Forward thinking: Sony’s risk with unique ideas pays off

Sony really has an advantage here. Off the top of my head, I can’t remember a 360 exclusive as original and creative as Journey or LBP or even Heavy Rain. And I still don’t get why MS cancelled Project Milo.

Good read, by the way

God, I completely forgot about Milo writing this article. That’s the biggest crime of all, considering it was the reason why I bought a Kinect.

What a load of ill-researched horseshit.

The sweet sweet smell of fanboy rage fills the air.

@3 That’s pretty harsh. Just because the article overlooks the Project Milo bait-and-switch Kinect/Natal stunt doesn’t mean it’s ‘ill researched horeshit’.

/goes and looks at Gadzooks!’s past comments on this site.

Oh. Well I just guess we’ll wait for a pithy comment from OrbitMonkey then.

JM

Did you receive your cheque from Sony yet? Seriously Journey looks good but it’s hardly worthy of sticking your tongue so far up their ass and bashing xbl at the same time. Awful article.

Nice article, @6 have you played Flower? or Journey? the game experience it’s different and excellent, it’s not only limited to how graphics look.

#5

Get a leg to stand on, hypocrite.

Seriously, this article is fucking shameful. It certainly is not objective journalism.

Agreed Gadzooks, hey I’m sure Journey is amazing and if it ever comes out for steam I’ll get it in a flash but this article is shameful and well fanboyish, man I’m angry, I expect fanboys in the comments but knowing a website is run by (at least) one makes me sick to the stomach.

Fanboy outrage confirmed. It’s not 2006 any more kids.

JM

Outstanding. I was wondering when this day would come, so glad to see its arrived today of all days.

in all seriousness, bear in mind that this is an opinion piece and that my opinion may not reflect those you or anyone else outside this comments section has.

So if you think I’m going to retract this “fucking shameful” article for merely expressing an opinion – if you want to play it as “fanboyism,” go for it: that’s your opinion after all – sorry to disappoint chaps.

That’s all I’m gonna say on this.

Mentioning indie gaming yet ignoring one of the most significant developments in indie development ever (XNA). Thats poor writing, very poor indeed.

#10

Shut up asshole.

Well written Johnny although I would not go as far in praise for Sony as your article but each to their own. There are some great games on XBLA and Steam also.

@10 aren’t you one of the cryers when anything negative is written about Sony? If not my mistake apologises

@12 Hey, with your charming attitude of calling people names in every single post you write (oh, not EVERY person, just those that don’t subscribe to your very particular sense of ‘objectivity’) why would anyone shut up? You’re just a rage-fuelled roller-coaster of fun!

JM

First off, I don’t own a PS3, so I have not played any of the games mentioned in this article. I cannot comment on the games for the PS3 mentioned here.
However, I don’t see how this article is “fanboyish”, it’s just an article stating Johnny’s opinion. If you disagree, that’s fine, but getting all upset about it seems silly.

To those that disagree, lets see reasons why you disagree, countering Johnny’s claims, rather than lazily throwing the “fanboy” tag out there.

As a Xbox 360 fan who read this entire article, I would have to side with Johnny’s view for the most part. Where MS took chances on the original xbox, the 360 didnt enjoy as many of the quirky original titles. MS themselves (Peter Moore at the time) stated at the beginning of the 360′s life that they were going for fewer titles but bigger budget AAA games meant to sell a ton, which mostly meant shooters really. They dropped Fasa’s games for that reason, they felt that Mechassualt, Crimson skies, AND Shadowrun were not selling the amounts they wanted. MS has focused most of their money on Halo, Gears, and Kinect. Most of the Kinect games are in reality not that creative. As mentioned, Milo was along that line, but cancelled (or was just pure hype).

MS made the better development tools in the beginning, which really helped XBLA at first. But then MS got cocky, and many developers as Tim Schafer have noted, indie developers are fleeing.

MS is more reactive these days when it comes to games. They react when something gets their eye and create a game like it, rather than try to be original.

MS’s first party lineup is very disappointing these days, they have really went downhill since the Xbox. They rely on third party way too much, and that could hurt them next gen.

“If gamers harbored any apathy to mature stories in games, Heavy Rain dispelled such indifference at launch.”
no, it had the opposite effect because the writing was utter shit.

@monkey

ps3 has some good games mate, retail and download, should try and give it a good go at some point.

as for your view on ms’ exclusives, i understand where you are coming from and halo is a series i cant get into but they might turn around and say look at the numbers some of our exclusives have done, its business after all.

“MS made the better development tools in the beginning, which really helped XBLA at first. But then MS got cocky, and many developers as Tim Schafer have noted, indie developers are fleeing.”

Have you seen their XBLA line up for this year? The length and depth of quality is ridiculous. How people could think the service is going through a downturn is beyond me.

That aside, that the article above completely ignores XBLIG, which is the most open / easiest way of developing a game on any platform, seems a little odd. That most of the developers using the service couldn’t promote their way out of a wet paper back is something else entirely. It’s not like Microsoft hasn’t had some significant wins via working with indie developers on XBLA games though… and many titles have found themselves grasped from the XNA / XBLIG realm to be featured as full XBLA titles thanks to Dream.Build.Play.

However, it is certainly true that Sony is willing to take chances on far quirkier titles that Microsoft would do and for that they should be applauded. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed titles like Flower and Nobi Nobi Boy and I’m very much looking forward to Journey.

#15

My problem is not that someone is in love with Sony, but that this is a news site and is supposed to be able to report impartially and with appropriate context. This article ignores too much.

Knowing this site is no longer impartial just means I’ll go elsewhere for news. There are still good articles here, but I’d prefer to not have to read opinions from authors. Theres enough of that in the comments.

Let’s not think forward, lets think back. Sony clearly has better exclusives than Microsoft in nearly all areas (although Forza is more fun than Gran Turismo), but it is a pyrrhic victory: they still managed to completely lose the console war for a dozen reasons.

Up until a year and a half ago, you could bank on the ps3 version of a game being inferior to the xbox version solely due to Sony’s system design, Sony’s online service makes it more difficult to get friends together and looks stone aged compared to Microsoft’s, and there’s but two good games for the PS move while the Kinect has added voice commands to xbox navigation and a bunch of Tim Schafer exclusives: it feels like a real step forward.

But wait: there’s more: Sony made it far more difficult to get tons of new indie content up even if MS doesn’t advertise it very well, Sony pitching the PS3′s exclusive 3D capability for months, and then getting absolutely crushed by MS just patching in 3D without a big announcement, the GTA4 and Fallout DLC release timeline was huge considering they were two of the most popular games this generation, making Sony user’s envious. Whenever a patch comes along it is almost always release a week or more ahead of the patch for the PS3 – once again – because of Sony’s code design. Gabe Newell said the PS3 is “a waste of everybody’s time,” remember that? Word’s from your beloved HL2 Devs lips, even when he did bring Portal 2 around, the credit card debacle squelched any co-op that could be done with the ps network being down for over a month (I bought my xbox about a month before it happened, thank god, yes, god).

So, how did Sony win? Naughty Dog’s exclusives, That Game Company, and folding @home don’t make up for it being an inferior console in almost every other way. I bought an xbox two years ago (avoiding the RROD debacle) and had the PS3 before that, and outside of Twisted Metal (utter disappointment), Uncharted 3 (UC2 was so much better), and now Journey, I have no interest in the console.

I dont know what to think of this post, because it has not a clear objective IMO, first the tittle “Sony’s risk with unique ideas pays off”, just for supporting indie developers, then going with heavy rain and little big planet as another example as well, becuase both developers are not that indie, especially quantic dream, so i dont see the correlation, i think sony supporting indies is not a unique idea , as steam and microsoft (XBLA) were doing the same thing, which in all 3 cases is great IMO, i think this is a great idea dont get me wrong iam not arguing this, but foremost because it wasnt a risk at all in my eyes, for me it would be a risk if they did put all their future solely on this factor and depend on this for their success in the business, and IMO this was not the case at all, a risk for me was the Wii and the DS, becuase if it wouldnt suceeded the way the did, well we were not talking about nintendo anymore, therefore iam not sure what is the point this post is trying to make really, becuase it put some points that i dont see relevance on the main topic at hand, but maybe is just me.

LOL at the crybaby fanboys moaning of lack of objectivity and impartiality. Funny how your ideas on objectivity and impartiality extend only to your single platform of choice and not ALL platforms.

#22

Probably best to not comment on things you don’t understand.

@23, especially if he hits the nail on the head, eh dear chap?

@Gadzooks!, start your own barking site if you want to. Name calling poorly reflects on you. Do not start barking just because you are an xbot or nintendog or pc nerd.
If this article is not objective, feel free to state your opinion and give some enlightenment to others here by stating some facts not mentioned here and not saying bs.

I don’t really see how anyone can assert whether these big gambles on risky new IP has actually paid off or not. Perhaps they’ve paid off critically in terms of building goodwill among games journalists, but certainly not commercially. Think: Heavenly Sword. Home. Killzone. Flower. Heavy Rain. The Last Guardian. Move. Eye of Judgement. Echochrome. I doubt any of those made money.

I love that Sony have been so willing to invest in IP, but let’s not assume that has worked out well for them.

#25

Already stated the facts, that too many omissions have been made for this to be taken as anything but a biased, innacurate article. This is supposed to be a gaming news website, not an opinion platform.

#24

Why so smug, hypocrite? You have no reason to be.

Christ on a bike. Shame the comments section of this site gives a platform to such trollage. If you don’t like it don’t read it. I was quite happily reading away myself.

@26 True, economically may not have been a huge success, but for us gamers and not only among journalists its really good that Sony keeps betting for new (risky) IP, so more kudos for them.

I wonder if the same people bitching would be doing so if the article was praising Microsoft instead of Sony.

Nice article Johnny. I think it might be worth mentioning that Sony supporting the mentalists behind ICO, SotC and The Last Guardian is also praise worthy, rather than just canning them. I’m sure that Sony sees the benefit to their bottom line in supporting ‘prestige’ titles that might not necessarily make a lot of direct profit, but nonetheless, I appreciate it.

i get the point. but it is not that sony is taking many risks here. not at all. they support really mainstream approach indy stuff and sink money in it. they don´t do it because they love you, the gamer, or even games, they do so because they believe it will pay off in the end. they want to establish a name, a brand and sell stuff to you. nothing wrong with that, but it doesn´t make them gurus. there isn´t much risk involved here. it´s not even indy really. this is mainstram in an indy dress. it´s like “machete” for example. must not be a bad thing, but it´s not really ambitious either.
heavy rain and lbp for example are among the most unambitious (and boring) games i have ever played. yet sony is never too lazy to tell you how great and innovative this stuff is. to me it is not. it´s not what i want from the gaming industry. i want something truly fresh if there is a new ip. like i said before, nintendo is trying to do fresher stuff even with their methusalem ip´s. zelda ss and spirit tracks. compare them. spirit tracks was risky. an interactive crime movie/ game which was poorly written, modnation racers? come on…they are dressed as innovations but do you really buy that??? you do believe mc donalds only serves healthy food too then right? and bp cares about trees and stuff. i agree with the thatgamecompany stuff. but again not that much of a risk.
there are extremeley ambitious games on wii, ds and dsiware too also on xbla and steam….
i don´t know…the compnay which i want to support the least because of their superarrogant attitude, overly agressive (and dumb) marketing and unfair pricing strategies is sony. i don´t hate on them and there have been some great games only on the ps without a doubt. still it has a bitter taste to buy stuff from them – though you could hate ms even more…. i kinda don´t.
both have lost me though.

Very nice article Johnny. I’m playing Journey for review purposes and know exactly what you mean. And Heavy Rain and LBP are two of my favorite games for this generation. It’s obvious that investing in new IP’s is a better thing for the gamer than buying (timed) exclusivity for multiplatform content.

@polygem: how could you hate Sony for unfair pricing strategies? They have free online gaming, free services like vidzone and home, allow sharing of PSN-content, brought play-create-share to console and now bring Vita games that you can play on PS3 for free? While Microsoft is the one charging for p2p-gaming, first week demo’s, access to free services etc… and restricts free DLC and other community made stuff on Xbox Live.

You people are why other folk look down upon gamers. I am talking to you…yes, you. Take a good hard look at yourself.

“…you could hate ms even more…. i kinda don´t.
both have lost me though.”
that´s what i said. personally sony are the ones i dislike most out of the bunch, can´t say why really. probably just because of the way they represent theirselves. i hate their marketing. their pricing modells are far from being fair. what they are doing with the vita memory cards is even worse than all the stuff ms forces upon us. at least i have a great service if i pay for xbl gold. i get 32gb from sony for 90$ while i can get a 32gb sd for 20$. not even a 4gb included when i buy a vita? how am is supposed to use that thing without one? forcing me to buy extra stuff? fair this is not imo. what can i do with the vita without it…surf the net? that´s cheap and totally unacceptable bullshit. they couldn´t charge you for their online experience either or could they?
sony is buying timed exclusivity as well btw.
“Heavy Rain and LBP are two of my favorite games for this generation.”
well not for me. not at all. i found both absoluteley mediocore. lbp is trying so hard to be stylish, modern and fancy that it just almost makes me puke. this game has no soul yet tries so hard to be unique. i don´t know, i am just not buying it. this pseudocoolness is what i dislike about sony. they try so hard to be the cool kid…

So many extremists. I personally find the 360 ones the most annoying based on their nativity, arrogance & insulting anyone who disagrees with them. Sony’s fans on this site don’t go out of their way to insult someone but are likely to defend the PS3 from the 360 fanbois which doesn’t really help, best off just ignoring them.

@Gadzooks! Raging fanboy much?

@35 “what they are doing with the vita memory cards is even worse than all the stuff ms forces upon us. at least i have a great service if i pay for xbl gold.”

Now that’s nonsense. If you pay for xbl gold you get “permission” to host your own games, because that’s exactly what p2p-gaming does. I don’t pay for online gaming on Steam and PS Vita, and I get a great online service too.

Vita memory cards ARE overpriced, but this is in no way worse than paying for p2p-gaming – or the also overpriced x360 hdd’s. Sony should have included a memory card with every Vita tho.

@36 I know what you mean but to be fair you have forgotten about theevilaires and plenty on here bigging him up and wanting him to keep on insulting and trolling, it was ridiculous

WTF is up with this comment section!?

Anywho great article, can’t wait to play this on the 15th!
Wonder what ThatGameCompany means by “a bigger audience”? iPhone/iPad game development?

@24 I knew you wouldn’t let me down.

JM

#38, Brings an excellent point to this pointless Sony vs MS debate, Microsoft also charged an extortionate price for their HDDs which many will deem essential but here’s the kicker, it’s the exact same 3.5″ SATA that you’d shove into your desktop computer. I believe MS charged $80 for the 20GB 3.5″ SATA (correct me if I’m wrong but I believe 120GB HDDs retailed at the same price back then) while Sony charges $60 for 16GB.

Ge0force, you’re mistaken not all Xbox games don’t have dedicated servers, recent example is GoW3. The game uses p2p only for campaign co-op, beast and horde.

#42 – it’s not a desktop hdd, it’s a notebook one.

I like the general gist of the article. What I don’t see is a need at all to mention the other platform holders. It wasn’t needed in this context and minimal inclusion without context of the good work they also do was always going to elicit the sort of comments above.

One of the things which attracts me to Sony machines are the quirkier more risky games they fund and encourage. Certain titles from this generation (e.g. LBP, Flower, Journey, The Last Guy, The Last Guardian) are instantly linkable as Sony titles because of this. I.e. if you had shown me screen shots and a little gameplay without telling me what platform they were on I would instantly have said Sony.

The other point I’d make is whether the risk has actually paid off. For me personally yes, I love a number of the titles this sort of approach has turned out. I don’t know whether they have financially paid off for Sony though. You can’t just look at bottom line, was there profit or not. You have to ask if the time, money and effort were directed elsewhere would it have been better spent? There are also less tangible aspects to it too. The image Sony wants to build up and the pay off associated with that is not so easy to determine.

@43, Yeah, my bad, wrongfully assumed 3.5 while looking at the casing on the HDD right in front of me but it doesn’t change the bulk of my comment.

Any industry that doesn’t allow itself a certain degree of creativity is going to stagnate. This is something the movie industry has been aware of for a very long time, and its also the reason why the PC will always remain the most important format we have in gaming.

Still, Sony’s support of this kind of creative output is one that shouldn’t be under-appreciated. Their strength has always been in their ability (and more importantly, their willingness) to balance their output of creative ideas alongside more mainstream games, and they deserve full kudos for the fact.

Its an approach that Microsoft could never comprehend even if they tried. If it isn’t ultra safe and derivative, it doesn’t even register on MS’s radar.

Anyway, think I’ll be playing Fez a few weeks from now on.

@Da Man: there are a few more x360 games out there with dedi’s, including Battlefield BC2 and Left 4 Dead 2. But EA/Valve host their own servers for those games, for all platforms (pc/PS3/x360). And I don’t think they get a piece of the gold subscriptions for doing so.

@Ireland Michael: QFT

Sword & Sworcery on iPad FTW!

#48 – True, I just wanted to point that out because I figured you think all of them are p2p. And I don’t know about that, I do think they shouldn’t charge for the multiplayer per se but then Live never goes ‘under maintance’

Oh, and MS not supporting unsafe projects is complete rubbish tbh. Anyone is more than welcome to make the such for Xbox, recent Child of Eden comes to mind, as well as the fact that they pioneered indie dev on consoles to begin with..

Funny how Last Guardian is being constantly mentioned when the game is borderline canned.