They're all 3rd person SP action-adventure games, with few exceptions. Everyone can see that. No, they're obviously not identical, but they serve pretty much the same needs.
I enjoy them for what they are, and they're best-in-class and fully deserving of their accolades no doubt, but I don't really see any of those games as risky.
I wish Sony would be a bit more ambitious than sticking with their tried and tested. Right now with the projects we have announced it seems in the last few years they've just been greenlighting "safe" projects, rather than trying to push forward and try something new and truly different. There are, as always, exceptions - mainly Dreams and GT Sport in my mind - and VR was the one thing that they truly took a big forward-thinking risk with.
If their next spurt of exclusives for next-gen consists mostly of just sequels (and more similar games) to these without introducing some game-changing innovations I'll start becoming very unexcited by their output, and that's my main worry and why I want more studios/teams (irrespective of what MS is doing).
I mean, I get what you're saying even though I think you're being very reductive, but from Sony's perspective they have absolutely nailed the cinematic third person style with multiple franchises selling upwards of 8 million copies (Uncharted, TLoU, Horizon and probably God of War/Spider-Man). I don't think Ghost or Days Gone will do quite that well, but from their perspective they're delivering what fans want and making bank, so why would they change? Last gen they tried a lot of different stuff, from first-person shooters (Killzone, Resistance), platformers (Ratchet, Sly, LBP), online multiplayer (MAG, Warhawk), horror (Siren Blood Curse), weird digital releases (Rain, Sound Shapes, Flower), racers (ModNation, MotorStorm) and so on, and generally besides their big third person tentpoles most of those other games either weren't particularly successful or quickly succumbed to diminishing returns with the sequels. So while I do miss their more 'AA' efforts like Sly and Journey, I understand why they have doubled-down on the stuff that does work, which is why many of their studios are making big third person action games. On the other hand most of their more experimental stuff seems to have shifted over to VR, which as someone who doesn't own VR and doesn't have the money to spend hundreds on a peripheral is a bit disappointing.
Polyphonic Digital
Needs to be closed or reorganized, those guys haven't been doing anything. How can playground and Turn 10 churn out 3 Forza games each while PD can only manage one?
That studio is just an embarrassment. Too much freedom.
I actually like the model of releasing one big instalment in a franchise and adding to it for the life of the console cycle, but Polyphony does feel like they need a bit of tightening up.
I hope we see Straley back at Naughty Dog.
I don't see why that would happen? He took a sabbatical and then left to form his own indie company, if I recall correctly?
In spirit, I agree with you, Sony certainly haven't been quiet as of late.
But, ask yourself this: how impactful are those changes in the face of what MS has been pushing in the media lately?
Are PSN name changes or PSNow downloads truly comparable in to an extensive BC program or the recent xCloud streaming initiative?
Is enabling Cross-play truly noteworthy when it was done in response/backlash to what their competitors already allowed?
Furthermore, expansions to existing studios is nowhere near as exciting when compared to actual acquisitions, unless we have an idea as to what the expansions are going to result in.
Sony built a new studio in San Diego and we barely had any PR or hype from Sony on that front.
I get that keeping stuff close to the chest is a sound strategy, but don't be surprised when your VOCAL competitor dominates the news cycle as a result.
I think they should only be vocal when they've got something to announce. Microsoft needed to announce their new studios because they've been in desperate need of more for this whole console generation. Sony doesn't need to announce Naughty Dog 2 or whatever it will be called because they're not in dire need of more development teams. Like, good on MS for finally trying, but the reaction to this whole endeavour should have been "fucking
finally" not "oh wow MS is buying all these teams how can Sony/Nintendo possibly respond!"
Surely GT would have performed better if it was called GT7? Imagine if DriveClub launched as GT: Driveclub, I have no doubt it would've shipped higher numbers.
Yeah but if Driveclub had been a GT spin-off it would have embarrassed the main series with its vastly superior presentation and UI.
I really disagree with this. Sony doesn't have to tweet about making visits to Japan and how great they're going to be if you just give them a little bit more time, because they're actually putting stuff out. How can you say the competitor is dominating the news cycle when all anyone was talking about through pretty much the entirety of September was Spider-Man?
Sony's been very much in the conversation all gen long, it's just unlike Microsoft they've been doing it through great content, rather than telling everyone what they want to hear. You spend way too much time on ResetEra, man.
Yeah; agree with all this. Sony's been walking the walk while MS has been talking the talk.
