularly have a bad eye for games. They just aren't the ones I'm interested in necessarily. I'm sure he plays many to certain extent, if for nothing else than to be able to be knowledgeable about them in case he's asked about something in an interview or something. But you can tell by his over explanations on certain games, and get an idea of what sort of games Phil personally prefers to play. My best guess would be games Phantom Dust, Ori, Battletoads, Cuphead, and the like are his type of games. Either classic games, or games with a classic like playstyle. In that sense, I believe Spencer probably knows his stuff. Doesn't mean they would sell particularly well these days, but that's my off the cuff thoughts anyway.

As for Jimbo? He seems to lead a far more business like lifestyle. If he plays games at all outside of what's necessary for his job. I'd think he'd be much more likely to play popular mobile games on his phone like Angry Birds or Words with friends.
But I ask that because he literally was praising Halo Infinite before we saw it in July. This game, was intended to come out judging by the promotional materials they had on standby.. They mainly delayed it because of all the memes and mainstream. If he had a good eye, why was Halo unveiled in that state so proudly? I really question his level of judgment. He put forth a lot of poor quality games. I'll give him credit for games like Ori and Cuphead, but it seems like has approved more sus ones than good ones.

I'll see on Jim because he assumed his role early 2020. What i know him for ps5 so far is that he coordinated the ps5 rollout despite the pandemic, the Plus Collection, downsizing JP studios, and continuing Layden porting to PC vision. My opinion is reserved on him.
 
The PS4 did indeed "dominate" in sales compared to the XB1. This gen however, the only thing that's clear is that both are selling out as fast as they can make them. The PS5 has sold more and likely will, but we simply can't pretend the results so far are due to the market at work.
You should not be schooling others about stats.

The last gen started exactly like this one (well, it seems to be better since MS doesn't have to give out their consoles, so kudos to them)... both consoles mostly sell out early on, but one has more units to sell and when they come in stock they remain for a much shorter period of time.
The most recent numbers available for MAU has PSN at 114m and XBL at simply over 100m. Meanwhile Gamepass subs total over 18m users vs <3m users for PSNOW.
You forgot that Sony actually sells a lot of first party games.

and I honestly wonder how someone could be happy with GamePass as a service beyond the trial period, have you really looked at the games selection on it? every second game is a 360 title, some are repeated 5 or 6 times, EA has games that repeat what's on GamePass, their sports series have many years to boost the numbers.

I recall Netflix getting people on because it had something to offer, I can't imagine MS's new studios delivering anything significant before 2022 or even 2024.

Your lack of logic here results in your perception being a bit different than what reality actually is.
So in reality xbox is the most relevant force in gaming?
 
Speaking of phantom dust. I think now would be a great time to get one of their new studios on that. My son surprisingly loves the old one despite all its jankiness. There’s something there worth giving it another shot.
Yeah, I think they had a remake in the works at some point that fell through. Whatever the case, MS definitely dropped the ball on that one. I'm not a huge fan of phantom dust really. But I know there's many who are. I did however... Sink far more time into Ori than I ever thought I would going in. I did with Cuphead as well.

Cuphead has a nasty curse though. Two options to choose from, in which I fail either way. Leaving the difficulty on hard, I can only get so far. Turning the difficulty down, I might could progress, but then I'd feel like a cheat. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.
 
While I think Jimbo is obviously not the best PR spokesman and often fumbles over some really odd justifications for things, I honestly think it's too early to judge his performance.

I honestly think he's done a number of positive things that could payoff big time:

  • Restructuring SCEJ under the Asobi umbrella. People take this as a negative, but the honest truth is that none of these studios that were "shut down" did anything for ages. It was time to reform and get better. Often, the difficult decisions must be made to shut studios down. I think Asobi has been the only major bright spot in SCEJ - they create amazing titles on time and with a limited budget. Give them all the resources they need to expand into something SCEJ can grow into over time.

  • Big focus on AAA games. He's not shifting away from that, but embracing it. We still need time to see the projects that are in the works, but he believes in Organic growth and I'm hopeful we will see bigger, better teams from all of Sony's major studios even if it's not as glamorous as spending 7.5 billion on a big third party. Sony first party is simply unmatched in terms of quality and quantity.

  • He hasn't abandoned VR. He's doubling down on it. This is the big one for me. VR is absolutely the future and the potential is incredible. I suspect PS5 VR will launch in 2022 with AstroBot, Half Life Alyx, and some surprises from studios like Insomniac. The hardware is now much less experimental, and much more focused as its own independent platform. Getting rid of things like tether boxes. Getting rid of the wildly outdated move controllers and camera tracking systems. PS5VR will have great optics, limited hassle, and a control interface that makes sense. The potential for PS5VR is incredible. The hardware is at the point where it's really on the cusp of not feeling limited, and Sony's first party studios have the potential to make it shine more than anyone else in the industry. It's a gamble worth pursuing, and no other big platform holder is taking this risk. Jimbo could have easily shut this down and gone for pure short term profit.

  • Playstation Plus collection and Play at Home has been really compelling lately. I'm confident he will transform it into a service that gets as much attention as GamePass. Arguably, it already is, it just doesn't have the marketing that Microsoft has with everything day and date that's first party.
 
But I ask that because he literally was praising Halo Infinite before we saw it in July. This game, was intended to come out judging by the promotional materials they had on standby.. They mainly delayed it because of all the memes and mainstream. If he had a good eye, why was Halo unveiled in that state so proudly? I really question his level of judgment. He put forth a lot of poor quality games. I'll give him credit for games like Ori and Cuphead, but it seems like has approved more sus ones than good ones.

I'll see on Jim because he assumed his role early 2020. What i know him for ps5 so far is that he coordinated the ps5 rollout despite the pandemic, the Plus Collection, downsizing JP studios, and continuing Layden porting to PC vision. My opinion is reserved on him.
No lies detected. The titles I listed are the ones I'd be perhaps more willing to take Phil's word without the grain of salt.

As for Halo? Phil saying that Halo Infinite is coming along nicely, and that he's excited for everyone to see it, blah blah blah. Makes him look bad when they finally show it. I think Phil probably hadn't seen much of anything of it at that point. Maybe a vertical slice demo that 343 told him could easily be cleaned up a bit. By the time he realized how much work it actually needed, he'd already made plans to show it, and lacking another exclusive to replace it with on such notice... Decided to hold his breath and show it anyway.

Which blew up squarely in his face. While you and I may not know how mad Phil can get, or what it looks like, I'm confident that the higher ups at 343 did at that point. 343 made Phil look incompetent. He trusted them that they were making deadlines, and had an acceptable product that release at launch with their new console. They didn't. That makes them look bad, makes Phil look bad, hurts the new console, xbox brand, etc...

All that being said, I wouldn't say he's "put forth a lot of poor quality games", because that's simply not the case. We can like or not like a particular game, but that doesn't mean it's of poor quality necessarily. You might be able to point to Crackdown 3 as an option, but that was a mess not entirely of Phil's making, and was in a no win situation. In my opinion he made the best choice out of only bad options. But aside from that, he's really done a surprisingly good job running xbox.
 

Hatsuma

Member
While I think Jimbo is obviously not the best PR spokesman and often fumbles over some really odd justifications for things, I honestly think it's too early to judge his performance.

I honestly think he's done a number of positive things that could payoff big time:

  • Restructuring SCEJ under the Asobi umbrella. People take this as a negative, but the honest truth is that none of these studios that were "shut down" did anything for ages. It was time to reform and get better. Often, the difficult decisions must be made to shut studios down. I think Asobi has been the only major bright spot in SCEJ - they create amazing titles on time and with a limited budget. Give them all the resources they need to expand into something SCEJ can grow into over time.

  • Big focus on AAA games. He's not shifting away from that, but embracing it. We still need time to see the projects that are in the works, but he believes in Organic growth and I'm hopeful we will see bigger, better teams from all of Sony's major studios even if it's not as glamorous as spending 7.5 billion on a big third party. Sony first party is simply unmatched in terms of quality and quantity.

  • He hasn't abandoned VR. He's doubling down on it. This is the big one for me. VR is absolutely the future and the potential is incredible. I suspect PS5 VR will launch in 2022 with AstroBot, Half Life Alyx, and some surprises from studios like Insomniac. The hardware is now much less experimental, and much more focused as its own independent platform. Getting rid of things like tether boxes. Getting rid of the wildly outdated move controllers and camera tracking systems. PS5VR will have great optics, limited hassle, and a control interface that makes sense. The potential for PS5VR is incredible. The hardware is at the point where it's really on the cusp of not feeling limited, and Sony's first party studios have the potential to make it shine more than anyone else in the industry. It's a gamble worth pursuing, and no other big platform holder is taking this risk. Jimbo could have easily shut this down and gone for pure short term profit.

  • Playstation Plus collection and Play at Home has been really compelling lately. I'm confident he will transform it into a service that gets as much attention as GamePass. Arguably, it already is, it just doesn't have the marketing that Microsoft has with everything day and date that's first party.
Holy Shit, yes to a lot of this. The play at home initiative is awesome and PS collection is definitely an awesome welcoming for new players. There was 87% attach rate for ps plus subs alongside PS5 purchases. Then Plus itself has been improved in offerings for retention and incentive to become subbed.

SCEJ being downsized could be a good thing possibly. It is sad to hear the studio being shrunken, but they were generally unproductive. The studio can always regrow over time and some departures may return. Asobi is certainly their most productive Japanese Studio.We don't know any of there other plans, and have been speculating the worst because of sensationalistic headlines and lack of info.

I'm a late bloomer with VR, so I am so glad that bot only are doubling down on the device, the tech has been heavily invested into. I'm geeked as hell for this new headset and controllers. It is so immersive.
 
You should not be schooling others about stats.

The last gen started exactly like this one (well, it seems to be better since MS doesn't have to give out their consoles, so kudos to them)... both consoles mostly sell out early on, but one has more units to sell and when they come in stock they remain for a much shorter period of time.

You forgot that Sony actually sells a lot of first party games.

and I honestly wonder how someone could be happy with GamePass as a service beyond the trial period, have you really looked at the games selection on it? every second game is a 360 title, some are repeated 5 or 6 times, EA has games that repeat what's on GamePass, their sports series have many years to boost the numbers.

I recall Netflix getting people on because it had something to offer, I can't imagine MS's new studios delivering anything significant before 2022 or even 2024.


So in reality xbox is the most relevant force in gaming?
Seems poor reading comprehension is the flavor tonight.

Stats are there to be used if available. Me pointing out that it's poor logic to simply cherry pick through the ones to support your narrative isn't "schooling" anyone. It's just simple logic.

Hey, spin this gen however you want buddy. Doesn't affect me. Coworker and I tried to buy him both consoles today when Walmart restocked this afternoon. Failed equally on both. Despite my objection, he browsed through the scalpers on fb marketplace to see what he could find. The two cheapest he found were both PS5's. You know what that tells me? Absolutely nothing, because I don't read too much into dumb bs, but if that's your prerogative, then by all means... You do you.

Did I forget that Sony sells a lot of first party games? No...no I don't believe i did. Don't believe i said as much either. Did you by any chance forget reading comprehension? EA Access got added to Gamepass regardless, so what would it matter anyway. It doesn't matter what you wonder about Gamepass really because downplay it however which way you want. Because despite existing for a considerably shorter period of time... Gamepass is passing 18 million subscribers while PSNOW has stagnated and failed to reach even 2.5 million. Nitpick the trials and pricing on MS's side all you want, and pretend PSNOW hasn't cut its price in half, or offered free trials. At the end of the day, one is still trending upwards while the other isn't.

I never said reality indicated that? Funny that you read into that though. "Xbox the most relevant force in gaming"🤣 Seems like a line a prepubescent George Lucas would write.
 

Hatsuma

Member
No lies detected. The titles I listed are the ones I'd be perhaps more willing to take Phil's word without the grain of salt.

As for Halo? Phil saying that Halo Infinite is coming along nicely, and that he's excited for everyone to see it, blah blah blah. Makes him look bad when they finally show it. I think Phil probably hadn't seen much of anything of it at that point. Maybe a vertical slice demo that 343 told him could easily be cleaned up a bit. By the time he realized how much work it actually needed, he'd already made plans to show it, and lacking another exclusive to replace it with on such notice... Decided to hold his breath and show it anyway.

Which blew up squarely in his face. While you and I may not know how mad Phil can get, or what it looks like, I'm confident that the higher ups at 343 did at that point. 343 made Phil look incompetent. He trusted them that they were making deadlines, and had an acceptable product that release at launch with their new console. They didn't. That makes them look bad, makes Phil look bad, hurts the new console, xbox brand, etc...

All that being said, I wouldn't say he's "put forth a lot of poor quality games", because that's simply not the case. We can like or not like a particular game, but that doesn't mean it's of poor quality necessarily. You might be able to point to Crackdown 3 as an option, but that was a mess not entirely of Phil's making, and was in a no win situation. In my opinion he made the best choice out of only bad options. But aside from that, he's really done a surprisingly good job running xbox.
He could have canceled Crackdown like he did Scalebound. He could have canceled Crackdown like he canceled Fable Legends. He could have canceled Crackdown like he did a few games.

As for my poor games comment is down to general reception in addition to my own impressions. Of course it's subjective, but how else are we going to judge eyes and tastes. Objective stats are hidden with Xbox or dismissed as a metric for discussion. And Spencer claimed to have repeatedly visited the studio during the lead up. He claimed the same with the Initiative. Should I be concerned? But say if what you're saying is true. Why isn't the head of Xbox at the time, going to make sure Xbox 's baby is coming along well. Shuhei told Balrog that GoW wasn't good enough. They improved and it went along to win several GOTYs and was the best seller in the franchise.

Jim Ryan announced himself as president in 2020. What can we use to judge his qualifications?. Objectively, he coordinated the most successful system launch during a pandemic. He has significantly boosted ps+ attach rates with ps5 via the ps collection and offerings. He appears to have doubled down on VR instead of shutting it down. He has some negatives but why are his accomplishments so far so heavily down played. He still has a bit to prove in my book but he still adapted fairly well in spite the circumstances.

I'm more about results and leave lip service to politicians. I'm sure Spencer is a nice guy. He's certainly more personable than Ryan. But deliver me fresh, compelling content. Ryan continued the coordination of Ps4 success and so far the Playstation future is far from the bleak future you guys have been suggesting.
 
Last edited:
While I think Jimbo is obviously not the best PR spokesman and often fumbles over some really odd justifications for things, I honestly think it's too early to judge his performance.

I honestly think he's done a number of positive things that could payoff big time:

  • Restructuring SCEJ under the Asobi umbrella. People take this as a negative, but the honest truth is that none of these studios that were "shut down" did anything for ages. It was time to reform and get better. Often, the difficult decisions must be made to shut studios down. I think Asobi has been the only major bright spot in SCEJ - they create amazing titles on time and with a limited budget. Give them all the resources they need to expand into something SCEJ can grow into over time.

  • Big focus on AAA games. He's not shifting away from that, but embracing it. We still need time to see the projects that are in the works, but he believes in Organic growth and I'm hopeful we will see bigger, better teams from all of Sony's major studios even if it's not as glamorous as spending 7.5 billion on a big third party. Sony first party is simply unmatched in terms of quality and quantity.

  • He hasn't abandoned VR. He's doubling down on it. This is the big one for me. VR is absolutely the future and the potential is incredible. I suspect PS5 VR will launch in 2022 with AstroBot, Half Life Alyx, and some surprises from studios like Insomniac. The hardware is now much less experimental, and much more focused as its own independent platform. Getting rid of things like tether boxes. Getting rid of the wildly outdated move controllers and camera tracking systems. PS5VR will have great optics, limited hassle, and a control interface that makes sense. The potential for PS5VR is incredible. The hardware is at the point where it's really on the cusp of not feeling limited, and Sony's first party studios have the potential to make it shine more than anyone else in the industry. It's a gamble worth pursuing, and no other big platform holder is taking this risk. Jimbo could have easily shut this down and gone for pure short term profit.

  • Playstation Plus collection and Play at Home has been really compelling lately. I'm confident he will transform it into a service that gets as much attention as GamePass. Arguably, it already is, it just doesn't have the marketing that Microsoft has with everything day and date that's first party.
I agree it's too early to judge him at this point. He could do an absolute wonderful job, and still look pretty bad this early on.

What I mean by that, is that businesses such as Playstation, are like a huge ship in the ocean. Being that big, with that much capital at stake. Changing direction, and making changes takes time. Even now, Jim is largely saddled with decisions and projects that were made or under way well before he took over. His influence is pretty limited on those at this point.

Due to so many aspects of that industry taking so long to perform, it'll be at least a couple of years before Playstation will truly be reflective of him. All the games that release over the next couple of years were likely green lit by his predecessor. So let's take God of War for example. If Ragnarok turns out to be an excellent game (which it certainly will be) then people will see Jim, and nod to themselves that he's got PS headed in the right direction. But let's pretend for a second that the devs somehow all developed a cocaine habit over the last few months, and Ragnarok turns out to be an absolute disaster. Those same people's perception of Jim would be the polar opposite. The media would crucify him. In each case though, Jim likely wasn't head of Playstation for most of the critical design and development portion of it.

So yeah, it's too early imo to judge Jim. However, while I think it's too early to fault him for bad things that began before his tenure, and beyond his real control, I also can't credit him for decisions and projects that were also likely decided and began before he took over. Which include most of the things you give him credit for.
 
I agree it's too early to judge him at this point. He could do an absolute wonderful job, and still look pretty bad this early on.

What I mean by that, is that businesses such as Playstation, are like a huge ship in the ocean. Being that big, with that much capital at stake. Changing direction, and making changes takes time. Even now, Jim is largely saddled with decisions and projects that were made or under way well before he took over. His influence is pretty limited on those at this point.

Due to so many aspects of that industry taking so long to perform, it'll be at least a couple of years before Playstation will truly be reflective of him. All the games that release over the next couple of years were likely green lit by his predecessor. So let's take God of War for example. If Ragnarok turns out to be an excellent game (which it certainly will be) then people will see Jim, and nod to themselves that he's got PS headed in the right direction. But let's pretend for a second that the devs somehow all developed a cocaine habit over the last few months, and Ragnarok turns out to be an absolute disaster. Those same people's perception of Jim would be the polar opposite. The media would crucify him. In each case though, Jim likely wasn't head of Playstation for most of the critical design and development portion of it.

So yeah, it's too early imo to judge Jim. However, while I think it's too early to fault him for bad things that began before his tenure, and beyond his real control, I also can't credit him for decisions and projects that were also likely decided and began before he took over. Which include most of the things you give him credit for.

true...but things like ps5vr and SCEJ restructuring were absolutely in his control at the moment and he made the right decision on both
 

Hatsuma

Member
I agree it's too early to judge him at this point. He could do an absolute wonderful job, and still look pretty bad this early on.

What I mean by that, is that businesses such as Playstation, are like a huge ship in the ocean. Being that big, with that much capital at stake. Changing direction, and making changes takes time. Even now, Jim is largely saddled with decisions and projects that were made or under way well before he took over. His influence is pretty limited on those at this point.

Due to so many aspects of that industry taking so long to perform, it'll be at least a couple of years before Playstation will truly be reflective of him. All the games that release over the next couple of years were likely green lit by his predecessor. So let's take God of War for example. If Ragnarok turns out to be an excellent game (which it certainly will be) then people will see Jim, and nod to themselves that he's got PS headed in the right direction. But let's pretend for a second that the devs somehow all developed a cocaine habit over the last few months, and Ragnarok turns out to be an absolute disaster. Those same people's perception of Jim would be the polar opposite. The media would crucify him. In each case though, Jim likely wasn't head of Playstation for most of the critical design and development portion of it.

So yeah, it's too early imo to judge Jim. However, while I think it's too early to fault him for bad things that began before his tenure, and beyond his real control, I also can't credit him for decisions and projects that were also likely decided and began before he took over. Which include most of the things you give him credit for.
Well that's the dilemma with a Quarterback. They get an immense amount of credit when the team wins yet have to accept the majority of blame for the loss by general public. The main thing that he has repeatedly discussed was ensuring having enough units to have a sufficient launch. Big game releases like GoW, Spiderman, Ghosts, and TLoU 2s credits are Laydens for example.

Ryan's Credit is the coordination which was hampered by pandemic, PS collection, and PS Plus improvements, Play at home and not shutting down VR. Pretty much he is continuing the PS4's success, but he was promoted because of way he handled SCE EU. But beyond that, he gotta achieve big successes of his own while at the helm. That's why he should be under microscope so he doesn't become complacent, but he should at least be given the benefit of the doubt
 

Three

Member
I mean if we talk about the reality now, PS is still the best plateform right now imo. But they need to remind themselve why the plateform has always been the best, it was because of variety and innovations, and also, Japanese games for the most parts. I don't want to see playstation become the home of AAA western open world and focuse only or mostly on that.

Also i don't get why they bother to pay to get exclusives like FF or Nier, the games will sell mostly of playstation no matter what, so why bother.
Exactly, I really don't understand it. They created Demon's souls, developed Astro Bot and gave it for free, released Spiderman Miles Morales. Have games like Returnal, Ratchet coming out soon. Created a good console with the PS5 you can get for $399. I mean it all seems pretty great to me. Yet they are incompetent because they don't buy studios whose games were coming anyway in retaliation to a company that bought Zenimax and has nothing to show for it yet? People are mad for not living in the present but I guess xbox fans have persuaded a lot to believe in future faking. The xbox one generation was all about promises and hope.
 
He could have canceled Crackdown like he did Scalebound. He could have canceled Crackdown like he canceled Fable Legends. He could have canceled Crackdown like he did a few games.

As for my poor games comment is down to general reception in addition to my own impressions. Of course it's subjective, but how else are we going to judge eyes and tastes. Objective stats are hidden with Xbox or dismissed as a metric for discussion. And Spencer claimed to have repeatedly visited the studio during the lead up. He claimed the same with the Initiative. Should I be concerned? But say if what you're saying is true. Why isn't the head of Xbox at the time, going to make sure Xbox 's baby is coming along well. Shuhei told Balrog that GoW wasn't good enough. They improved and it went along to win several GOTYs and was the best seller in the franchise.

Jim Ryan announced himself as president in 2020. What can we use to judge his qualifications?. Objectively, he coordinated the most successful system launch during a pandemic. He has significantly boosted ps+ attach rates with ps5 via the ps collection and offerings. He appears to have doubled down on VR instead of shutting it down. He has some negatives but why are his accomplishments so far so heavily down played. He still has a bit to prove in my book but he still adapted fairly well in spite the circumstances.

I'm more about results and leave lip service to politicians. I'm sure Spencer is a nice guy. He's certainly more personable than Ryan. But deliver me fresh, compelling content. Ryan continued the coordination of Ps4 success and so far the Playstation future is far from the bleak future you guys have been suggesting.
He could have, but then you'd probably be right here criticizing him for that too. So like I said, there was pressure from above to leverage Microsofts cloud infrastructure into Xbox, and integrate the two as much as possible. He was stuck in a bad position that may have been partly his own fault. He chose to give the developers time, and let them do the best they could with it. Was that the right call? I don't know that there was a right call to make? Consider this though. All these years later, which game still creates more negativity in regard to Spencer... His releasing Crackdown 3, or his canceling Scalebound? Like I said about Ryan in my previous post, at that time Spencer was dealing with results that at least at some level... Were created prior to his being head of Xbox. He was in a high position so he can't be acquitted of guilt entirely, but that ship was headed in an overall direction he hadn't directed it.

I look at things a bit different than you I suppose. Not that I believe your intentions bad or anything. We just see things differently. Spencer definitely could've done better at keeping tabs on Halo Infinite, but after the reveal, and backlash. He decided to give them an entire year to clean that mess up at a time when he had every excuse not to. It's a given that your console launch with a big hitter exclusive franchise title, yet Spencer was savvy enough to see that doing so wouldn't help in the long run. To give a studio more time is one thing. Giving them more time when it leaves your brand new console barren of that big hitter exclusive is another thing entirely.

Looking at the big picture, Spencer took over an Xbox that had just had it's feet pulled out from under it. He took over Xbox at its absolute lowest point, at a time when most thought Xbox wouldn't even be around much longer. He literally had everything working against him. A weaker console that was more expensive at the exact point in time when everyone was transitioning from standard to HD gaming. There were a couple of interviews of him early on where he said that it would be a long journey, but that he would address each and every deficiency with Xbox. He cut the kinect, and all the tv tv tv bs. He bolstered their online functionality. He addressed the power gap that was such an issue with the XB1X. He created peripherals to suit a wider audience such as the elite and pads for players with disabilities. As the gap in first party output became apparent, he addressed it by convincing MS to invest and acquire studios. He then did so in the best way possible. He started with the value first. Plucking the ones that had the potential to outperform the cost. Eventually ending up acquiring Bethesda as a whole. Had he started with Betheads first, many of his earlier acquisitions either wouldn't be possible, or would've cost far more than he bought them for.

Which leads us to now. Is the Xbox set to upend gaming, set the world on fire, and leave Playstation in it's dust? Of course not. But it does appear to be ready to compete, which hasn't been the case really since the 360. I fully expect the PS5 to outsell the Xbox Series worldwide this gen, but by all metrics... It looks to be able to compete against it competently.

At the same time, while you see things differently... Jim Ryan took over Playstation when it was at it's peak possibly. Compared to Spencer, Ryan took over the wheel at a time when all he had to do was leave the cruise control on. It's also important to note that at the exact time from when Ryan took over to now, just also happens to be the exact same time that Xbox has made the most progress in being able to compete against Playstation.

As for the rest? It's all subjective at some point. Just as you said your opinion mirrored general perception regarding Phil's handling of games... I could say of Jim's handling of VR. I'm not a huge fan of VR, and my opinion is similar to the general perception of VR as a whole. Just as you credit Jim on his release of a console during a pandemic. I can openly criticize Phil for the Xbox not having a big hitting franchise exclusive during launch. So we know why Xbox was lacking. What excuse does Jim have? The PS5 released with a decade old remake in Demon Souls, a Spiderman expansion meant for last gen that held hostage in order to charge $40 for it instead of the $20 it would on PS4, and a tech demo for the dual sense in Astros Playroom. With that dualsense having widespread quality issues with the triggers breaking, no external storage solution in sight almost 5 months later, on a weaker console that while compared well early on... appears to be trending towards comparing worse and worse as the gen progresses. While now having less studios to work with.

It's all subjective my man. Nothing is as bad as some would have you believe, and it's never as good as others tell you it is. Most of it just boils down to preference, and which one caters to your specific wants and needs.
 

IDappa

Member
and I honestly wonder how someone could be happy with GamePass as a service beyond the trial period, have you really looked at the games selection on it? every second game is a 360 title, some are repeated 5 or 6 times, EA has games that repeat what's on GamePass, their sports series have many years to boost the numbers.
Luckily people have better and more varied tastes than you in games.
 

Hatsuma

Member
He could have, but then you'd probably be right here criticizing him for that too. So like I said, there was pressure from above to leverage Microsofts cloud infrastructure into Xbox, and integrate the two as much as possible. He was stuck in a bad position that may have been partly his own fault. He chose to give the developers time, and let them do the best they could with it. Was that the right call? I don't know that there was a right call to make? Consider this though. All these years later, which game still creates more negativity in regard to Spencer... His releasing Crackdown 3, or his canceling Scalebound? Like I said about Ryan in my previous post, at that time Spencer was dealing with results that at least at some level... Were created prior to his being head of Xbox. He was in a high position so he can't be acquitted of guilt entirely, but that ship was headed in an overall direction he hadn't directed it.

I look at things a bit different than you I suppose. Not that I believe your intentions bad or anything. We just see things differently. Spencer definitely could've done better at keeping tabs on Halo Infinite, but after the reveal, and backlash. He decided to give them an entire year to clean that mess up at a time when he had every excuse not to. It's a given that your console launch with a big hitter exclusive franchise title, yet Spencer was savvy enough to see that doing so wouldn't help in the long run. To give a studio more time is one thing. Giving them more time when it leaves your brand new console barren of that big hitter exclusive is another thing entirely.

Looking at the big picture, Spencer took over an Xbox that had just had it's feet pulled out from under it. He took over Xbox at its absolute lowest point, at a time when most thought Xbox wouldn't even be around much longer. He literally had everything working against him. A weaker console that was more expensive at the exact point in time when everyone was transitioning from standard to HD gaming. There were a couple of interviews of him early on where he said that it would be a long journey, but that he would address each and every deficiency with Xbox. He cut the kinect, and all the tv tv tv bs. He bolstered their online functionality. He addressed the power gap that was such an issue with the XB1X. He created peripherals to suit a wider audience such as the elite and pads for players with disabilities. As the gap in first party output became apparent, he addressed it by convincing MS to invest and acquire studios. He then did so in the best way possible. He started with the value first. Plucking the ones that had the potential to outperform the cost. Eventually ending up acquiring Bethesda as a whole. Had he started with Betheads first, many of his earlier acquisitions either wouldn't be possible, or would've cost far more than he bought them for.

Which leads us to now. Is the Xbox set to upend gaming, set the world on fire, and leave Playstation in it's dust? Of course not. But it does appear to be ready to compete, which hasn't been the case really since the 360. I fully expect the PS5 to outsell the Xbox Series worldwide this gen, but by all metrics... It looks to be able to compete against it competently.

At the same time, while you see things differently... Jim Ryan took over Playstation when it was at it's peak possibly. Compared to Spencer, Ryan took over the wheel at a time when all he had to do was leave the cruise control on. It's also important to note that at the exact time from when Ryan took over to now, just also happens to be the exact same time that Xbox has made the most progress in being able to compete against Playstation.

As for the rest? It's all subjective at some point. Just as you said your opinion mirrored general perception regarding Phil's handling of games... I could say of Jim's handling of VR. I'm not a huge fan of VR, and my opinion is similar to the general perception of VR as a whole. Just as you credit Jim on his release of a console during a pandemic. I can openly criticize Phil for the Xbox not having a big hitting franchise exclusive during launch. So we know why Xbox was lacking. What excuse does Jim have? The PS5 released with a decade old remake in Demon Souls, a Spiderman expansion meant for last gen that held hostage in order to charge $40 for it instead of the $20 it would on PS4, and a tech demo for the dual sense in Astros Playroom. With that dualsense having widespread quality issues with the triggers breaking, no external storage solution in sight almost 5 months later, on a weaker console that while compared well early on... appears to be trending towards comparing worse and worse as the gen progresses. While now having less studios to work with.

It's all subjective my man. Nothing is as bad as some would have you believe, and it's never as good as others tell you it is. Most of it just boils down to preference, and which one caters to your specific wants and needs.
I agree with a lot of what you mentioned, but that's why I said objectively we can gauge performance by stats and charts. People bought Miles Morales in droves despite that decision. But like I mentioned, I won't give Ryan credit for Miles Morales, because that was in development immediately after Spiderman 2018. Ryan wasn't in charge yet. Likely the main thing Ryan handled was the coordination of PS5 's rollout, downsizing Studios Japan, handling various 2nd party deals that ranged from April 2020 till December 2020 that we are not entirely privy to, doing ps collection and stay at home initiative, and doubled down on VR.

I'm a personal fan of VR, but putting that bias aside, the main reason I keep bringing it up because of the accusations he's just trying to play it safe. Support and approving expensive RnD for a product still so fledgling and unpredictable in mass market appeal is unsafe.

As for Halo, I wasn't calling for it to be canceled. They invested far too much money into it. I was saying it was doubtful he was unaware of its state. Otherwise it is poor management and reflects on just as I would say if the same happened under Shuhei, Layden, or Ryan. He's the leader and should be helping the ship.


As for Spencer, I agree. He course corrected Xbox and that is a fantastic job. But he literally became head of Xbox literally months into X1 gen. At some point he has to have accountability for the failures and cancelations of certain games during that gen. Because he's approving them.

Now the weaker system bit, I'm not going to entertain that because either it's mostly been in ps5 favor for a number of head to heads or usually trade offs have to occur for either to have a noteworthy advantage. Still waiting for that delta uncompromising.

As for studios, my man before 23 they had 15 or 14. How didn't they have really anything ready for launch? Hell, Spencer could have drafted 2nd party deals while getting Zeni up to speed. The quantity argument doesn't say a lot to me when Insomniac for example, released a GOTY contender in 2018, still had something ready for launch, giving Ratchet RA in 2021 barring delay, and likely will.have Spiderman 2 ready in 2022.

Dual Sense issues if it is out of control, just do like Xbox did. Refresh the design. That is how they dealt with X1 power disparity, why can't Sony do the same if faulty controllers become so massive.

Dual Sense, as described by nearly all consensus opinion, is a massive innovation for controllers. So there, I'll match you disabled controller innovation with that.

As for storage solution and other firmware additions, fuck yea Sony is slow as hell on that. They're primary focus hinged to heavily on content.

Oh boy, Demon Souls remake has more production, more polish, and more care than the vast majority of games that are out. But fine, it is an remake of an old game. Still, it is a game at my launch. Astrobot has more effort, quality, and polish than Falconeer as a pack in demo. Hell more quality than Bright Memory, a 8$ 1 hour demo.

And really it doesn't have to be subjective. You guys don't want to discuss pesky things like stats. And I never argued it being so bad on Xbox side. I just asked my question about Spencer because his comparison is often used to shit on Ryan. If he wasn't mentioned so often, I wouldn't have brought him up. Again, the main credit I give to Ryan is how he coordinated ps5 roll out, ps collection, play at home initiative, PsVr2, Japan Studio downsizing, and whatever deals he put in drafted from April 2020 until December 2020 sofar. Those attribute to the PS5'S massive stats. Layden essentially contributed to all the games released in 2020, a lot of which were nominated at VGAs and also made Bank. Objectively we can gauge success by quantifiable results. My opinion wouldn't be necessary.

But as you said, we have two totally different outlooks. You appear to be only looking yonder. I'm looking at past, present, and future. I guess.both futures are too uncertain XD
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Yeah but neogaf doesn't really want to look at gaming as a business. Jim Ryan is a "suit"? I would certainly hope so! He's heading a serious corporation. Who do you think runs Marvel? The Simpson comic book guy?

Just because Sony isn't making the games you personally want they must be wrong.
Did Sony have more Japanese games in the past? Sure but that was in a time when Sony sold 20 million PS2s in Japan and games were cheap to make. Times change.
Bit of a funny comparison considering Kevin Feige is a massive comic book fan.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Kevin Feige is seems like a comic book nerd though. Not sure that’s a good comparison

I highly doubt anyone has ever compared Feige with the Simpson's Comic-Book Guy, a parody of many of the worst aspects of hardcore fandom!

Besides, Jim Ryan's position at Sony is way higher up the corporate food-chain, Yoshida or Hulst are much better comparisons and I don't see people doubting their credentials.
 
You can have a suit running playstation but you also need someone passionate and loves playstation and video games. Do you really feel like Jim Ryan is that kind of guy. Do you think Jim Ryan treats the playstation brand the way Kevin Feige treats Marvel brand.

Both Sony and Marvel are chasing the mainstream masses and making a lot of money so yeah.
Marvel pivoted from comic books which nobody reads to movies.
 
I agree with a lot of what you mentioned, but that's why I said objectively we can gauge performance by stats and charts. People bought Miles Morales in droves despite that decision. But like I mentioned, I won't give Ryan credit for Miles Morales, because that was in development immediately after Spiderman 2018. Ryan wasn't in charge yet. Likely the main thing Ryan handled was the coordination of PS5 's rollout, downsizing Studios Japan, handling various 2nd party deals that ranged from April 2020 till December 2020 that we are not entirely privy to, doing ps collection and stay at home initiative, and doubled down on VR.

I'm a personal fan of VR, but putting that bias aside, the main reason I keep bringing it up because of the accusations he's just trying to play it safe. Support and approving expensive RnD for a product still so fledgling and unpredictable in mass market appeal is unsafe.

As for Halo, I wasn't calling for it to be canceled. They invested far too much money into it. I was saying it was doubtful he was unaware of its state. Otherwise it is poor management and reflects on just as I would say if the same happened under Shuhei, Layden, or Ryan. He's the leader and should be helping the ship.


As for Spencer, I agree. He course corrected Xbox and that is a fantastic job. But he literally became head of Xbox literally months into X1 gen. At some point he has to have accountability for the failures and cancelations of certain games during that gen. Because he's approving them.

Now the weaker system bit, I'm not going to entertain that because either it's mostly been in ps5 favor for a number of head to heads or usually trade offs have to occur for either to have a noteworthy advantage. Still waiting for that delta uncompromising.

As for studios, my man before 23 they had 15 or 14. How didn't they have really anything ready for launch? Hell, Spencer could have drafted 2nd party deals while getting Zeni up to speed. The quantity argument doesn't say a lot to me when Insomniac for example, released a GOTY contender in 2018, still had something ready for launch, giving Ratchet RA in 2021 barring delay, and likely will.have Spiderman 2 ready in 2022.

Dual Sense issues if it is out of control, just do like Xbox did. Refresh the design. That is how they dealt with X1 power disparity, why can't Sony do the same if faulty controllers become so massive.

Dual Sense, as described by nearly all consensus opinion, is a massive innovation for controllers. So there, I'll match you disabled controller innovation with that.

As for storage solution and other firmware additions, fuck yea Sony is slow as hell on that. They're primary focus hinged to heavily on content.

Oh boy, Demon Souls remake has more production, more polish, and more care than the vast majority of games that are out. But fine, it is an remake of an old game. Still, it is a game at my launch. Astrobot has more effort, quality, and polish than Falconeer as a pack in demo. Hell more quality than Bright Memory, a 8$ 1 hour demo.

And really it doesn't have to be subjective. You guys don't want to discuss pesky things like stats. And I never argued it being so bad on Xbox side. I just asked my question about Spencer because his comparison is often used to shit on Ryan. If he wasn't mentioned so often, I wouldn't have brought him up. Again, the main credit I give to Ryan is how he coordinated ps5 roll out, ps collection, play at home initiative, PsVr2, Japan Studio downsizing, and whatever deals he put in drafted from April 2020 until December 2020 sofar. Those attribute to the PS5'S massive stats. Layden essentially contributed to all the games released in 2020, a lot of which were nominated at VGAs and also made Bank. Objectively we can gauge success by quantifiable results. My opinion wouldn't be necessary.

But as you said, we have two totally different outlooks. You appear to be only looking yonder. I'm looking at past, present, and future. I guess.both futures are too uncertain XD
Your entire post is good, brings up good points, and supports my overall opinion.

There are of course objective facts, but those pesky stats goes both ways. Which basically reduces those objective points.... Into subjective ones. Especially pesky when stats are made up, assumed, imagined, or ignored entirely.

And while I do look to the future, it's always important to look at the past and present as well. Again, we just don't always see the same things when doing so.
 
As a PS5 owner, I'm not worried at all. Astro and Demon's have both already delivered nice next gen gameplay and Sony has already announced a number of huge titles that are on their way.

If Microsoft bought those companies to keep games off PS they are doing a terrible job. I'm playing Doom Eternal on my PS5 and all the recent Gamepass additions that have been on PS Now for 5 years are still there.

The sale is completed, there is no reason for them to not shout about exclusivity from the sky. They are not doing so, which hints at likely multiplat for big IPs.
That’s is very perplexing to me. The deal is finalized and completed. Why are people still speculating on what’s exclusive or not still? Some games? Why? If Microsoft has genuine exclusives coming, why not announce it and brag about it from the highest mountain tops to try to get more gamers excited and into your ecosystem? They announced games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Yakuza: LAD, Sunset Overdrive and Dead Rising 3 are exclusive. Why not Starfield, Elder Scrolls 6 or Fallout 5 even if most of them are several years away?
 
Last edited:

SSfox

Member
That’s is very perplexing to me. The deal is finalized and completed. Why are people still speculating on what’s exclusive or not still? Some games? Why? If Microsoft has genuine exclusives coming, why not announce it and brag about it from the highest mountain tops to try to get more gamers excited and into your ecosystem? They announced games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Yakuza: LAD, Sunset Overdrive and Dead Rising 3 are exclusive. Why not Starfield, Elder Scrolls 6 or Fallout 5 even if most of them are several years away?
That's what i've been saying,TES6 and Starfield are likely multiplatform from the look of it and by logic, if not MS would already announced and confirmed those games are exclusives. Like you said when MS had exclusives in the past they usually brag about it non stop, and this was even if TR2 was timed exclusive.
 

NahaNago

Member
That’s is very perplexing to me. The deal is finalized and completed. Why are people still speculating on what’s exclusive or not still? Some games? Why? If Microsoft has genuine exclusives coming, why not announce it and brag about it from the highest mountain tops to try to get more gamers excited and into your ecosystem? They announced games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Yakuza: LAD, Sunset Overdrive and Dead Rising 3 are exclusive. Why not Starfield, Elder Scrolls 6 or Fallout 5 even if most of them are several years away?
possibly waiting for e3 to blow everyone away. Game releases are too far away. Plus leaving people asking if a game they like is possible still coming to their preferred platform will have you pay attention to xbox shows. It's just a marketing and pr tactic.
 

Hatsuma

Member
Your entire post is good, brings up good points, and supports my overall opinion.

There are of course objective facts, but those pesky stats goes both ways. Which basically reduces those objective points.... Into subjective ones. Especially pesky when stats are made up, assumed, imagined, or ignored entirely.

And while I do look to the future, it's always important to look at the past and present as well. Again, we just don't always see the same things when doing so.
Wait, how are they subjective? Let's compare some sample stats that are hidden. We know MAU is basically total subs. Those look significant when reporting, but your MAU will always increase. It could be slower that year or faster and greater. But concurrent, which is fairly significant metric to judge for subs, can be up yoy or down yoy. Where are those numbers?

PS Plus attach rate of new PS5 owners is 87%. What has been the attach rate of new Series Owners?
PS Plus concurrent users went up this year sizablely. I believe it is now 47.4 million. What is Xbox for gold or GP?
How much software has Xbox sold?
Ps5 was shipped 4.5 million units. Last year. How many did Xbox ship? We'll start with those.

We can make our own subjective interpretations of the numbers, but objectively, numbers are numbers. GFk, Spiderman went up to number 1 this week and about 90% of it sales were on PS5. That's a fact. Evertime a restock happens, ps5 software goes up significantly, a subjective observation based on a pattern of factual information. Dual Sense is top selling accessory in February NPD, fact. Spiderman is still charting extremely well digitally, but we don't know it's digital numbers. We can make an assumption based on what it is beating digitally and assuming off of percentage disparity known. But that assumption is subjective because that 62% sold of PS5 games, possibly doesn't apply to all games.

Pretty much we have NPD, GFK, Super Data, and PS's own charts to provide fairly accurate information. We also have word from the horse's mouth via reports or milestones.

What are the numbers based from Microsoft on lips or reports? Please, beyond MAU.
 
Last edited:

Papacheeks

Banned
SCej wanted to make japanese flavor games instead of another third person open world narrative AAA. Jimbo didn't give them the budget but gave them the goodbyes....feel like a bad thing to do

You are such a fucking troll. Guess your shtick is working with all the replies including myself. But you have no fucking clue wtf you are talking about.

It's funny for the first couple of threads you are in spreading idiotic misinformation, but jesus so glad I have you on ignore.
 

mortal

Gold Member
Teeth Smile GIF by Recording Academy / GRAMMYs
This DaBaby dude has some really nice teeth.
 

Aenima

Member
While I think Jimbo is obviously not the best PR spokesman and often fumbles over some really odd justifications for things, I honestly think it's too early to judge his performance.

I honestly think he's done a number of positive things that could payoff big time:

  • Restructuring SCEJ under the Asobi umbrella. People take this as a negative, but the honest truth is that none of these studios that were "shut down" did anything for ages. It was time to reform and get better. Often, the difficult decisions must be made to shut studios down. I think Asobi has been the only major bright spot in SCEJ - they create amazing titles on time and with a limited budget. Give them all the resources they need to expand into something SCEJ can grow into over time.

  • Big focus on AAA games. He's not shifting away from that, but embracing it. We still need time to see the projects that are in the works, but he believes in Organic growth and I'm hopeful we will see bigger, better teams from all of Sony's major studios even if it's not as glamorous as spending 7.5 billion on a big third party. Sony first party is simply unmatched in terms of quality and quantity.

  • He hasn't abandoned VR. He's doubling down on it. This is the big one for me. VR is absolutely the future and the potential is incredible. I suspect PS5 VR will launch in 2022 with AstroBot, Half Life Alyx, and some surprises from studios like Insomniac. The hardware is now much less experimental, and much more focused as its own independent platform. Getting rid of things like tether boxes. Getting rid of the wildly outdated move controllers and camera tracking systems. PS5VR will have great optics, limited hassle, and a control interface that makes sense. The potential for PS5VR is incredible. The hardware is at the point where it's really on the cusp of not feeling limited, and Sony's first party studios have the potential to make it shine more than anyone else in the industry. It's a gamble worth pursuing, and no other big platform holder is taking this risk. Jimbo could have easily shut this down and gone for pure short term profit.

  • Playstation Plus collection and Play at Home has been really compelling lately. I'm confident he will transform it into a service that gets as much attention as GamePass. Arguably, it already is, it just doesn't have the marketing that Microsoft has with everything day and date that's first party.
If my memory is not failing me, the 1st thing Jimbo did when he took charge was to cut down the price of PS Now in half. Ppl might not remember but PS Now used to cost 120$ a year and he shaved the price to 60$ a year and implemented a rotation system to more high profile games that are added montly but dont stay in the pemanent PS Now library.

PS Now still need to reach alot of countries, but is now a much better service much thanks to Jim decisions.

Jim Ryan is not a charismatic person, but the man works for Playstation since the 1st Playstation console, and was head of the SCEE (European division) and thats the stronger Playstation region. He knows what hes doing.

So far only decision he made that i disliked was the price increase for 1st party games. Which will make me just wait for a price drop for SIE 1st party games instead of buying them day 1 like i used to do.
 
Last edited:

graywolf323

Gold Member
Bit of a funny comparison considering Kevin Feige is a massive comic book fan.
Feige doesn't run Marvel though, he's the Chief Creative Officer but Isaac Perlmutter is the Chairman & Dan Buckley is the President

edit: though Feige does basically run Marvel Studios since on that front he reports directly to Alan Horn at Disney on that front and not to Perlmutter or Buckley
 
Last edited:

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Yet it’s near impossible to find one at retail. They stay flying off the virtual shelves in nanoseconds.

They can’t make these things fast enough. Must be doing something right.
 
Top Bottom