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Sony's 1st and 2nd party studios have expanded a lot since last gen
- Thread starter KAL2006
- Start date
The deal hasn't been announced, we only know from the linkedin profiles of staff.
i see. any idea if it is PSN or BR
Melchiah
Member
True. The only games published by Sony, that I bought during the PS1/2 era, were WipEout, God of War and Forbidden Siren.
During this gen I've bought...
- Resistance 1-3
- MotorStorm
- Heavenly Sword
- Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction
- Siren: Blood Curse
- WipEout HD + Fury
- Flower
- LittleBigPlanet
- Killzone 2
- Heavy Rain
- God of War III
- Shatter
- Dead Nation
(I'm not sure whether the last two are actually published by Sony.)
I think the change is partly because the Japanese companies (Konami, Capcom and Square Enix), whose games I used to buy on PS1/2, haven't really been the same when it comes to the quality of games.
The_Endgamer
Member
If I do't find their games interesting, why should I? I'm not trying to troll but just making a point that those names wouldn't really matter to the masses.
Other than the makers of Killzone, Uncharted, Motorstorm and a few other notable dev studios, if those developers were to make a new IP it want to be darned good to attract the average gamer and not just the average Sony fanboy.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
Armature is the former Retro guys right? Interested in seeing what they're working on. Wonder how big that studio is now and how far along they are.
I believe there are actually two games in the deal, one PSN and one PSV, not sure though.
unrenowned
Member
I just hope PSV picks up speed soon, or many of those studios will be shut down.
according to linkedin 22
prob same game
revolverjgw
Member
Sony's stable has always been phenomenal, but it seems like there's almost too many of them, even many of the great ones see only modest success. I don't know if it's Sony's inept marketing or what. It's annoying for me as a fan of studios like Bend to see their titles not sell while fucking Assassin's Creed moves millions.
They've also got a ton of great dead IPs. Colony Wars :_-(
They've also got a ton of great dead IPs. Colony Wars :_-(
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
I really want Sony to return to some of their older properties, like Drakan, Rollcage, Okage and Dark Cloud, the huge majority of their output this generation just doesn't interest me.
Lagspike_exe
Member
I really hope that at least one of new IPs next gen from WWS is going to be an RPG. Skyrim proved you could make an RPG that sells huge.
well, to be fair, the games you listed wouldn't interest anyone else.
I would wager a DC3 would outsell WKC2 significantly.
I agree with you. RPGs is one genre Sony haven't really explored this gen.
Dark Cloud sold 1m+ copies, Dark Cloud 2 faring only a bit worse and Drakan exceeded 300k. Sony could do much worse than to revive these franchises.
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
Dark Cloud 3 would be much better than any of the garbage that Level 5 has put out since Dark Cloud 2. It would also sell better than the white knight games here, not that that's a huge feat or anything.
Rollcage would interest me. It was a pretty cool game. Maybe the full $60 would be a bit too steep though.
That's a really exhaustive list of developers, but if all Sony is going to do is go to parts 3, 4, and 5 on some of the IP introduced this generation and last, I think they practically guarantee themselves another 2nd/3rd place finish.
I can't for the life of me understand why anyone needs or wants a Killzone 4, Resistance 4, God of War 4, Motorstorm 4, Uncharted 4, Infamous 3. They didn't lead to success for Sony now, so why would they in the future?
I'm not condemning the quality of the IP, it's just that I personally value novelty over "more of the good stuff." My hope if that Naughty Dog's "The Last of Us" indicates that most studios will be branching off into new experiences going forward rather than re-hashing what they've already done.
I can't for the life of me understand why anyone needs or wants a Killzone 4, Resistance 4, God of War 4, Motorstorm 4, Uncharted 4, Infamous 3. They didn't lead to success for Sony now, so why would they in the future?
I'm not condemning the quality of the IP, it's just that I personally value novelty over "more of the good stuff." My hope if that Naughty Dog's "The Last of Us" indicates that most studios will be branching off into new experiences going forward rather than re-hashing what they've already done.
Both Drakan and Dark Cloud could make great games using nowadays technology.
Sure, they should forget about "3" in the title to attract for wide audience.
I'd say it would be better investment for Sony then making another multiplayer focused game (pick your poison Twisted Metal of Starhawk).
BoilersFan23
Member
Well, I wouldn't call them crap, they are just facing the same problem Konami, Square Enix, Capcom (to some extent), Namco, etc. have with the HD consoles. Basically, the size of their development teams (and programming skills) are okay for PS2/PSP/PSN size game development. But each of their teams are too small (and not enough high end programmers) to do a full blown PS3 retail release with HD graphics. I remember Yoshida said himself it was a problem with many devs in Japan. Just to get Gravity Daze/Rush developed, Team Siren had the LocoRoco and even Ape Escape (if I remember correctly) team all help them with development. The only way for SCEJ to get HD games out would be for all them (interally) to combine, but that would result in very few game releases. Hence, that is why we see them stick with PSP and PSN mostly. And it's not exactly easy to expand because the amount of high end programmers in Japan is very small.
I sort of know why they don't focus much on JRPGs. For one, their Japanese development is much smaller than it use to be (many Japanese studios don't have the size/high end programming) to make a higher profile JRPG for PS3. But the main reason has to do with many JRPG series dropping in sales. Wild Arms, Arc The Lad, Legaia, and PoPoLoCrois all sold well initially and dropped off significantly on PS2. Many games with Level 5 didn't sell well (which weren't Dark Cloud), Okage didn't sell, and many of their PSP RPG attempts didn't sell either. They will not keep investing if it doesn't sell. While some may complain about them continuing to release Resistance games for instance, it still sells better than their JRPGs.
Same situation for me in a way. Lots of Japanese developers this gen have struggled with HD console development (due to lack of high end programmers, lack of efficiency, too small development teams, etc.). That is why Konami, Capcom, and Square Enix all outsourced games to many western developers instead of developing internally.
Main line GoW games sell very well. But keep in mind that while many of those IPs may not be multi-million sellers, they still put up good numbers where they at least make a profit (not lose money like many games have this gen).
In what way are Motorstorm, God of War and Uncharted not successful?
I can't understand why people want more Mario or Halo, but they do. Same as anything else.
They make good games that I want to play, so I'm happy. People get too carried away with the sales age stuff, but meh. I really wish they would bring back Colony Wars though. HD space battles would be the stuff.
They make good games that I want to play, so I'm happy. People get too carried away with the sales age stuff, but meh. I really wish they would bring back Colony Wars though. HD space battles would be the stuff.
R_thanatos
Member
Just posting that there is a typo in the thread first post .. it's wip3out 2048 not 2098..
StealthGoblin
Banned
I think we'd all love them to have a dedicated 1st party JRPG team but would it really make sense for them? Given the amount of time Sony puts into their properties it would need to do very well financially for them to keep going at it. Unless you are Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest then you wouldn't make the returns Sony would like.
Of all of the realistic purchases for Sony, very few of them would make sense.
Japanese developers struggled with the move to the HD consoles and their market is handheld dominated. If Sony were to get a couple of Japanese developers, it would probably be to support Vita.
LiquidSolid
Member
Ugh. What a dumb statement. You really think SCEJ have any say in whether they spend millions buying studios or greatly expanding the studio? If you're going to blame anyone, blame SCE's executives, who are clearly prioritising western development. It would be great if they expanded SCEJ as well but chances are, they've bought into the "Japanese game development is doomed" myth like most other Japanese publishers.
By all appearances, it's heading to the PSN.
I remember seeing a video of it a year or two ago and being intrigued but when it dropped off the map, I soon forgot about it. Hopefully it's not too far away.
Good question. My impression is that none of those series I mentioned are on the level of system-selling software, like games in the Mario series. I may be wrong of course.
It all comes down to personal preference. My interest in getting the Vita at launch comes from Gravity Rush, Little Deviants, Army Corps of Hell, and Escape Plan, not another Uncharted or (ugh) Little Big Planet game. I might very well be in the minority on this, but I guess we'll see when the sales figures start coming in.
Sony are just putting the money where the demand is in terms of genre. SCEJ aren't making JRPGs because they don't sell enough to warrant a huge JRPG production outside of a couple of games. Sony came into this generation with bloodlust for a Halo killer, and they spent their money accordingly.
Personally I thought Resistance and Killzone were weak, but they still caused more interest in the platform than I think a JRPG ever would have.
It's a shame SCEJ haven't been that productive, but who knows, if TLG arrives and is inline with Ico quality, and Gravity Daze is as good as it looks to be, they could still come out of this generation as ultimately being amongst the best of Sony's studios. At least in terms of quality.
Personally I thought Resistance and Killzone were weak, but they still caused more interest in the platform than I think a JRPG ever would have.
It's a shame SCEJ haven't been that productive, but who knows, if TLG arrives and is inline with Ico quality, and Gravity Daze is as good as it looks to be, they could still come out of this generation as ultimately being amongst the best of Sony's studios. At least in terms of quality.
They're not. As you suggesting Sony should abandon every game they make outside of maybe Gran Turismo in the hope the games they replace them with will sell ten million plus units? Because it wouldn't work. Those games make Sony money, there's no reason to stop making them.
Angry Fork
Member
Definitely. I wish they'd buy it back, Crash Bandicoot for PS4 by Naught Dog.... =(
Has anyone asked Naughty Dog or Arne about this? Has Sony ever thought about getting Crash Bandicoot back?
Auto_aim1
MeisaMcCaffrey
Those games may not be big system sellers, but the cumulative total of all of them sort of becomes a system seller in itself. They created plenty of new IPs this gen more than anyone else, so what's stopping them from doing the same next gen?
While I do think buying Crash would be a very wise move for Sony, as despite it's best efforts, it still doesn't have a mascot platformer that's meaningful to the general public, and Crash was by far the nearest they've come in the past, I can't imagine it would be ND who'd make a new one. They don't even have SP making the next Sly.
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Well, after both the first Killzone and the first Resistance were met with mostly indifference and not a lot of people asking for more, why bother throwing money at it? Halo was a success out the gate, so it made sense for MS to have Bungie make more Halo games.
The All 4 One thing? Completely forgot about that. Didn't it bomba?
They have barely released anything for the PS3 this gen, and their FW updates are consistently useless. SCEJ fucking sucks, shut the thing down and let SCEA or SCEE handle Polyphony and whatever is left of Team Ico.
They barely release anything at all for the PS3 this gen, their FW updates suck, and they take fucking forever to get their PS3 games out the door. Give FW update responsibility to someone competent, and let SCEJ deal with making games for a platform that's dead outside Japan, and maybe one PSN game every year. As it is, the only reason I could see for keeping SCEJ alive is Gran Turismo, really. And Team Ico, unless they roll over and die now that Ueda has left.
While I don't dispute the quality of Sony's first party lineup.... they were doing MUCH MUCH better last generation when they concentrated on getting 3rd party exclusives like what Microsoft did this generation getting timed exclusives on big budget games (Bioshock/GTA DLC) and finally getting multi-million dollar franchises synonymous to Sony like Devil May Cry, Tekken, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, and Resident Evil onto their system. This is what they should have concentrated on rather than putting all that money on first party titles which have a VERY small likely hood of making the same impact as the games described above.
Auto_aim1
MeisaMcCaffrey
Those third-party franchises were always going to go multiplatform due to the high development costs. Sony did better last gen because there was hardly any competition, so they didn't have to try too hard.
Of course it did. Very few people know it even exists.
Callibretto
Member
if they kill off games that is not a success right out the gate, we wouldn't get Uncharted 2. both Killzone 2 and Resistance 1 is profitable for them, no reason to suddenly kill the series because of that.
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
I disagree. You're thinking small. Games individually would have sold systems. And when people buy systems they usually invest with other games for the system as well giving Sony royalties for each game sold.
Maybe Devil May Cry... but I hardly believe Final Fantasy and Tekken (especially when Sony helped develop the hardware for the arcade versions) were going to be on 360 without MS moneyhats.
EDIT: And there was no competition because microsoft didn't aggressively reach out to 3rd parties like they did this generation. Sony should have stepped up and tried to win them back.
Killzone 2 and Resistance 3 were really good especially resistance 3
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Played Killzone 1. Brown and grey and boring.
Downloaded the Killzone 2 demo and played it. Various nuances of grey. Also boring.
Downloaded the Killzone 3 demo and played it. At least it had snow. Slightly less boring, but still eh.
Only thing that ever appealed to me in the series was the design of the
Dunno about R3, but the demo for R1 was awful.
Stop wasting money on grey FPS games, Sony. Make me a new Medievil instead
Played Killzone 1. Brown and grey and boring.
Downloaded the Killzone 2 demo and played it. Various nuances of grey. Also boring.
Downloaded the Killzone 3 demo and played it. At least it had snow. Slightly less boring, but still eh.
Only thing that ever appealed to me in the series was the design of thespace NazisHelghast.
Dunno about R3, but the demo for R1 was awful.
Stop wasting money on grey FPS games, Sony. Make me a new Medievil instead
KZ2 was fantastic cause of its multiplayer and decent campaign.
Resistance 3 had a fantastic campaign but a bugfest mp at launch.
You should play one of them.
funkystudent
Member
I really hope they can buy or extend there current deal with ThatGameCompany.
I cant imagine TGC be let make the games they make with anyone else. I dont want them making dual joystick shooters and "retro inspired" bullshit that fills up every DD platform.
Also is there deal with Insomniac over? Great. They seemed like a waste of money for most of this generation.
I cant imagine TGC be let make the games they make with anyone else. I dont want them making dual joystick shooters and "retro inspired" bullshit that fills up every DD platform.
Also is there deal with Insomniac over? Great. They seemed like a waste of money for most of this generation.
Played Killzone 1. Brown and grey and boring.
Downloaded the Killzone 2 demo and played it. Various nuances of grey. Also boring.
Downloaded the Killzone 3 demo and played it. At least it had snow. Slightly less boring, but still eh.
Only thing that ever appealed to me in the series was the design of thespace NazisHelghast.
Dunno about R3, but the demo for R1 was awful.
Stop wasting money on grey FPS games, Sony. Make me a new Medievil instead
You should stop calling games you haven't played shite.
I think extending the deal is a no brainier, those games make money and are well received. They've extend the PixelJunk crap a lot.
As for having been given free reign, no idea if they'd get that elsewhere, but I'm surprised how long Sony have allowed them to delay Journey, it was meant to be out last summer.