Gamer narratives that make no sense

[Himu]

I don’t think fans care about this because Japan Studio hasn’t made anything of value during the PS4 generation. The big hits are either ports or most of the work was done by another team (bloodborne). The games they developed on their own were Knack 1 & 2 (lol) and last guardian (utter dogshit).

Which kind of fan do you refer to? Old Sony stans like myself definitely care. Sony are basically losing generations of good will and certain type of fans are noticing and shifting towards Nintendo. This might not mean much now but backlashes and comeuppance are a video game tale as old as time. Check the playasia twitter feed. It might not matter to gamers who just consume to consoom but lol, sony's rep, forna specific type of Sony fan, absolutely does care.

https://twitter.com/playasia/status/1365136947551760389

[BIONIC]

I don’t think fans care about this because Japan Studio hasn’t made anything of value during the PS4 generation. The big hits are either ports or most of the work was done by another team (bloodborne). The games they developed on their own were Knack 1 & 2 (lol) and last guardian (utter dogshit).

I liked TLG well-enough.

Fact of the matter is that they took nearly a decade to make a 10 hour game that sold three copies.

Blame Ueda or god 

[Rahxephon91]

I mean the Sony in charge now is the Sony that would let niche publishers actually publish some of JapanStudios games.

But I’ll be honest as a Sony diehard since the PS2, JapanStudio’s output isn’t not what I liked about the PlayStation. It was always the third party games. Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Devil May Cry, Persona, ect. It is only recently first party has done anything for me. I really doubt I’m the only person who feels this way. I’m willing to bet most people’s favorite PS1-3 games are third party games.

Saying “well this isn’t a big loss” is wrong. I think this signals a not so good change in direction. One I’m not sure had a lot of longevity. And I did enjoy things like Gravity Rush 2 which probably won’t happen. Though honestly the things I do like BloodBorne and ....Wild Arms could still happen as the main developers still exist.

I think Sony is at the go big or go home mentality. I think they are going to let 3rd parties fill out the rest. I also don’t think that is something that was seeded well before now.

[Skullfuckers Anonymous]

Which kind of fan do you refer to? Old Sony stans like myself definitely care. Sony are basically losing generations of good will and certain type of fans are noticing and shifting towards Nintendo. This might not mean much now but backlashes and comeuppance are a video game tale as old as time. Check the playasia twitter feed. It might not matter to gamers who just consume to consoom but lol, sony's rep, forna specific type of Sony fan, absolutely does care.

https://twitter.com/playasia/status/1365136947551760389

My point is that Japan studio has been dying since the late ps3 era. If Sony didn’t just close them the what would they be doing this gen, Knack 3, more ports/remasters, and maybe a team Ico game.

I think Sony is hurting in Japan due to third party series that were previously exclusive (yakuza, metal gear, disgea, square stuff, persona) are now all multi platform so you don’t need a Sony system for them.

[paprikastaude]

I don’t think fans care about this because Japan Studio hasn’t made anything of value during the PS4 generation. The big hits are either ports or most of the work was done by another team (bloodborne). The games they developed on their own were Knack 1 & 2 (lol) and last guardian (utter dogshit).

I liked TLG well-enough.

Fact of the matter is that they took nearly a decade to make a 10 hour game that sold three copies.

Blame Ueda or god 

Sony was the best platform holder last gen, because they still funded things like Bloodborne, Astrobot or TLG even though they could have easily rested on those Naughty Dog lorels™ and call it a day. I don't care for that whole business argument, because it's usually said by idiot fanboys. Same shit when nintenyearolds come in crying "yeah but Metroid doesn't sell as well as KIRBY#2652 so they are amazing and smart abandoning more diverse IPs". So what? I'm not a CEO. I'm a gaming fan interested in diverse libraries, which a platform holder should provide, even if some things don't do CoD numbers. The same goons who celebrate gaming CEOs also won't hold back fapping to Xenoblade and Bloodborne in list wars. Guess what, these games wouldn't exist if it was for their beloved 'rational' business makers who didn't see value in their original localisations. Not in every new idea slumbers a hit like Souls, but see where you will get trying to homogenize your portfolio in the long run.


To be fair, we have yet to see how their output develops. The PS5 launch was still pretty diverse with Astro, Demon's, Spiderman and Sackboy. But so far that disgusting sausage Jim Ryan seems more like an EA guy than anyone who'd have respect for the medium.

[Himu]

Honestly this reminds me of short term thinking that brought down ps3, n64, and xbone. Ps4 wasn't even that much of a much better product than xbone. But sony took MS' arrogance assuming people wouldn't give a shit and ran with it. This mindset will become company wide and likely end up making them do continuously bone headed decisions and they'll lose all goodwill. Cycle repeats.

[Rahxephon91]

They could have had JapanStudios make a new Legend of Dragoon. Anything really. JRPGs and Japanese games in general are not unpopular. Maybe not 6 million unit sellers. But there is a market for Japanese games that probably skew older.  You have stuff like Nier Automata do good. It’s possible. I don’t think most people want LocoRoco.

But I guess one of the problems was that JapanStudio did not want to make games with a worldwide focus.

[tiesto]

MS first party got dogged by gamers because of the whole "Halo/Gears/Forza ad nauseum" policy they took starting late-360... when in previous times they were pushing a much more diverse (quality notwithstanding) lineup. This most recent gen, they're buying up a lot of studios to expand their first party output - and with the exception of Bethesda, these are studios that are kinda niche (Obsidian, Ninja Theory). So this seems like the time where Sony would want to bolster their lineup diversity as much as possible instead of counterintuitively doubling down on "angry dad cinematic wankfests".

Sony's disinterest in the Japanese market is disheartening, as I've always felt that a strong Sony = strong Japanese 3rd party game titles (even if PS4 just barely came shy of PS3's lifetime sales in Japan, its success in the rest of the world created a thriving ecosystem for Japanese devs, and the PS4 gen was much stronger for them overall than the PS3 gen [though this is also for a myriad of other reasons]).

They could have had JapanStudios make a new Legend of Dragoon. Anything really. JRPGs and Japanese games in general are not unpopular. Maybe not 6 million unit sellers. But there is a market for Japanese games that probably skew older.  You have stuff like Nier Automata do good. It’s possible. I don’t think most people want LocoRoco.

But I guess one of the problems was that JapanStudio did not want to make games with a worldwide focus.

I'd argue they're at their most popular in the west than they've ever been. Atelier, Nier, Persona, Fire Emblem - all have broken sales records in the west - in the PS2 and early PS3 era most people would consider these games niche as hell. Hell, even SE just reported lifetime sales of 2.5 mil for Octopath.

[paprikastaude]

Honestly this reminds me of short term thinking that brought down ps3, n64, and xbone. Ps4 wasn't even that much of a much better product than xbone. But sony took MS' arrogance assuming people wouldn't give a shit and ran with it. This mindset will become company wide and likely end up making them do continuously bone headed decisions and they'll lose all goodwill. Cycle repeats.

Also Nintendo around the same time. Straight up refused to release finished games like Last Story, Fatal Frame, etc. because they weren't Wii Fit. Next thing you know, you got an absolute shitshow like WiiU that they tried to sell with nothing but "safe" party games and 2D platformers for its first years. These market leaders never learn until they hit their brick wall. Which is why closure is the worst option, because they can't go back later.

They could have had JapanStudios make a new Legend of Dragoon. Anything really. JRPGs and Japanese games in general are not unpopular. Maybe not 6 million unit sellers. But there is a market for Japanese games that probably skew older.  You have stuff like Nier Automata do good. It’s possible. I don’t think most people want LocoRoco.

But I guess one of the problems was that JapanStudio did not want to make games with a worldwide focus.

That's the next thing. Japanese game sales are at an historic peak right now. Nier and Persona being multimillion sellers is unheard of. Resident Evil and Monster Hunter more successful than ever. Every low budget weeb Namco game does at least a million these days. So do something different with the studios if Knack 2 wasn't it

[Himu]

MS first party got dogged by gamers because of the whole "Halo/Gears/Forza ad nauseum" policy they took starting late-360... when in previous times they were pushing a much more diverse (quality notwithstanding) lineup. This most recent gen, they're buying up a lot of studios to expand their first party output - and with the exception of Bethesda, these are studios that are kinda niche (Obsidian, Ninja Theory). So this seems like the time where Sony would want to bolster their lineup diversity as much as possible instead of counterintuitively doubling down on "angry dad cinematic wankfests".

Sony's disinterest in the Japanese market is disheartening, as I've always felt that a strong Sony = strong Japanese 3rd party game titles (even if PS4 just barely came shy of PS3's lifetime sales in Japan, its success in the rest of the world created a thriving ecosystem for Japanese devs, and the PS4 gen was much stronger for them overall than the PS3 gen [though this is also for a myriad of other reasons]).

They could have had JapanStudios make a new Legend of Dragoon. Anything really. JRPGs and Japanese games in general are not unpopular. Maybe not 6 million unit sellers. But there is a market for Japanese games that probably skew older.  You have stuff like Nier Automata do good. It’s possible. I don’t think most people want LocoRoco.

But I guess one of the problems was that JapanStudio did not want to make games with a worldwide focus.

I'd argue they're at their most popular in the west than they've ever been. Atelier, Nier, Persona, Fire Emblem - all have broken sales records in the west - in the PS2 and early PS3 era most people would consider these games niche as hell. Hell, even SE just reported lifetime sales of 2.5 mil for Octopath.

yeah i expect ms to eat their lunch. i think the one might bounce back this gen like the way the ps3 did.

[Himu]

Honestly this reminds me of short term thinking that brought down ps3, n64, and xbone. Ps4 wasn't even that much of a much better product than xbone. But sony took MS' arrogance assuming people wouldn't give a shit and ran with it. This mindset will become company wide and likely end up making them do continuously bone headed decisions and they'll lose all goodwill. Cycle repeats.

Also Nintendo around the same time. Straight up refused to release finished games like Last Story, Fatal Frame, etc. because they weren't Wii Fit. Next thing you know, you got an absolute shitshow like WiiU that they tried to sell with nothing but "safe" party games and 2D platformers for its first years. These market leaders never learn until they hit their brick wall. Which is why closure is the worst option, because they can't go back later.

They could have had JapanStudios make a new Legend of Dragoon. Anything really. JRPGs and Japanese games in general are not unpopular. Maybe not 6 million unit sellers. But there is a market for Japanese games that probably skew older.  You have stuff like Nier Automata do good. It’s possible. I don’t think most people want LocoRoco.

But I guess one of the problems was that JapanStudio did not want to make games with a worldwide focus.

That's the next thing. Japanese game sales are at an historic peak right now. Nier and Persona being multimillion sellers is unheard of. Resident Evil and Monster Hunter more successful than ever. Every low budget weeb Namco game does at least a million these days. So do something different with the studios if Knack 2 wasn't it

This is the most hilarious part about all of this.

"Japanese games don't sell well."

Uh, what industry have you been paying attention to the past few years? Sony trying to not get in on the rising sun action will bite them in the ass. Guaranteed.