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Sony’s '08 News-Makers
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MGS4 Outshines and Outsells
from July 1
As it Happened (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Edge Review)
Though the predictable cash-ins are already beginning to circle the carcass of Kojima's wonderfully ludicrous, overrated and yet iconic series, for a brief moment back in June Metal Gear fans were able to have their final run with the infamous Solid Snake.
Guns of the Patriots marked a turning-point for the PS3. It single-handedly closed any remaining doubts over whether the console housed essential, system-selling IP. The game won over the critics before its global launch won over at the retailers, outselling the competition in Japan, the UK and US at the same time.
PS3 gets Elite-ier, adds Achievements and Video Marketplace
from July 15
As it Happened, (2, 3, 4, 5)
As part of its encouraging E3 press conference, Sony showed off its new 80GB edition of the PS3. Though missing that sought-after emotion engine, the new edition doubled the capacity of the now-defunct 40GB version and hit the retailers for the same price, effectively adding value without dropping retail prices. At the same time Sony launched its video download service, a few weeks before confirming that the system will get trophy support.
Yet, as the PS3’s top-end edition remained dwarfed by the full 120GB capacity of the 360 Elite, a 160GB edition of the console soon launched across Europe and the US.(1).jpg)
PSP Goes 3000
August 20
As it Happened
Though perhaps no PSP news will ever be as big as Dutch billboard ad flirting with racism, 2008 saw the PSP take on its newest hardware update. The PSP 3000’s satisfyingly brighter display (which definitely, definitely does not affect battery performance) and deeper colour gamut empowered the handheld with an unrivalled visual performance and yet, in some cases, nasty scan lines..jpg)
LittleBigPlanet sings Qur'an! Astounds critics! Banishes content! Sells mundanely.
from October 17
As it Happened (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Edge Review, Edge Award)
Here’s what really happened. Early in 2008 Sackboy found a cardboard box labelled “news” and – since he was a toy stuffed with cotton, synthetic fibres and unrefined glee – he blindly dived into the box, jumbled around inside it, and on certain days throughout the twelve months he randomly threw out news pieces that found their way onto the wire.
Any other explanations for LBP’s rollercoaster year would be just as absurd. Sony’s lucrative title finally found a release date which, at the eleventh hour, was delayed worldwide because it featured a song that recites Qur’an phrases. Shortly after, it became one of a handful of games to receive the highest score in Edge magazine, just before Chart-Track and NPD reported slow sales for the title. Continuing, Sony began its cull of player-made levels from the game’s servers due to copyright infringement risks, inflaming those who dedicated their time constructing such levels, just before LittleBigPlanet’s crazy time was rounded off by receiving the Edge Award for Best Game in 2008..jpg)
Economic Crisis Shatters Sony's Outlook
from October 23
As it happened. (2, 3, 4)
Despite the PS3's numerous successes in 2008, the brand's parent company has been subjected to one of the rockiest years in its history. Just days after Edge reported that the PS3 moved a mere 4,800 units in Japan, Sony's financial results in October showed the company had made a staggering 57% cut in its profit forecast as the global recession continued to suffocate Japan's export trade.
Soon after, shares in the company dropped to their lowest in 16 years. Pushed into a corner, Sony took the unenviable decision to cut 8000 jobs from its global workforce in an attempt to save the business £740 million.
As a company so ambitious in marking its territory on a range of consumer electronic devices – from flatscreen TVs to MP3 players to digital photo frames to car navigation systems – 2008 showed that Sony needs a return to a stable economy far more than its game industry competitors.
Sony Finally Takes Players Home
Dec 11
As it happened
Rumors of a PS3 avatar system, “like a Mii, where the avatar has a room” began on the first day of March in 2007. A week later at the Game Developers Conference, Phil Harrison pulled the curtain on Home, a service set to be one of the PS3’s key next-gen differentiators. It was set for release in October 2007.
The service’s first delay – repositioning its release to “Spring 2008” – was made at the Tokyo Game Show in September last year. Enthusiastic fans were hit again as Spring was in full bloom, with Sony delaying the service until “Fall 2008”. Finally, as the year began to close up, Sony opened its Home beta to all PS3 users. Though the release could never match the hype generated from 22 months of delay, the service can finally move from development extension to feature expansion in 2009.
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It would be awesome if they gave you the opportunity of creating your own clothing in home through a scripting tool or something which was quite low level and reasonably difficult to use so if you couldn't be bothered creating your own unique gears you could go purchase Sonys inane imaginings from their personality devoid stores. Kind of like how LBP has done things, if you can be bothered getting into costume design you can create some amazing stuff once you've collected the free stickers and costumes from the game. But if you have money and the concept of creation alludes you you can pay money for their pre-made costume packs. I think I'll wait till they bundle those costume packs with something that actually adds some new gameplay.
Another thing I find funny is how people will fork out hundreds of extra dollars for measly hard drive upgrades when PS3 (and xbox 360 but not so easy) allows you to easily upgrade the hard drive. Seriously, buy a 20 gig, then swap it for a 500 gig which you can get for 4 $150 EASY! 120 gigs with the capabilities of PS3 (linux, movie/music/game storage/) is peanuts. Even 500 gigs barely satisfies the PS3's capabilities.
Funny how the XBOX equivalent article has its comments disabled!
I love what SONY has done with the PS3 and would be devastated if there was no PS3. It's such an amazing peice of hardware that connects all my media to my living room along with games and bluray playback. It blends in well with my wallunit and runs quiet.
I have never had a time either were i have played so many greats games (MGS4, LBP, NHL09, Dead Space). Then with neat things like PS LIfe, Home and not paying to play online fits so well together.
I hope Sony the best in 2009 and with a good price drop sales will double.
@ Kim_Aroz and Nickgamer what are you trying to do with your over sized posts? Your points are a sad desparation to always put a negative spin on Sony. Who cares that game1 sold more then game2. As long as YOU can get great games you should be happy and should not take for granted all the great games out now thanks to heavy investments from Sony and MS.
@Koogi (AKA kgouviea)
If you read my entire post you would see I was actually putting a POSITIVE spin on most of Kim's comments that were critical of Sony. It was long because I wanted to touch on each paragraph Gyak replied to. Here's a list of all the comments I made defending the PS3 and one comment against the 360. Read on (if you've even read this far).
Defense number 1: "it’s (Home) still in the beta-stage so really it can't be fairly reviewed at this point."
Defense number 2: "MGS4 sold over 4 million copies. Not a disappointment at all." I did go on to say a bit about Hardware not being pushed by MGS4 but I'm trying to keep this post nice and short for you Koogi ^^.
Defense number 3: "I have not seen anything that proved it (MGS4) runs at any less than 1280x720p. I've only heard good things about the graphics so it seems Kim that you may want to pull that statement back." If you didn't read what Kim said, he said essentially MGS4's graphics weren't that good.
Defense number 4: "I think LBP did not sell nearly as well as Sony had hoped. That could be attributed to the congested holidays as some other well reviewed games sold below expectations as well. Sony seems to believe that the game will have legs, so this one is still in the air."
Ok, not a true defense but more of a suggestion as to why such an amazingly reviewed game hasn't sold as strongly as some have hoped YET.
Defense number 5: "Gears sold 1.56 million copies in November compared to R2's 385k. That's 4:1, not 10:1. If you take the 360's installed base lead into consideration, it only outsold R2 by 2:1" Again if you read Kim's comment, he said Gears 2 outsold R2 10:1.
Critical comment AGAINST the 360: "360's numbers for the most part (In Japan) were just better than terrible, and not much to brag about.
So Koogi, why don't you try to actually READ my post instead of just looking at its length. And if you thought somehow what I said was actually an attack on Sony I don't know what to tell you my friend.
My thoughts on the situation goes like this...
1. For me, this was the year of the PS3 in terms of software. I bought more games than I could afford, and I still have games I have to buy. Little Big Planet is a game that will keep on selling. Just like all of Sony's other exclusives. They don't have to sell five million in one day to be successful. I think that's what people expect and to me that's kind of silly.
2. Sooner or later, Sony will have to cut the price. But I expect they will do it at their own pace. If there's one thing Sony couldn't predict, it's an economical crisis. The economical crisis hit everyone like a brick. If there wasn't a recession going on, Sony would have done much better during the holiday season.
3. I wouldn't count Sony out of this console war yet. They have enough wiggle room and their biggest games have yet to come. The PS3 has games and it will keep delivering in terms of quality and software. It amazes me that despite the fact they were slaughtered in November that their console still kept selling. That shows that they only need a pricecut and some heavier advertisements to show the PS3 is a great console and it could do all of these things.
4. I think the recession will slowly thaw out by this year.
5. Another thing. People still don't understand what Home is about and it's really sad. It's not a game. It's a social networking application. It's like a virtual facebook. Plus, it's free. Nobody's twisting your arm to download it. You're downloading it based on your curiosity. I recently downloaded it and I think it's a good idea that will only get better. If you're bored in Home, it's only because you're not using it properly. It will only be boring to you if you don't know how to lead conversations or if you don't have friends. I don't understand the hatred for this application when it's FREE.
6. Kim, the PS3 isn't doing as BAD as you keep reiterating. It could be doing a lot better but it's not bad to the point Sony must abandon ship. Microsoft got off lucky in Japan because of the half-assed rpgs that came out for the system (except for Tales of Vesperia and probably Lost Odyssey because I heard those were pretty good). Fact is...they still haven't reached a million in Japan and Sony has a good lead over there. Nintendo is obliterating both companies either way.
Also, I wouldn't call Little Big Planet sales a disappointment. Like I said with my first point, it's a game that will keep selling. Just because it hasn't sold five million in one day, doesn't mean it's a disappointment.
Anyone who thinks Little Big Planet sales were a huge disappointment are people who expected it to sell five million in one day because of the hype for the gameplay.
Cheers to gaming and to a new year.
With the way Kim_Naroz is talking you'd think MS were paying his rent or something?
It's been borderline proven that Kim_Naroz is a Microsoft empoyee, based on previous posts and information.
"The Race for a New Game Machine" might be an interesting read for both people with preferences towards either Microsoft or Sony's machine. It basically comes down to the statement that the 360 would not be what it is right now without the PS3. Admittedly, I haven't read it myself (yet) but just read an article revealing this... the book itself just came out a few days ago.
My personal thoughts:
1. I agree with analysts and virtually everyone that HOME was a really big disappointment.
2. MGS4 sales dropped all the way down to #34 in just ONE MONTH's time!...that was actually very disappointing.
3. MGS4 receive high reviews only in the first (early) batch of reviews. The second and third batches of reviews from websites and magazines were not as good for MGS4. Remember, the only reason those early MGS4 reviews were so high was because Konami literally FORCED the reviewers to sign a contract saying that they would not be given a free review-copy of the game unless they signed the contract saying that they would not allow the looooooooooooooooong and painfully annoying loading "installs" to be be considered as something that could penalize the game. It was the same thing with the looooong and poorly written storyline, with cinema's that lasted up to 90 minutes.
When the second batch of reviews for MGS4 came out, they were written by honest people who waited for the game to be released. These people didn't "sell out" for an early copy of the game. They penalized MGS4 for the long "installs" throughout the game, and the poorly written storyline, and they also pointed out that the low resolution of 1024x720p is the reason why MGS4 has such disappointing graphics that look "grainy."
4. Little Big Planet was a HUGE SALES DISAPPOINTMENT
5. Resistance 2 was a HUGE SALES DISAPPOINTMENT - it was released the same week as Gears of War 2...and Gears of War 2 literally outsold it by a ratio of over 10:1
6. PS3 was outsold in Japan by the Xbox 360 for the majority of the time during the second half of 2008. The reason for this was because of all the strong JRPG games the Xbox 360 got with Tales of Vesperia, Infinite Undiscover, The Last Remnant, The Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, and so many others. Japan really is a perfect example of how the Xbox 360 is doing far better than expected, while the PS3 is doing far worse than expected.
Your personal thoughts huh? It's comedy gold.
1. No it wasn't. Only idiots waited for Home, which is making good money for Sony actually, with DLC.
2. MGS4 sold 3.7 million and counting, which isn't a HUGE disappointment in my book (it's not a disappointment in anyone's book except for idiots and biased fanboys like you).
3. MGS4 received high reviews in the first reviews, because it was good. You say the second and third batches of reviews from websites and magazines were not as good for MGS4, but you can't prove it so it's your opinion, and as that it's null and void. No-one FORCED anyone to sign anything, except you, Mr. Microsoft employee. Have you checked those "looooooooooooooooong" installs? If so, you couldn't say nonsense about them. About "the looooong and poorly written storyline", well, you could probably apply for Kojima's place at Konami.
Oh and the resolution was 1280*720, not 1024*720, but we all know your "facts".
Finally, let's not argue about the game's graininess, because it's pathetic, really.
4. Little Big Planet was a HUGE SALES DISAPPOINTMENT -- for you, see above. (Btw it was more than 1.5 million a month ago, which might be a disappointment if you compare it with the disposable bugfest Gears 2, hands down.)
5. Fanboyism and bragging at its best.
6. Who gives a flying toss. Again, it's "your" (your employee's) half-witted opinion. It's good for a laugh, but that's all.
Happy new year for you as well.
1. No opinion really, as I've never used Home, and also, it’s still in the beta-stage so really it can't be fairly reviewed at this point.
2. I also agree that from what I've read over at Wikipedia Konami has claimed that MGS4 sold over 4 million copies. Not a disappointment at all. I think more of the implied disappointment was due to MGS4 not pushing HARDWARE more than it did. It seems as with GTAIV, the large majority of MGS4 fans already owned PS3s by the time it came out.
3. As far as the resolution issue, I have not seen anything that proved it runs at any less than 1280x720p. I've only heard good things about the graphics so it seems Kim that you may want to pull that statement back. As far as the whole review thing, Gyak that did happen. Early copies of the game were only sent to publications that were willing to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) stating they would not talk about long cut-scenes (for spoiler purposes supposedly) or disc install times. That's not MS speak, it’s the truth. EGM delayed their review because they wanted to be able to include everything in the review, weather it'd be bad or good (EGM ended up giving it a 94, not bad by any means). (Good Wikipedia entry on this very subject http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_4 ) Some of the later reviews were in fact a bit lower than the early ones, but most of them were still in the 90s, and the game does have a metacritic score of 94%.
4. Gyak I kinda have to go with Kim a little bit on this one. I think LBP did not sell nearly as well as Sony had hoped. That could be attributed to the congested holidays as some other well reviewed games sold below expectations as well. Sony seems to believe that the game will have legs, so this one is still in the air.
5. Perhaps bragging Gyak, but true and also exaggerated. Counting only US numbers, Gears sold 1.56 million copies in November compared to R2's 385k. That's 4:1, not 10:1. If you take the 360's installed base lead into consideration, it only outsold R2 by 2:1 (12.4m 360s, 6.0m PS3s). Gears had an attach rate of 12% and R2 had an attach rate of 6%. So, yes Gears took R2 to school, but I do think that is an unfair comparison. GTAIV took Gears 2 to school right? Halo 3 took everything to school; we can do this all day. edit: CoD4 took everything to school (I'm talking sales)
6. Its true the 360 did better than it usually does in Japan for a period of time in 08, but even being a 360 loyalist myself, the 360s numbers for the most part were just better than terrible, and not much to brag about.
Kim, maybe for the new year you can take your exaggerations down a notch or two, or 10.
I agree with everything you have written Nick. Nice post. Happy New Year guys.
Thanks Andy. Happy New Year.
just a thought, but a general complaint of home is lack of things to do. Could they allow mini game bolt-ons to effect it? Like the infection game in Perfect Dark Zero for instance.
Tell me about it! I got bored in Home pretty quickly. Wandered about a bit and tried to play chess with someone before they upped and left after about 5 moves. I followed them to ask why they left the game and was just greeted with profanity. There sure are some immature idiots on there. Maybe in time it'll blossom into something interesting. Fingers crossed.
Personally speaking 2008 has been the year of Sony for me. Started out 2008 a staunch wii owner and fanboy. But a few months of dull wii games I splashed the cash on a PS3. Wow! Gaming had become exciting again. My 26" LCD just didn't cut the mustard so got a 40" 1080p Sony Bravia tv and shortly after a Sony surround set up. So Sony have done pretty well out if me this year! Also forgot to mention the Sony keyboard and official wireless headset I just got too... Dam that's a lot of cash I've spent there... It's all worth it though. No regrets about buying it all. The money i made by selling all my wii stuff helped pay for some of it. Sorry for the gushing praise but it's all such great quality and gaming on the PS3 is sublime. Maybe not mass Market price yet, but 2009 is going to be a big year for PS3. you mark my words. Anyway I'm off to watch wall-e on bluray
yeh... i like that idea. Especially if they could do it for free... i'm not sure how happy i am at the prospect of spending money on decorating/furnishing my house and dressing my virtual me though!!
Likewise, $1.40 for a god damn jacket. I find that sort of thing so f'ing depressing, why would I want to spend money on virtual clothing it's just friggin stupid. However I know loads of people will do it and I guess the more money Sony can get from halfwits means more money will get put into games, as long as those games don't take the road of television and start being skewed towards only being appealing to halfwits. They're there for exploitation not pandering remember.