By Tymora, it's time we recognised Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the greatest video game events ever
We're living through a seminal moment in the history of PC gaming
Sony shot themselves in the foot with PC!
- Thread starter JAHGamer
- Start date
Summed up beautifully.
PlayStation has become so unfocused on the console and making it the best place to game, the on,y place to play certain games and home to the best exclusives.
PC is a distraction and gives away the best unique selling point of the console. It's business 101.... USP's, content to attract customers... they spent heavily on it...for what? just to give the advantage away?
And ironically Microsoft is spending tens of billions to take games off PlayStation, showing exactly HOW VALUABLE great exclusive games are.
It just highlights the incompetence of Sony porting to pc.
No one on PC is asking for the games they have brought. We just want Demon's Souls and Bloodborne.Who's jealous, exactly? The Steam fanboys sniveling and crying for ports of Sony 1P games when their purchasing power can't even account for the majority of a paltry $200 million revenue from the previous FY that was carried PC-wise by Destiny 2?
It's funny how some of you want to talk facts until the data becomes inconvenient, particularly once the actual impact of PC is brought into the picture. No one here's crying for PC exclusives to come to PlayStation, which is where that 'gotcha' phrase would apply, if anywhere. Valve/Steam port-beggars are throwing flimsy reasons as to why Sony should continue the current strategy as-is or expediate the strategy, and the rest of us are just serving them with facts that wreck that idea apart.
If you want to be on the side getting a reality check on the topic, be my guest
You guys bring up Alyx in every VR thread. You guys were expecting it as a launch title for PSVR2.
I personally don't care about Sony's games, or I would have bought a PS5. Of course it's pretty slim on PS5. Played most of those games on PS4.
The simple fact is, multiple times a week you guys cry about the PC strategy like it effects you. Then you guys list off all the advantages of PC. Just go buy one instead of complaining so much.
OP
OP
A. I already own a gaming PC
B. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s ruining PlayStations performance.
You guys can keep saying it doesn’t affect us all you want but it won’t make it true. It’s a waste of time, energy, and resources. I can enjoy PC gaming and still want PlayStation to be focused on …..PLAYSTATION! It’s not rocket science, anything else (including cloud) is nothing but a distraction.
How is it ruining the performance? Do you mean game performance in general? That's more of an industry wide issue now. Mostly due to crunch and budgets.
As far as time, not really. It's all scalable. Convert it to the different API and add some nice bells and whistles.
The real threat is mobile. They're already brining mobile monetization to "real" games.
Historically companies have produced games for some off the wall platforms. Remember those tv’s with the SNES games built in? I recall PlayStation having a take on this as well.
I don’t think the PC experiment will be detrimental if it’s treated that way moving forward, as an experiment.
I don’t think the PC experiment will be detrimental if it’s treated that way moving forward, as an experiment.
huh? people aren't paying $70 for Playstation's experiments. Playstation is making PC games. "the more the better" as Jim Ryan told Famitsu. PC/Steam isn't an "off the wall" platform. Steam has twice as many active users as PS5. The way to be successful on Steam is to make good games, that perform well on PC, at the right price.
It’s an experiment in brand devaluing for damn sure.
Are you willing to acknowledge the state some of these games launched in on PC? Not all have been successes.
This is all an expansion of Playstation to more eyeballs with no downside. The Last of Us was the worst quality of the PC ports, and now it's a showcase title. Many first run AAA games take longer to fix their issues on consoles. Playstation games on PC are going great. The cult of Days Gone grows every day because of the PC version, which is the best way to play the game.
And in one sentence you highlight the problem that is the elephant in the room: PC might be the best way to play these games, if you spend the money for the specs to make it so. But Sony, like Microsoft before them, are basically starting to say the quiet part out loud.
That is where the longer-term brand damage to the console side could come into play. If I'm an enthusiast gamer on PS5 and realize I can afford to wait a little for some of Sony's 1P games, only to see them show up on PC shortly after and with better performance & more features, AND Sony themselves are actively telling me that PC version is coming (either explicitly in adverts or implicitly through an established cadence of previous ports) soon...why do I need to buy a PlayStation 6?
Hell, why do I need to buy the PS5 Pro that's supposedly coming out next year? No matter what the console could offer me, if I'm the enthusiast who is willing to shell out $500 - $600 for a PS5 Pro, I'm probably also willing to spend 2x that (or more) on a powerful CPU & GPU combo. Getting better-than-PS5 Pro performance in resolution and framerates, mod support, free online, cheaper purchasing price etc. is a steal.
The problem is Sony's flirtation in basically alluding to or advertising those benefits upfront to a portion of their PlayStation console base who are primarily enthusiasts. They're the sort who look more forward to new PS console exclusives announced, not more 1P PC ports. They DON'T look forward to being asked to pay 33% more for online play while PC gamers continue to get the same games (in some cases now Day 1, as with upcoming Helldivers 2) for the same price and free online. Every bit more Sony continues to prioritize PC, if it's with the focus on console side as they've displayed for the past year, is the closer they get to PlayStation having a brand identity crisis.
Soon enough you're going to have some PlayStation CEO on an X-Cast equivalent, venting like a child and crying about their console lacking an identity, and fending off accusations they're treating their console players like second-class citizens in their own ecosystem when actions prove otherwise. I didn't want that for Xbox, I don't want that for PlayStation. But it seems like you couldn't give less of a damn, as long as it means more 1P games on PC, quicker than before, with nothing to balance that out on the console side.
1: I never once asked for Alyx on PSVR2. I don't care. But it's interesting to consider Sony wanting to bring their 1P games to Steam, yet Valve seem apprehensive in doing similar with even one of their own, to a peripheral no less, of Sony's.
2: You wanting Demon's Souls & Bloodborne IS asking/port-begging for games. You're just specifying the particular games you want
3: If the current PC porting strategy creates long-term bleed out that negatively affects console market performance (in generated unit sales, revenue, etc.), then that does eventually affect the customers of that platform brand.
4: The problem isn't that PC has advantages. The problem is that Sony increasingly placate to those advantages while feeling the only "advantage" the console needs is getting the games six months/1 year/2 years earlier. At a higher price, and in some cases without all the PC additions coming over to the console side.
There've been something like maybe 3-4 PC ports announced and released by PlayStation over the past year, but no new 1P traditional titles announced from their internal studios. Yes, some GaaS titles were revealed back in May, but those are likely either getting significantly retooled, cancelled, or will be Day 1 on PC. None of which are bad things in and of themselves, but become bad when there is no balance in delivering equivalent releases or reveals 100% focused on the console playing the brand's known strengths.
I think the longer I have these conversations the better I can understand who's really familiar with PlayStation's console legacy/history and who's more wet behind the ears or a latecomer to that, because it does feel like a lot of those who are both 100% fine with the current PC strategy and want even more of it (including Day 1 for all games), just don't have an appreciation for PlayStation as a console brand or the significance of its history as a console brand in this industry.
Why do you guys always see things as suits in those corporations instead of customers/gamers? Unless you have lots of stocks it doesn't make much sense.
If you are a enthusiast gamer and know about the benefits of PC gaming, then there is no way around it. 8th generation onwards, Console gaming has little value other than granting access to some exclusive games, which you will be playing in a sub optimal way as consoles have fixed specs and will have to compromise.
Console companies aren't to blame though. It was all about the PC gaming market getting it's shit together around the late 00s, with Steam and other platforms cementing the viability of digital distribution plus other technologies like xinput and HDMI making it much easier to game on PC.
Sony's issues in particular have NOTHING to do with PC ports. They relied on outside partners and bought one of the best PC porting houses for that purpose, so they d better be pumping put those PC ports...
Their main issue and what seems to be biting them in the ass now is that Around mid/late 7th generation they started to build this """prestige"""" identity among their first parties. And well... developing those games takes a long time and money. Their fans looked at all the other games from the competition that didn't have top tier graphics/animation/voice acting with disdain, no matter of it was Nintendo, Microsoft or PC.
As long as it works it's great, but if it doesn't Sony does not seem to have a contingency plan when there's a down period in their pipeline, not that we know at least.
So thanks to the """"prestige"""" moniker Sony can't revert to their old ways and release smaller titles. At least on console, VR might be another story. Games like Primal, Puppeteer, ICO, Cool boarders wouldn't fly with modern Sony or their target audience. Hell even something like demons souls wouldn't be greenlit by modern Sony.
If you are a enthusiast gamer and know about the benefits of PC gaming, then there is no way around it. 8th generation onwards, Console gaming has little value other than granting access to some exclusive games, which you will be playing in a sub optimal way as consoles have fixed specs and will have to compromise.
Console companies aren't to blame though. It was all about the PC gaming market getting it's shit together around the late 00s, with Steam and other platforms cementing the viability of digital distribution plus other technologies like xinput and HDMI making it much easier to game on PC.
Sony's issues in particular have NOTHING to do with PC ports. They relied on outside partners and bought one of the best PC porting houses for that purpose, so they d better be pumping put those PC ports...
Their main issue and what seems to be biting them in the ass now is that Around mid/late 7th generation they started to build this """prestige"""" identity among their first parties. And well... developing those games takes a long time and money. Their fans looked at all the other games from the competition that didn't have top tier graphics/animation/voice acting with disdain, no matter of it was Nintendo, Microsoft or PC.
As long as it works it's great, but if it doesn't Sony does not seem to have a contingency plan when there's a down period in their pipeline, not that we know at least.
So thanks to the """"prestige"""" moniker Sony can't revert to their old ways and release smaller titles. At least on console, VR might be another story. Games like Primal, Puppeteer, ICO, Cool boarders wouldn't fly with modern Sony or their target audience. Hell even something like demons souls wouldn't be greenlit by modern Sony.
The only reason why Sony is releasing their exclusives on PC is because it's profitable.
Remember: They wont do anything that gives them a loss.
It might bite them in the ass later, but the 3-4 year waiting period for a release is more of a plan to make people buy on PS5
Remember: They wont do anything that gives them a loss.
It might bite them in the ass later, but the 3-4 year waiting period for a release is more of a plan to make people buy on PS5
PS Plus is needed for SharePlay? But at that point surely theyd easierly torrent a cracked version.
That's rediculous.
People dont like the PC ports. They aren't worth the efforts in time/manpower/split dev focus for the little they sell.
Some of us eye-up portable pc handhelds as a way of working-around the lack of psp/ps4p using Windows Remote Play app seeing as the android + clip/shell route is ass, but I doubt most want to be looking at the high cost and possible hardware liability of, say, a GPD Win 4 just to be at mercy of remote play. GPD as a pc is too feature-rich and high costing for what people want, and PS Portal seems to be another half product not fit for the job.
So yeah, a PC handheld has its advantages, but we're wanting to use PC to fill another gap in Sony's available product lineup, however that's just as-is. It wouldnt even be a consideration if Sony would simply nut up and do it properly. We just want portable access to our PS games, with local save storage and downloadability of the games, for when remote play/streaming options shit the bed with no WiFi/data around so that it doesn't become a brick.
None of that needs PC/Deck for portability, or XB's streaming approach all. I feel like Sony have just gotten distracted and stupid for 10 years. Kill PC initiative, take out Deck and friends with PS4P and peoples already existing libraries/friends etc. What are Valve gonna do, actually release HL3, become a 4th player in the business, but now their advantage/somewhat unique selling point of a powerful handheld with lots of AAA 3P support is combatted/bested by a real PS4P device and exclusives/timed exclusives on game by game.
I hear there's a shop for Steam-branded clown shoes. You'll have a good time shopping there
NGL, you do have a point with this. Sony did pivot VERY strongly to 1P being only "prestige" titles outside of annual titles like MLB The Show. Which was always a mistake IMHO. The games you mention that supposedly PS fans wouldn't want today, are a big reason why I took a liking to the platform going as far back to the PS1 era, and helped give the PS3 so much 1P variety (the best variety out of any of Sony's platforms 1P-wise).
As you said, budgets for the big, epic 1P AAA Sony are attached to have been ballooning, as have the production times. Having nothing in the way of smaller AA 1P titles to pad that release schedule is rearing its ugly head. I've even said this is one of the (very few) areas I would give MS props on: in theory, their 1P lineup has a good amount of AA titles alongside the AAA titles like Starfield or Forza. Unfortunately for MS, their AAA this year haven't quite lived up to the hype and a lot of what they showed in the last showcase was smoke-and-mirrors.
Meanwhile, Nintendo's AAA generally cost less to make than Microsoft's or certainly Sony's, and don't need as much time to make. So between their AAA and AA, they can keep their content release schedule more occupied than the other platform holders. I feel Sony's strategy of relying on 3P exclusives for AA (and some AAA) releases in-between the 1P AAA epics, which worked so well in the PS4 gen, isn't working as well this gen. Not because of quality; games like Kena and Stray were great. But, it seems the amount have dropped some versus earlier in the generation, and for the AAA types, 3P seem less interested in doing extensive timed exclusivity or certainly full console exclusivity.
I also feel, with a resurgent Nintendo and a cash-rich, buy-our-way-to-relevance Microsoft, Sony just can't assume they'll get default 3P exclusives this gen or going forward the way they did with the PS4, where for half that gen Nintendo was struggling and Microsoft petered out of all momentum after like two years in. It's not the same market anymore so if 3P can't be as reliant for that content (particularly when you have companies like Microsoft buying out 3P publishers & developers in part to deny Sony access to working with those companies on exclusive titles for PlayStation (or even getting the games on PlayStation at all in some cases)), then Sony's 1P has to be more robust in both AAA and AA offerings.
However, I obviously disagree about the part where PC ports don't play a hand; they absolutely do. But we can agree that they exacerbate a pre-existing problem, they aren't necessarily the root cause of the problem itself. But the fact the PC strategy as-is exacerbates the problem in no way helps the console or core fans on the console, so in turn the console gradually suffers long-term. Or will, if Sony keeps the strategy the same or even accelerates emphasis of non-GaaS ports to PC/Steam, while all the issues I laid out on the console side/1P side above, persist.
and yet, 10 times less buying power.. thing is, Playstation in profit department, not loser mentality - engagement department.
The torrent/piracy punchline is stupidity, Piracy is very available on console platforms. Switch is a free for all.
It's a LIE that Playstation games aren't selling on PC. You can look at steamdb and get a good handle on things. Horizon, God of War, and Spiderman all sold very well, outperforming 2023 games like Lies of P, Dead Space remake, and Atomic Heart, which nobody feels the need to concern troll about. Last of Us under-performed because the port had issues, but it'll continue selling as Steam games have a longer tail than console games.
You're completely discrediting yourself by bringing up the dedicated PS handheld again, and it undermines all your other points. People don't want PC games, but they do want handheld games? OK, well PC is the only way to play them handheld, so I guess people actually DO want them.
There will NEVER be another dedicated Playstation handheld, and it would be an incredibly stupid blunder for PS to try it. You say they should "nut up", but to make a PSP3 would be kicking themselves in the nuts.