If Japan Studio had nailed Legend of Dragoon all those years ago, they could have been PlayStations premiere in-house JRPG studio.
Here's the problem though right and you'll see it's a common theme around a lot of Sony titles before they really learnt how to measure and manage their own IP.
I didn't know it existed until someone begged for a remake of it some years ago online. I've been a PlayStation gamer since the very beginning, I used to have a subscription to OPM as a kid and got each month's magazine as well as some sweets if I was good at the end of each month.
I
never knew it existed. And for me, that's a statement. I can tell you so much about PlayStation but I knew nothing about that. Much like how Sony barely marketed Tokyo Jungle, Puppeteer, Gravity Rush, Knack 2 etc. The sad problem Sony Japan have, is that they have never been particularly well supported. They have industry icons and creative juggernauts under their belts, or had should I say, who were never trusted with a budget. Sony Bend had more support than Japan and I was positive that with Syphon Filter sales dwindling and the franchise become irrelevant over time, the reaction to Uncharted: Golden Abyss, which isn't a bad game by the way, that Sony Bend would get the chop before Japan. How wrong I was.
The events were great, the games shown were hype, and the first party launch line-up was easily the best in brand history.
Look I happily bought a PlayStation 5 but we aren't really saying much here are we? I love Astro Bot but I would have paid to get a game twice the length I loved it that much. Miles Morales was a fun game but short and clearly more of a Lost Legacy game. Demon's Souls was a remake and I don't have a single friend on my PSN friends list who owns Sackboy: A Big Adventure. I'm not being facetious.
I don't think Sony have really had a killer line-up for first party titles for any console to be honest. I thought it was good when I got Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Little Deviants, ModNation Racers, WipeOut 2048 and Everybody's Golf on launch day for the PS Vita. Having played them all, only Uncharted was really worth it imho.
I really hope Jim Ryan doesn't prove to be a cancer to Sony.
There was a time that I really though Jim Ryan knew what he was doing when he headed the PlayStation conferences in the UK, at GamesCom and Paris Games Week. Now I firmly believe his policies are far too arrogant and he's going encroaching into PS3 launch Sony arrogance where they just believed they were the best and didn't have to do anything. I can see Microsoft firmly sucker punching Sony over the course of this generation and Nintendo are going to be a wild success with Switch based on their milky milky IP. Now I crave for the old crew to come back, Shawn Layden, Andrew House, Adam Boyes etc.
The production issues where Sony will make less consoles than what they're making right now because of yields.
I thought it was well documented that, that was bullshit. Apple bought up the supply of chips Sony needed which had a massive knock on effect with supply and demand. Not only are we still catching up from COVID related issues for production but we're also still in national lock down in England and many other countries, travel is more difficult. A company my friend works for that produces plastic mold components have had to cancel their order after the truck got caught in France. They lost thousands on the order.
My thoughts on the SoP.
- Crash looks good. Haven't bought it yet but more incentive to do so for PlayStation 5. I do love Crash and own the N.Sane Trilogy and CTR on PS4.
- I understand more about what Returnal is but I think it'll have short term success, lost it's legs and probably be the last partnership with HouseMarque and Sony.
- Sifu looks really good! I had some major Sleeping Dogs vibe. I hope SquareEnix notice them. *cough cough*
- Knock Out City has some nice ideas but it's seriously unoriginal and will be lost in the sea of games that play similarly.
- Solar Ash looks nice. I probably won't be buying it but I think it looks good.
- Five Nights at Freddys looks like someone played Resident Evil 2/3 Remake. I got some real Nemesis vibes. Not for me but looks fun.
- Finally a release date for Soulstorm! Be interesting to see what the original sequel to Oddysey was supposed to be. Laughed at the mudokens in lockers.
- Kena looks really, really good! I can't wait for this one. It was a high light of the PS5 announcements last year. Can't wait to play it.
- Deathloop reminds me of Returnal. Short term success. I can't see it doing very well over a long period of time. Not for me unfortunately.
- Interesting announcement for FFVII Remake but I still don't like the changes to the story at all. Probably won't play. Didn't finish the remake, watched a Let's Play.
I've said a few times in these threads, Sony don't seem to get the hang of this communication stuff and I guess from people's responses they still haven't cracked establishing State of Play as something that really gets people going, its just a lot of small stuff for one big thing that could be announced by itself at a better venue. I really hope Sony return to an E3 style conference in the summer and PSX during the holiday season. Big blow outs, plenty of bombs. Then State of Play could be more like what I originally anticipated it would be, smaller announcements and updates from WWS on their projects.
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